Hernia Alert !

Just got back from Spain. Found these little beauties a mile from where we were staying

My Spanish is poor and the owners English was not good either,so did'nt find out a price

This was my favorite

Did find this old Pomegranate with a price of 750.00 Euros

Forget the hernia, as Roy Schneider said in Jaws, "We going to need a bigger crane!"

It proves Olives don't need a lot of roots. Amazing trees.

Made several trips into the mountains. Absolutely stunning! There was Bonsai material EVERYWHERE. Olives, Junipers ,Rosemary, Oaks, Figs and Pistacio,to name but a few.

Anyone know what variety of Oak this is? Incredibly spiny and hostile for its size. My ankles are still suffering.

Shohin Rosemary's everywhere

holy ****! Did you ask them if you could get them potted up in a nice Tokoname?
Where in Spain were you? My brother has moved to Barcelona and i'm planning a visit soon and all I can think of is if there are any nice nurseries around
I know there's at least one so I'm really looking forward to it, I'm afraid my brother won't see too much of me thou, haha

What type of Oak is this?

It is Kermes Oak, Quercus coccifera.

I came across them in Crete a couple of years ago and exclaimed, 'what are these Holly trees doing with acorns on them'. I collected some of the acorns and successfully germinated them. I have four very small slow growing trees.

Crete as with much of Greece and the Mediterranean; Spain included has excellent yamadori, and very few bonsaists it would appear. Them hills are calling. The only problem is if you have flown there on holiday. Bit tricky bringing anything other than seeds back.

They are incredible. I'm sitting here nursing a big scar . Little trees make for a quiet life.

Hi Henrik The huge Olives are about 160 k south of Barcelona on the N 340 just south of a town called Cambrils. The mountains are all over the Costa Durada, but we spent most of our time in the Serra De Tivissa and Serra Del Boix
Hi NJF Thanks for the identification. I managed to collect loads and loads of seeds. Not sure about collecting though as most areas are national parks i think? Could have brought back loads as some of the trees sat in little indents in rocks. they lift out soil and all, but without permission i did'nt want to risk a hefty fine. Seeds will have to do! Still love growing stuff from seed anyway.

will baddeley wrote:... Bonsai material EVERYWHERE. Olives, Junipers ,Rosemary, Oaks, Figs and Pistacio,to name but a few.

sounds delicious,

Thanks for posting your adventures

Hi Rock. Yes it was delicious. Over did it with a Fig frenzy one day, not good at the top of a mountain!!!

Hi Smithy . Operation went ok then? Keep away from the big ones for a while eh !

Hi Will ,yes op went well thanks ,a bit sore ,I was healing well untill i kicked the football back to my son which seems to have set me back a week. . The worst bit is not being able to work with no sick pay . The way i feel at the moment i won't be digging any more trees up.


Those olives make me hurt looking at them

Visited Mistral Bonsai while i was down that way. The place is absolutely massive! Seemed to deal mainly with garden center bonsai but i found a large area of Japanese imports and a smaller section of collected material. These two areas were very expensive and unfortunately i forgot my camera, but for instance i found a tiny Olive the size of my little finger . It had reasonable deadwood on it and two tiny sprigs for foliage. Price 1500.00 euros!