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Gday folks!

Vance makes a point here that is relevant to my Bonsai practice:

"...if it were not for the garden centers most of my material would be unavailable and therefore only existing in my imagination."

While I don't frequent Bonsai Nurseries much, and I only just attended my 1st Bonsai Exhibit late last year, it has been my experience that the material I am seeking isn't readily available. Some of you fine folk may have noticed that my interest in Bonsai has taken a turn towards Eucalyptus trees, yet at the Bonsai Society of Victoria Exhibit I saw NO Euc Bonsai. Sure, there were a few native pre-Bonsai being sold by the various club members (including a few spindly little Eucs) but by and large the trees I saw were the same old trees we see in Japanese, European and American Bonsai books. Don't get me wrong - some were of excellent quality, beautifully crafted and cared for, but they were not what I was after. Why would I want to fork out $$$ for a beautifully styled, delicate Japanese Maple that will likely end up cooked before the height of Summer?

Does the lack of proprietary Eucalyptus Bonsai stock mean that I am - ummm - barking up the wrong tree? Or that I have somehow been labouring under the misconception that there can be such a thing as Eucalypt Bonsai? Or that I should simply give in and support my local Bonsai Nurseries by buying overpriced, exotic stock trees that I don't particularly want, and will most likely kill? Hell no!

Many here might argue that the Eucs I have been posting are barely even potensai, and that it will take many years of my time in order to make them resemble 'finished' Bonsai. I would have to agree for the most part. It will take time, but so does anything worthwhile. In the absence of suitable stock, I have taken it upon myself to create the stock that I am looking for, and from there develop it into the trees I desire. If that means buying from garden centres and landscape nurseries, then so be it.

Then - of course - there's the whole argument about wasting one's time trying to create Bonsai from scratch. And the one about crappy, reject trees making for crappy, reject Bonsai. But I won't go into those here...

Thanks.

FlyBri.

2-Jan-2005	#47
FlyBri Chopped Liver? *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Jun-2004 Location: Hurstbridge Country: DownUnda USDA Zone: 9-10? AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 1,553	Gday folks! Vance makes a point here that is relevant to my Bonsai practice: "...if it were not for the garden centers most of my material would be unavailable and therefore only existing in my imagination." While I don't frequent Bonsai Nurseries much, and I only just attended my 1st Bonsai Exhibit late last year, it has been my experience that the material I am seeking isn't readily available. Some of you fine folk may have noticed that my interest in Bonsai has taken a turn towards Eucalyptus trees, yet at the Bonsai Society of Victoria Exhibit I saw NO Euc Bonsai. Sure, there were a few native pre-Bonsai being sold by the various club members (including a few spindly little Eucs) but by and large the trees I saw were the same old trees we see in Japanese, European and American Bonsai books. Don't get me wrong - some were of excellent quality, beautifully crafted and cared for, but they were not what I was after. Why would I want to fork out $$$ for a beautifully styled, delicate Japanese Maple that will likely end up cooked before the height of Summer? Does the lack of proprietary Eucalyptus Bonsai stock mean that I am - ummm - barking up the wrong tree? Or that I have somehow been labouring under the misconception that there can be such a thing as Eucalypt Bonsai? Or that I should simply give in and support my local Bonsai Nurseries by buying overpriced, exotic stock trees that I don't particularly want, and will most likely kill? Hell no! Many here might argue that the Eucs I have been posting are barely even potensai, and that it will take many years of my time in order to make them resemble 'finished' Bonsai. I would have to agree for the most part. It will take time, but so does anything worthwhile. In the absence of suitable stock, I have taken it upon myself to create the stock that I am looking for, and from there develop it into the trees I desire. If that means buying from garden centres and landscape nurseries, then so be it. Then - of course - there's the whole argument about wasting one's time trying to create Bonsai from scratch. And the one about crappy, reject trees making for crappy, reject Bonsai. But I won't go into those here... Thanks. FlyBri. __________________ Australian Native Plants as Bonsai Study Group ANPB Galleries --- rrr.org.au - Support Free-Range Radio