Accent Plants

Lesley

I was just going through the gallery, something I do frequently for inspiration ( even though I may have been there before) and I selected OMC's (Carl's) gallery and discovered his wonderful accent plants. The discussion that followed was regarding their beauty and the available literature for accent planting (mostly lack of) and their care. As a fledgling bonsai artist, I did try a few this spring and summer for my contest entry. Most have died and those that are left look the worse for wear. Just how does one learn about these plants and what happens in the spring with them?

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Carl_Bergstrom

Lesley,

Thank you for the kind words. While me trying to summarize accent plantings in one post is like a bonsai beginner trying to summarize the art of bonsai in a couple of paragraphs, let me offer a few thoughts and suggestions.

1) Use "good" soil and water daily; use moisture trays if necessary. What is good soil? Not too much organic. Relatively fine by bonsai standards. Quite coarse by potting soil standards. Sifted to remove all the dust.

2) Read what English-language literature is out there. Willi Benz' book. Murata's splendid "Four Seasons of Bonsai". The odd magazine article here and there.

3) Look at pictures, see what you like, think about basic principles of artistic composition (form, color, texture, line, etc.) and try to use them in your plantings.

4) Obviously accent plants span a tremendous range of species, so not all can be treated alike. Still, most that I use are perennials, and most of these I cut back to basically the soil line in late fall and store them in an unheated cold frame. In the spring, I repot (dividing if necessary) every year or two.

5) I've only been doing this for a couple of years, so take 1-4 with a grain of salt.

All the best,
Carl

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FredL

Carl, last Spring I collected some wild Violets. They were right next to an Elm I collected and they looked quite extraodinary at the time. I still have them.

Any comments on Violets as accent plants?

Fred

Carl_Bergstrom

Hi Fred,

I haven't tried wild violets yet, but I keep meaning to do so. They certainly look wonderful in some of the photographs I've seen, and there was a lovely violet accent arrangement at the Pacific Northwest convention this past year. Kyuzo Murata uses violets to beautiful effect in a planting on p.23 of Four seasons of bonsai.

While I've seen them looking very nice even by themselves, I'd guess that they'd look even better planted with one or two other species (a grass and a ground cover, for example), as splashes of color with the other species providing much of the "green mass".

All the best,
Carl

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In love with trees