I still miss the summer…

I miss the summer

Helleborus

The Helebore sp. ( Helleborus niger and H. hybridus) are evergreen and perennial plants. Quite decorative, if you ask me.

I keep wondering how’d it look if in a bright colored kusamono pot, specially the H. hybridus one. In the garden of my mother they are up to 50 cm high with leaves, as big as my head (and I have a big melon on my neck).

H. niger

H. hybridus

H.niger

 

Bonus: some inspirational helleborus kusamono:

Galanthus sp.

These are two different Galanthus sp. (angustilolius and nivalis) in the garden of my mom.

Galanthus are bulbous, perennial, alpine plants. They do not seem to have a problem with the chalky soil in the garden. They bloom from early January to May in the wild, and they need the cold to bloom. Propagation: offset bulbs (dig them out very carefully in the dormant phase), or seeds (ants go crazy over the seeds).

G. angustifolius is a later blooming plant, from the Caucasus. Interestingly, they do not seem to propagate by themselves, not like the G.nivalis.

The bunch of G. nivalis was a gift from my grandma, from Romania. They grow vigorously.

 

G. angustifolius

G. nivalis

G.nivalis

G. nivalis

 

Bonus:  have some inspirational snowdrop kusamono

SONY DSC

a cautious spring greeting

I’ve been out in my new garden to look around, what’s growing out there on its own. So many beautiful primroses (Primula vulgaris) in different natural colors (white, buttercream and washed-out-cherryjuice-stain).

I’m quite happy with them, they’d make great kusamonos. BUT! I’ve just found out, they are on the Red List in Germany (which means, they cannot be collected, nor plucked). Fun fact, it needs a fungus as a root symbiont (Glomeromycota), and its seeds get propagated through ants. Sooo, I’ll try to be faster than the ants.

Mom has several true oxlip (Primula elatior) plants. She always collects the seedpods. I’ll bribe her to give me some, and I’ll grow some in a pot.

Primula elatior

 

Also, I have a lot of false strawberries (Potentilla incica), colewort (Geum urbanum), and lots of lawn daisies (Bellis perennis). I’ll have really nice kusamonos.

My trees are, as far as I could see, all alive and budding nicely. Not one of them seems dead yet, although the rhododendron seem to have some stress. They are still in their pots from the shop, so that may be the problem.

this is my Tilia cordata

inspirational bonus:

• primula kusamono

 

• Potentilla indica kusamono:

Bonsai &Kusamono Exhibition Hallein

A few words to the location, that was quite impressive. It was the Old Salt Deposit in Hallein, Austria.

So in the first picture you could figure it is sand on the ground , under those beautiful azaleas. It’s not! It’s salt.

The first thing I noticed – besides the trees- was the slight burning in my lungs and the salt flowers on the timbers. The temperature was most enjoyably cool, compared to the outside (32°C, or 89°F).

Here is a selection of the trees I adored most:

Salix

This are pics from my birth town, somewhere in the far west of Romania. The river is the heart of the city. No one really bothers with it, so nature sometimes claims its shores, in a truly romantic way… Okay, okay…

It’s more like a place for hobos to sleep and to take a shit. And you don’t go there unless you wanna get mugged. But I remember the hot summers of my childhood, when I watched all the happy children swing from the low dipping branches of the weeping willows. Yeah, watched, cause I couldn’t swim, and most of the time I was sick.

 

 

 

Cherry trees in Japan

2014 and 2015.

Hanami, the cherry flowers in Japan.

What is Japan without its cherry flowers? Japanese people go crazy over a proper flowering cherry tree. As you can imagine, there are so many varieties (over 200), all of them cultivated for their bloom.

The color variations go from: white, pink, cream, peach, yellow to nearly green.

I was most impressed by the “sad cherry”. I dubbed it sad cherry, cause I had no other name for it. There is the one pic I held my hand out. Then, six months later, I saw a Prunus incisa “Kojo-No-Mai” at a shopping mall. I had to buy one. I wanted it to be my first proper bonsai tree.

Back to the question: Why do the Japanese admire the cherry flowers?

Salix on the shore of Lake Chiemsee

My best friend just had birthday. I booked us a great mini holiday in the district of Salzburg. We had some great days in Kitzbühel.

On our way back, we took a quick detour for lunch in Germany.

Kyoto

2015. February. Kyoto, Japan.