Last Snows of Winter 2018

 

At the end of February I had started re-potting some of my trees not knowing that winter still had some surprises in store for us even here in Somerset. I think it was on the 1st or 2nd of March that we had the first lot. Not a dramatic amount but fine, dry drifting snow so we had to close the Somerset Crafts gallery at The Avalon Marshes Centre out on the Levels . 

 

I had managed as I said to re-pot a few trees before then, my little Lonicera Pileata which I got from Kaizen in 2014. The nice little Mulbury that,Sue my Wife gave me last year that came from All thing Bonsai near Shefield and the small Larch that I bought at DanBartons Bonsai day in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also the group of three Larches that I bought as bare rooted stock from Ireland  in 2016, which I think these three cost me all of £1.34 or thereabouts. (they had thrown the two little runts in as freebies) The pot however was a different matter,  that I had puchased off a fellow Taunton and Somerset Bonsai Club member and I had been waiting some time to use it to best advantage.

 

 

 

 

My little root over rock Cotoneaster had to be done as well hence the string round the rock untill it setles in again and there was also my Rowan which came from a garden seedling
way back in 1987.

As you can imagine then with all this spring activity and such welcoming signs  as the blossom on this Cherry Incisa I really thought winter was over.

Then blow me this last wekend the 17th/18th it all came back again, wet, sloshy stuff that obviously wasn’t going to last long but tiresome when I wanted to get on with tasks outside.

 

dav

dav

 

 

I‘m just hoping now that that is it and spring at last will do it’s work and open up those buds and awaken all my trees again. Looking forward to re-potting my Yamadori Juniper (above) as my dear Sue is getting very fed up with that great 20″ black pot outside the window.

P.S.

The Larch group of three I took along to Bonsai Club the other night and it came Second equal in the Tree of the Month Competition in the Advanced Class. The judges critique noted that they were very immature and would need some years tocome to anything but did compliment the pot and as Ade our judge’s atitude to ill chosen pots is  what Judge Jefferies was to the Monmought rebels I took that as a great success.

Mind you, the number of entries at our club that night it wasn’t hard to get a place