Today's bonsai of the day is chosen for being the total diva of my collection. It has class and style, and is booming with natural talent and potential.
ID: 0008
Nickname: Eartha
Type: Pussywillow
Age: 2 years
Grown: cutting
Last repotting: early summer 2017
Wired: early summer 2017
Of all the inspiring kitty kat names, Eartha seemed like a great one to pick for this young tree. It is hard to remember how I started growing this tree, but I think it was a cutting from KitKat, shown in my previous posting, or possibly one of my original cuttings purchased from the florist. She is adapting very quickly to her new wiring. The new bends make it look as though she is swinging to the variety of soul music I love. Can you see the burlesque femininity in this sexy sapling? Look at all of those branches budding out from all over! Truly full of life, and loves me dearly for the care I give.
Eartha Kitt, the obvious inspiration was a true presence to behold. She loved to embody the cat, and furthermore started the entire trend of the sassy, sexy, cat on the prowl that we now commonly associate with the animal. That's what got people to notice her. Just look at her eyes, and she pulls you in. I think she was an artist who stayed true to form in an age where you could make a lot more money by selling a more mainstream product producers were looking for. That is a bold character choice you have to respect her for. She even continued on successfully to record more popular dance songs at an age in life when most agents would tell her to retire. In that spirit, I hope I can one day nurture one of my young bonsai trees into a fully mature age filled with Eartha's unique style of alluring character.
From the Rahmaiya Lewis channel on youtube
In this post I'm going to share some of the pruning work I chose to make on this tree. There are many new green branches growing long and upright. My primary plan was fairly simple: trim the new branches down close to the primary branches, leaving only a few leaves on each one. Any new branches growing growing out in strange directions would be removed completely. There is still a chance that I can promote new buds to sprout before the summer ends.
Not nearly as attractive as before. This photo is from the reverse view of the tree. It really does have a good bone structure. I think it will look even better next season. The two branches criss-crossing each other's view on the right side look very straight from this angle. Hopefully it will grow some branches in new directions to give some better directional change options for me to choose from in the future. I probably won't dare cut either of those main branches back until winter is in full swing. This tree has a lot of body and width, but not a clear apex. Next time I repot the tree, I think I might be able to plant the tree in a tipped direction to make the left branch seem to climb more clearly to the top center position. I don't really like this tree growing in the upright shape, so I might consider planting it in the half-cascade style in the future since I do not currently grow any of my bonsai reaching over the pot edge.
About the wiring. I am new to learning how to choose the correct wire, and I am sort of cheap on how I go about it. For me it is more about learning, trying new things, and making mistakes. My preference is always to pick a cheaper solution that might work for me, rather than following all of the formal bonsai rules and using the correct tools and techniques. So the wire I wrapped my tree in is basic green wire sold at the store for use on garden tomato vines. There is also a thick copper wire angled along the trunk. What I did was bend the copper wire first into the wave direction I wanted, and used the green wire to sculpt the trunk tightly along it. The green wire alone would not have been strong enough to bend the trunk, and the thick wire was much too strong for me to attempt to wrap it around a soft wood. Compromises had to be made using the materials I had on hand.
On the top branch, there is also a crisscrossing wire, which I know is considered bad technique. The only reason I did this was because I wanted to double back down the branch with my slack wire, so that the metal would give me better strength support to bend the branch more deeply. The crisscross at the end is where I angled back the cut wire because I did not want it sticking out or poking into the tree. Looking back, a stronger wire would probably be ideal on most of these side branches to help hold the curvature I was going for. Most of them are barely showing any signs of curve from this viewpoint.
This top view is actually looking much better than the view from the back of the tree. The foliage is much more visible too. You can also see the pile of leaves that were removed.
Here is a top view of KitKat, from the previous post, right after she was trimmed. They almost look like the same tree from the top. Just posting it here, because I forgot I had taken these photos on the same day when I was working on them.
Honorary photo of the day is this welcome view of the clouds concealing the sun through the tree branches.
We hadn't seen any rain nearly all summer long, so this was a welcomed sign after a week of forest fires polluting our air and skies.
I am truly blessed to live in a land filled with tall and mighty trees in all directions as far as the eye can see. This may sound weird, but I have always felt like they have been protecting me throughout my life. Does anyone else ever feel spiritual about the trees in that way?