Myrtle

Myrtles have beautiful bark, beautiful leaves, and beautiful flowers. Most myrtles come from asia. The popular one in Southern California came from china/ korea.

At the last bonsai meeting it was 2 ½ hours all about Myrtles. It was fantastic. I had not considered this tree for bonsai. Its beauty and fast growth made the myrtle more desirable. I learned that the myrtle is easy to grow from cuttings. As these are abundant trees in my area and they grow many branches from the base of the tree (suckers) it was an easy decision to try my hand at this tree.

I cut these branches friday June 17th. It was about 9:30 in the evening. I had gone to a dinner with my wife and on the way home I picked them up. I could not see where I was cutting it was to dark. I managed to cut some long stems. I placed them in a cup of water. The weather had been hot, so the tips of the branches were a little wilted. The next day in the morning the tips looked a little better.

I placed the cuttings in a bark medium four days after I original cut them. The bark was the kind used for potting orchids. Then we got hit by a heat wave. I thought I was going to lose all the plants. Two of them survived. YAY! It did look like I had lost them all. However, I kept watering the myrtle.  

I am going to go cut some more. Cheers.

Guerilla gardening...

Collected California coastal live oak in reused water bottle

I believe wholeheartedly that everybody irrelevant of where they live should grow some kind of edible plant some time in their lives. Of course some people absolutely are not able too, but the vast majority can. What does this have to do with bonsai bro? I will tell you. Bonsai is a specialized branch of horticulture. All of the same things that apply to bonsai apply to raising food stuffs. There will be some modifications. Growing bonsai can be more difficult than growing food. Another similarity is guerilla gardening for bonsai and growing vegetables.

Collected Epiphyte

No, this may not be what you may expect. What it is is that sometimes we have to use the things that are at our disposal and not necessarily things we go out and buy. There are different levels of guerilla gardening. I started by collecting seeds. I loved collecting pods and what nots. I would try to grow some. Some would grow, and some would not. Later I would cut jugs open and grow strawberries in them. When I got into bonsai I was able to harvest epiphytic ficus. At my place of employment the gardeners for years have hacked and tried to poison them. They were unwanted, well, not really because I wanted them. I would come to work early, or after work I would cut them out of the trees they were growing out of. I was able to collect some very nice trunks with lots of potential. Sometimes the gardners dumped the pots after they planted some annuals. Yes, I collect those too. When I can't find some pots and I need them i cut open the water bottles that I drink at work. I punch holes with a hot wire.

Collected Wisteria seeds

Discarded Stone pine

Collected Cork oak acorn

I have collected seedlings when I knew they would be mowed. I still collect seeds. I found a California coastal live oak in front of an industrial building. The acorns get crushed by the cars. I try to save as many as possible. I collect wisteria pods in the fall. Where I collect them they get cut off and thrown away.  This last year I collected italian pine trees, aleppo pine trees, and rosemary. They were bought as mini christmas trees. Then after the holidays they were discarded . I thought to myself, what a waste. Some can be made into bonsai now, some will have to wait.

Collected Epiphyte

I am always on the lookout for construction sites. They will always clear a lot before building. Sometimes you can get permission and rescue old bushes. Most will die, but the ones that don't will probably be able to take pruning and root cutting.

Some people don't have an interest in bonsai. They should still grow things. Herbs like rosemary, and parsley are easy and don't need that much space and light. Growing plants gives us a peaceful feeling. Eating plants that we grow gives us satisfaction. Seeds for fruits and vegetables are inexpensive. You can use a two liter bottle of a soft drink to grow herbs. Cut the top off and place on the ground or hang off of a fence or tree.

Collected Kapok seeds

The point is to be creative. To use ingenuity to solve problems. To use the things around you so that you don't have to buy more things. Cheers.