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The Art Of Bonsai

Twin trunk style bonsai (Acer buergerianum)
Maple and fern | Mendip Bonsai Studio

Bonsai trees provoke mixed responses, although well grown, they can be as beautiful as one of nature’s giants. This Trident maple (Acer buergerianum), grown in the twin trunk style, is around 120 years old. Its eggcup sized companion is some kind of fern. Techniques to keep plants so small include wiring them into shape, then pruning roots and branches while restricting them to very small containers.

It’s tempting to see them and feel torn. Is it unnatural? If so, is going against nature cruel? Continue reading “The Art Of Bonsai”

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Epiphytes In A Crape Myrtle, French Quarter, New Orleans

Billbergia nutans in a Crape Myrtle tree

If you were asked where is your favourite tree, and what kind of tree is it, what would you answer? This hospitable crape myrtle, growing in the garden of a purple house on Dumaine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, is one of my favourites. I am several thousand miles away, so can only think back fondly to the last time my sweetheart and I saw it. Continue reading “Epiphytes In A Crape Myrtle, French Quarter, New Orleans”

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The Candle Tree, Parmentiera cereifera

Fallen candle fruit and flowers
Fallen candle fruit and flowers

My first and only sight of candle fruit hanging from a tree was at the Fruit and Spice Park in Redland, Florida. Their Parmentiera cereifera, a biggish, branching tree, frankly amazed me.

Flowers sprouted direct from the trunk and branches, held close to the tree on stalks no longer than the flowers themselves. They were like pale green ballroom dresses with burgundy veins, looking delicate but rather strange against the bark. Continue reading “The Candle Tree, Parmentiera cereifera”

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Ai Weiwei’s Iron Tree (2013)

Iron Tree (2013) by Ai Weiwei - a pieced together tree - beside a chapel

‘Iron Tree comprises 99 elements cast in iron… interlocked using a classic – and here exaggerated – Chinese method of joining, with prominent nuts and screws.’

From the Yorkshire Sculpture Park notes

Glimpsed from a distance, Ai Weiwei’s fake trees pass as real, but dead. As you draw closer, your mind engages with the forms and construction and questions arise. What is it? Why is it? Are the branches actually roots? Is it wood? Continue reading “Ai Weiwei’s Iron Tree (2013)”