"LION CRUSHER"

hansvanmeer

For a wile i was lucky enough to own and work on a old and large "CELTIS CHINENSIS" , i bought it as one off the last bonsai to be sold in a bankruptcy auction! I was so glad i won it, that i never thought about how to get that huge monster home! A friendly bonsai trader took it in his van, to his placed! Later that week after i had cut a section out of my garden fence (it was way to big for the normal door), i had to rent a van and a friend, to get it in my o so small garden! There it was for many years always the favorite tree to friends and family that saw it ! I showed it at the Ginkgo awards and she even had her moment on national television! Sadly taking care for it was a real struggle in our cold climate and because of its size.
So with a said hearth my wife and i found a new home for it in a warmer place in Europe, were she can really be happy!
I normally don't give names to my bonsai, but wen you look at the pictures you will understand why i called here the "LION CRUSHER"!
She was unique,
Hans.

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BONSAI_OUTLAW

i wish you had some pics with something to reference size with....nice looking tree though. any pics of the whole thing with a beer bottle or coke can or someting?

hansvanmeer

Hi bonsai outlaw,
well it actually took me a long time to find one! I have some nice ones in a album some were, but if you need them...ggrrr!
This pic is from '94 and the first time i repoted here .
Hans.

P.S,
did anybody noticed why she is cold "LION CRUSHER" from looking at the first pics?

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BONSAI_OUTLAW

hahahahaha..i get it...looks like a lion's arse stickin out from under the tree

that is funny...that is a nice tree man...

soonami

lol there had to be a reason why both photos were shot from that angle...

That is a monster of a tree, too bad you had to let it go. It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all...

Bruce Winter

Oh NOW I see it! A male lion at that!
A big lesson in letting go.

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Treebeard

Hans, good name! I love it when you can see such things in a bonsai.

Regards,

Chris.

__________________
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andrew lenden

Hi Hans nice tree and nice name, What problems did you experience regarding climate with your celtis? You mention cold, was this a winter protection issue or a cold summer problem? I,m in a similar climate but only two years with this species. thanks Andrew

hansvanmeer

Hi Andrew,
Well to be honest, it was the size of her that created the most problems!
Would i had a bigger greenhouse were i could have kept her in the hole year around, she still would be in my garden!
She suffered the most from unexpected cold night in spring and early summer, when she was out in the open and exposed. And because off her size she could not simply be moved in to a shelter! Also the summers were way to short here and sudden dropping off temperatures in late summer made here more then ones loos all off her leaves way to early in the season. Those roots are more or Les growing all year around on this species if the temp. is high enough ( it becomes warm quickly in my small winter greenhouse), so if there are no leaves to feed them you will and up with the lost off small branches. She was just not happy in my garden, despite all the effort we put into here!
But he! i still have the pictures and a bag of stories to remember.
I remember the year i was preparing her for the Ginkgo show, i had cut off all of her leaves, leaving just enough time for them to grow back fresh and smaller for the show. She was standing right in front off my living room window on our outdoor diner table in a improvised shelter, made out off screening to protect here from to warm sun light and hungry insects. When in the middle off the night a storm brook loos right above our heads, there was thunder so load you would not believe and the wind was building up to storm levels! Than the wurst thing possible happened ...it started to hail! Hail stones the size off ping-pong balls! The crust right trough the screening and start ripping off the precious new leaves! So there i was only in my under pants on top off that diner table holding one off those large beach umbrellas as good as possible leaning in to the storm above her head, trying to protect her as good as possible from those small ice bombs, will left and right the thunder and lightning was exploding and the storm did its best to blow me off off the table. It was painful, freezing and dangerous holding an umbrella in a thunder storm, my wive who was looking in fear at this all from behind the window sad to me later: it looked like one off those Hollywood films were the hero is planting a flag against all odds on the top of the hill in the midle of a war, or something like that. Well i survived and luckely the tree did not suffer to much damage in the end en had her proud moment at the Ginkgo award after all!
Hans.