The day after my Seasonal students left I was so intrigued by what we had done with the Mountain Hemlock from last week’s post that I put this Engelmann spruce on a plastic slab as well. While the first day with five students it had taken all day to figure out, I did this one by myself in only two hours. Knowing what the heck you’re doing works marvels.
I also include a couple shotgun shots around my yard in this post—
Engelmann spruce on nylon board.
Closeup of the root mass over the nylon board. I hope the moss will eventually grow over the edge and it will be essentially invisible, floating a bit.
Some of the range of styles and trees I enjoy having around. Traditional, powerful black pine next to the ethereal feeling native vine maple. There's a wisteria to the left bursting with flowers (I took 2/3 of them off, it was nuts this year.) The boxwood to the right you might remember from International Bonsai many years back.
The companion plant bench... just beginning to grow. A couple are flowering already, such as cow pie and the indomitable miner's lettuce. If anyone knows what 'cow pie' really is let me know. From Japan, big leaf, white flower. The majority of these companions are Northwest natives.
This narcissus was blooming three months ago, potted in one of the first bonsai pots I ever made. The drainage holes are 1/4" wide. I had a lot to learn. Last year the flowers were 10" high, this year they were 6"--- plants reduce fast in a pot! Bit too flamboyant to display with a tree but fun on its own.
