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| View Poll Results: Have you heard of Blueoak Nursery? | |||
| I have heard |
  
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17 | 24.29% |
| I have heard and seen |
  
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4 | 5.71% |
| I have not heard |
  
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32 | 45.71% |
| I have not heard, but will seek out now |
  
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17 | 24.29% |
| Voters: 70. You may not vote on this poll | |||
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13-Dec-2004
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#1 |
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Greybeard
 
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California Nursery Tour (part III)
To see tours One and Two click here.
Beginning with Bonsai Today no. 92 I had seen an ad for a bonsai nusery in Modesto California. The ad said Blueoak Nursery. A mere 1.5 hours drive from my house. I had planned on taking in this nursery at the earliest oppertunity, but due to the holidays I was not able to make it. The ad reappeard in issue 93 and I though "good" this is a good thing. I see ads come and go, and I thought that two issues represented about 5 months so that was reassuring. Issue no. 94. Full color ad and half a page. This guy must be serious. I could not put this off any longer. A quick phone call to Brad Coleman verifying his address and hours. I intended to talk for a mere minute. I talked for nearly an hour. This guy is a wonderful man. Has many great ideas for the future, and wants to make me a part of them. That was a great bonus. We will be working on a private bonsaiTALK picnic/workshop this spring. I have taken many photos and will post a few here. If there is interest for more I can post them. The nursery is outside of Modesto, about 10 miles. It is located on a wonderful piece of property on the Toulemne River. There is a canal that feeds a creek on his property and there is a dam regulating the small creek that runs through the picnic/workshop area. The nursery at the present time is run by Brad and his small son. His son, Blake is quite the salesman himself, selling my wife several handpainted mexican articulated gourds.She bought these as gifts for co-workers. We arrived at the nursery around 9:30 in the AM after stopping for breakfast in Merced. We were greeted by some wonderful trees while walking up to the nursery, he has a parking lot outside of the actual nursery. The trees had signs that had been carved with a router sometime after the war. The house there was brought in after the war also. All the trees on the property have signs telling yoiu what the trees are. This tree was a curly willow. As I approached the inner nursery I was greeted by Brad and his son. I also was greeted by a rather huge yellow lab, but his tail was wagging and he was a real lover. This huge fountain was at the entrance and was covered by junipers, rather large junipers at that. As we started in, Brad told me about the property and what I could expect to find here. We were by ourselves at thsi point, so Brad was able to walk and talk for a while. We started out by taking in the pot house. Pot house, I can here the snickers already, yes this was a house, equiped with kitchen, bathrooms and everything.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... Last edited by bonsaial1 : 13-Dec-2004 at 03:58 AM. |
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California Nursery Tour (part III) |
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13-Dec-2004
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#2 |
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Greybeard
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Inside, each of the rooms carried different types of pots. One room was all Korean, including Tongrea, and another room was for Chinese pots. One room for Japanese pots and a whole room just for Hand made custom pots. The pot my wife is holding is from a potter named Dick Ryerson. I managed to buy a few and bring them home. More about that later.Also in that room are the burnished exhibition pots from Tokonome. I am going back for some of these also. In fact the one in the photo is being reserved for me. The one with the nail heads.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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#3 |
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Greybeard
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In these photos are the Korean and Chinese pots. There are larger pots outdoors, and I do mean large.
We walked outside and begam taking in the material. I wouls suspect that this is the largest bonsai only nursey on the west coast. I have seen nearly everything there is to see, and this is one of the best layed out nurseries I have seen. He told me how he toured the state, taking ideas from everything he had seen, and then utilizing it here. The plants in the pots on the ground are grow out stock. We began looking at the tables. They are broken down by specie, and kept by tables full of that one species. easy to shop that way.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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#4 |
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Greybeard
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What makes this nursery unique, is that Brad has went out of his way to collect speciman trees form almost every major artist on the west coast. He has bought many semi/finished pieces from these artists, and everything is for sale. He does not believe in the Sorry, not for sale areas. He has material from Roy Nagatoshi, Gary and Mas Ishii, Harry Hirao, Ben Oki, Kathy Shaner, Johnny Uchida, Jim Gremmel, and many more.
The Cal. junipers are from Harry, the smaller one was 500.00, not bad for a plant with that much potential. The knarled rtunk juniper is by Mas Ishii, around 400.00. The Black pine by Johnny Uchida was a steal at 400.00. I plan on going back real soon. Christmas has put a crimp in my buying style, but I will be back soon to get some treasures.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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Greybeard
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Anyone see any potential in the large Prostratus juniper for a cascade?
How about Bristlecone pines. I hear they are sought after and he has them in small containers very reasonably. He has them marked as the seven dwarfs and named as such. I don;'t know if you can read the sign but they are just like the motion picture. My wife said if I had one, she would name it "lazy". That large one with the nice form was marked 250.00, not bad for these slow growers. The pomogranite by Roy Nagotoshi, about 1,600.00.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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#6 |
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Greybeard
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This is a look down to the river. He lives on a bluff, and the picnic area is down by the river. There is a small road that goes down there and all workshop materials can be taken down by car. I think this would be a nice setyting for an exhibit, and will be talking with Bard about that too.
I did manage to get a few pics of his personal collection, and they are all for sale too. Across the river is a wonderful Monterey Pine. My wife said she would like to see me do something like that for bonsai. I think she has been looking at Walter Pall pictures on the TV too much.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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#7 |
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Greybeard
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If after you have read this thread, and you live within driving distance to this nursery and decide to make a trip, please tell Brad that Al Keppler sent ya.
These are the things I managed to buy. I wanted everything, but had to have some of those Dick Ryerson pots. These pots I bought are for moss ball Kusomono that I intend to make this spring. I will be doing a workshop on acccent plants at the nursery this spring, and I invite all those bonsaiTALK members to sign up. The phot with the three pots are by Gary Wood. His pots have almost the same texture as Sara Raynor and are hard to tell apart. He has pots by Sara at the nursery too.
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... Last edited by bonsaial1 : 13-Dec-2004 at 09:50 PM. |
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13-Dec-2004
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Greybeard
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Tha last few things I bought were some accent plants, akadama, and this Wisteria. My wife has ben nagging me for a wisteria for a long time. This one had a great trunk and good taper. Something not seen in wisterias that much. This one is 14" tall and has a two inch trunk.
Don't forget to tell um Al sent ya! Thanks, Bonsai-al
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It's about time that the proper respect be given to the fine art of balloon animals... |
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13-Dec-2004
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#9 |
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bonsaiTALK ArchMaster
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Al,
Very nice tour. Nice place. I saw the ad in Bonsai Today and went to the web site. It doesn't do as much justice as this tour does. He has alot better stock than I had thought... Very good wisteria--keep it away from your house or it will pull your siding off  |
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