Now THAT'S A Bald Cypress!

bonsaial1

I'll take a crack at it. This is the opinion of bonsai-al only, maybe I will induce some mixed emotions, that would be good for a change around here.

Think of the tree in the second picture. A very mature looking cypress from the swamps of Florida, or maybe Louisiana. This is the way the trees grow naturaly. I have seen pictures of them. But... if I were not into bonsai, did not know who Gary Marchal or Vaughn Banting were, then I might have never seen the pictures of old growth, flat top cypress. Mind you I am from California and they do not grow here naturaly, or maybe my Papa would have pointed that out as part of my growing process. Now what does all this have to do with my story.. well,. we all can appreciate the second picture for what it is because we all know what an old growth flat top cypress is supposed to look like. That tree in pic 2 captures the essence of the flat top perfectly. If you had nothing to compare it to, would you still feel the same about it. It does not fit many of the traditional bonsai rules. Skinny trunk, no branches down low, the branches crossing all over the place, no first,second or third branches. It is rather flawed as far as just accepting it as beautiful bonsai. The tree has it's own beauty, because it looks rather feminine and serene. What if... what if this were a juniper, or a birch tree? Would an azelea look right styled like this? Without the mental picture that a tree really exists like this in nature, one might look at this tree as rather an ugly duckling.

Part 2. Now if we think of bonsai as art, then no. 1 has many more qualities to tip the scales in it's favor. Think of all the rules you have learned on this very forum. My God I preach about them constantly.


Perfect Taper The trunk goes to the apex in one tapering flowing movement.
Nebari The root flare and surface roots are in correct size for the tree, representing power and massiveness.
Branches The branches are in correct proportion to the height and size of the trunk. they also graduate in size from the largest at the base to the smallest near the apex.
Live Apex The artist has included a live apex on this tree. This is a testiment to the artist's ability. It is a simple matter to carve an artificial tapering jin on a tree with no taper at the top. The live top has been done perfectly.
Foliage in scale Anyone that has done cypress before knows what a pain in the butt cypress foliage can be. The foliage on this tree has recieved constant pinching, again showing the true artist potential of the grower.

As for the root scars at the bottom of the tree, these are very minor and could have been masked in the presentation. A little dremel work, some moss, or just the soil moved a 1/8' higher. I would not characterize it as a flaw at all.

I think both trees have been done extreamly well. They are as differant as night and day as far as the style. To compare these two trees is not really fair to the artist, since each tree tells a differant story. While tree no. 1 depicts maybe a large old growth conifer, pic 2 depicts the old growth natural habitat for the tree. For me any way.. no.1 is superior artistically speaking.

Thanks for listening, Bonsai-al

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A tree a day...thats all we ask.