The Art of Bonsai

Tag: aerial roots

  • Nearly 40 years

    This is a Ficus rubiginosa grown from seed collected by a friend while traveling in Australia. I bought the young tree from him about 40 years ago. The photo shows how the tree has evolved from the left side photo taken in 1985 to the right photo taken in 2019. Rubginosa is one of the…

  • The tree with no taper

    There are many ways to handle a tree with little or no apparent taper. In this case a Ficus ‘Mystery’ was grown from a very straight and taperless cutting. Fortunately there were several existing aerial roots that were brought down along the trunk and rooted into the ground. The aerial roots provide a visual thickening…

  • Slave branches

    Slave branches are used to thicken a bonsai trunk or even branch. By allowing wild and untrimmed growth of these branches the trunk or branch can be thickened. Once the thickening is done the slave branch can be removed or trimmed back.   The branch thus thickened, as in this case, now has a proper…

  • Ficus microcarpa in the Denver Botanic Garden

    I was gifted this Ficus microcarpa from my good friend David Fukumoto in 2004. It was just accepted into the bonsai collection of the Denver Botanic Garden this July of 2015. I am greatly honored to have one of my best trees find a wonderful home for the next phase of its life. A place…