Usually the varieties used for bonsai have flowers just the size of the centers alone of these flowers. This was just a division from the mum in the yard, nothing special. Next time, I would like to try a variety with flowers more to scale.
Early in the spring I took a small, single stem division from the mum in the yard. I spread the short roots over the top of the stone. Then I used sphagnum to make trails down the rock and covered it with aluminum foil. As the roots grew, they followed the sphagnum lines down the rock. After a couple of months, I started gradually rolling down the foil from the top and washing away the sphagnum. This took a long time, because I could only expose a couple centimeters of roots each week.
The roots made it through a small hole in the rock that I didn't even know was there until I saw the roots coming out of it. So it's anchored down quite well.
The "trunk" and limbs were bent and shaped by very small diameter copper wire. That has to be done carefully and before the stems harden too much because mum stems become very brittle.
It made it safely to the group meeting Sunday. It looked really out of place amongst the featured mame and shohin sized bonsai. There were only a few other chuhin Bonsai there.
The stand is one that I'd made from a black walnut tree my grandparents cut down many years ago. It's all solid wood. Not laminated glue-ups.
David
