Ft. Worth Bonsai show & sale this week end 08/12/11-08/14/11

Ft. Worth's Bonsai show and sale will be held this week end at the botanical garden in Ft. Worth.
It will begin on Friday & Saturday 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.and Sunday 9:00 to 1:00 p.m.
(08/12/11 thru 08/14/11)


How about this heat wave!!!! Hope your trees come through this ok. My tropicals are
loving this heat wave & are thriving. As for the rest of the trees they've gone dormant or
semi dormant.
Make sure you take time to check & make sure your trees are getting enough water.
Also try to protect them from getting too much direct sun. A good way to do this is to
drape a wet towel around your container or pot (preferably white) or move your trees
into some shade in late afternoon.







These tropicals are doing fine & I'm giving
them plenty of water & fertilizer.














Another way to protect your trees is to
put them in a Styrofoam box. They will grow
just as quickly & are insulated from the heat.
















The pots that are plastic /or ceramic will
hold the heat in & practically cook the roots;
especially if they don't get watered enough.
















As you can see I have a lot of my trees
planted in Styrofoam boxes not only are
insulated but the white color reflects the
heat.














These boxes are easy to cut down to
size when your tree is almost ready to be
put into a bonsai pot.













Remember to stop fertilizing your
deciduous trees that have gone dormant or
semi-dormant untill they start growing again.















That's all for now

Wax on .............Wax off






















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Sorry I haven't posted any thing this past month (June) I lost my camera and
I've had some personal family problems but hopefully that will clear up.
I will post something soon.
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Watering system for pine bed

I had to show you this, last Easter Sunday
my #1 side kick"Bella"had her first encounter
with the Easter bunny. He was ok from afar
but when he came closer "Nana get him away
from me"!!!

















After laying pvc pipe & adding some risers with
sprinkers




















We had a watering system going! Sure beats
the heck out of watering by hand not to
mention saving time.
Now maybe we have time to weed out the
bed.












Next we had to put a fence around the bed
to keep the dogs out of it. My #1 side kick sits
inside the fence.














Of course I was informed I had to share
some space for "nana's" vegetable garden.













My miniature wild plums had flowered
and fruited.













They make great bonsai but it's hard to
keep the fruit from getting eaten by the birds















This bonsai is a Japanese plum and is about
20 yrs.old .














In this picture you can see the fruit.It's almost
ripe.

Hope the birds don't get to it before I do.



Wax on ....................Wax off




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Pine & Shimpaku growing bed

In an earlier post I made mention of putting some pines I had acquired into a
growing bed.
So I started to plant the new pines along with some shimpaku's .






The growing bed had to be plowed &
then raked.
The hole was dug then a tile was placed
at the bottom to keep the roots from
growing straight down. This encourages
the roots to grow horizontally.















After the tile is put in place a layer of
lava rock is put on top of the tile for
drainage,then then pine is planted on top
with a layer of soil mixed with compost.
















It's time consuming & a lot of hard labor
but worth the effort.















Including the plowing & raking this is about a weeks worth of planting.
















This is two weeks later



















The bed consists of black ,red & some
white pines.















the pines will remain for several years
and will be pruned & groomed until
they are ready to be dug up.















The last two rows have shimpaku's
planted in the same manner.


















some are this years cuttings & tiny
but they are rooted so I'm keeping my
fingers crossed.













Others are are larger but need to grow
more and get thicker trunks.
Will post on their progress as time
goes on.




Wax on ...........Wax off














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Spring color

I have been so busy with several projects this spring, that I haven't posted any thing.
Spring has definitely sprung and color is every where!









This wisteria is located in the corner
of my nursery.

















As you can see it has almost taken over the
eastern red cedar I'm going to have to prune
it pretty soon.




















My bougainvillea is in full bloom












There are several shades of pink















a few lavender also.












My azalea is also in full bloom.

I just wanted to share the colors with you.



Wax on.......Wax off






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new trees

This is some newly acquired trees. Some are black pines, some red pines & some
shimpaku's.


The majority of these trees will be put into a growing bed for a few yrs. to gain
some girth.












#1

black pine










#2

black pine














#3


red pine











#4


Red pine










#5

black pine













#6


black pine












#7


black pine












#8

black pine













#9

black pine
















The rest of these are shimpaku junipers.







































































































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Bob Castronovo

Hi Bob here are some pictures I'll send some more this eveing.






















































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