Phempis Acidula planted on rock

Hi IBC.
Very hot summer days here.-35 deg C. very ideal for phempis works. But I consumed half gallon of drinking water before I finished this one.

Here is one I did today. Phempis acidula mounted on rock. Good phempis materials are hard to find now, specially the ones with natural rocks attached to the tree. So I created this one instead-style is windswept root over rock rock planting (what ever... ). taken into consideration the health of the tree in the future and the species special needs for re potting.


Hollowed out the rock to accommodate the entire root mass, Old "soil" medium included. Rock holes were were created for the roots to pass thru and be able to feed and grow on the pot. phempis needs as much soil volume as possible to remain healthy.


wires were placed for tree anchorage.



Precision rock cutting (almost) were the most tricky part as the tree got so much twisting trunk and all sides touching the rock must fit well to create image of good unison and bonding between the tree and rock. A less than .50 CM gap were necessary for the bark protection.



Mounted the phempis on the rock. Moss were placed not just for aesthetic but more for root protection from the sun.




before trimming












This was supposed to be the back side....but after removing the foliage mass I think this one is more suitable as front...downside, not so much trunk here.




This was the front I was originally thinking of.







regards,
jun

Jun,
Good to see you posting again. I was missing your threads for a bit there. I like this composition, it has a lot of character. I think either side could work as the front. The original backside has more character to the stone, and the original front side provides more trunk character. Maybe you could design the canopy so both sides work well and then you could change it up as your mood desires. Keep up the great work.

Todd

Jun,

Either way looks good which is how a good bonsai should be . Good job as always.

JUN,, This one i think is nice.. just my opion but why can,t you use the side you wanted for the front ??? i like that side also.. but i can,t design the way you do.. anyway it is a good bonsai,send it over !! take care john

Excellent composition.

What kind of rock is that, and what did you use to hollow it out? I have been working on a similar project and have not found the right tool yet.

- bob

hi jun , nice tree, its funny you posting this today because i was planting pemphis on coral rocks yesterday as well, however not as good as yours. i had some 6/8 month old pemphis rooted cuttings that were growing strong so i decieded to plant them on some rocks . BUT my question is what do you do about growing moss with pemphis, especialy on rocks because as soon as you give them salt it kills the moss ???? i,v got a big pemphis that was covered with moss when i bought it because the trader did not use salt, but as soon as i put salt on ,, dead moss . i was looking in roberts book today and all his pemphis on rock has good moss . how?? regards john

DreadyKGB wrote:Jun,
Good to see you posting again. I was missing your threads for a bit there. I like this composition, it has a lot of character. I think either side could work as the front. The original backside has more character to the stone, and the original front side provides more trunk character. Maybe you could design the canopy so both sides work well and then you could change it up as your mood desires. Keep up the great work.

Todd

Thanks Todd!

my apology for not posting much last month. All the branches of this tree are well positioned for either front, and sometimes having different options for the right front becomes a burden.

regards,
jun

Poink88 wrote:Jun,

Either way looks good which is how a good bonsai should be . Good job as always.

Thanks Dario!

regards,
jun

moyogijohn wrote:JUN,, This one i think is nice.. just my opion but why can,t you use the side you wanted for the front ??? i like that side also.. but i can,t design the way you do.. anyway it is a good bonsai,send it over !! take care john

Hi John.

Thanks so much! and thanks for the PM too.

with the tree and front- this tree got a natural windswept primary branches and the movement of the trunk expresses a good character for the windswept design too. The original front was the one I developed when the tree was still in an ordinary pot...but like I said after positioning the tree and tilted it slightly, more of the dramatic deadwood at the back seemed to be enhanced and the movement of the secondary branches were exposed well for the windswept character.

-I read this somewhere: "Showing everything is showing nothing"


regards,
jun

cbobgo wrote:Excellent composition.

What kind of rock is that, and what did you use to hollow it out? I have been working on a similar project and have not found the right tool yet.

- bob

Hi Bob.

This is a limestone rock,,,I think the rocks we are using here is still the young in terms of rock life formation as we can still separate some seashells and fossilized leaves from the rocks. and the inner part of the boulders were still soft and very easy to carve. One of the goodthing I like this rock is that moss develop easily on the rock surface.

Good luck with your rock hunting and rock planting project. hope to see it soon here.


regards,
jun

john5555leonard wrote:hi jun , nice tree, its funny you posting this today because i was planting pemphis on coral rocks yesterday as well, however not as good as yours. i had some 6/8 month old pemphis rooted cuttings that were growing strong so i decieded to plant them on some rocks . BUT my question is what do you do about growing moss with pemphis, especialy on rocks because as soon as you give them salt it kills the moss ???? i,v got a big pemphis that was covered with moss when i bought it because the trader did not use salt, but as soon as i put salt on ,, dead moss . i was looking in roberts book today and all his pemphis on rock has good moss . how?? regards john

Oh come on John!! I have seen pictures of your works before you moved to Asia. They are masterpieces, I am sure your works with tropicals will better results in due time.

But with the Phempis as cuttings, to be honest I haven't seen one as a finished tree. Phempis trunk grows very slow, and it needs the natural battering of the wind and sea to create the twist and turn of trunks and branches. So, yours would be nice to see as a completed tree, but I am telling you it would take very long time.

With the moss. I just used fresh moss on this one on top of the soil. fresh moss will have cooler temperature effect for the roots that were exposed during the transplant. As for the rock surface, limestone will develop natural moss on it in a short period of time. As for the salt, I rarely put salt these days on my Phempis I shifted to natural fermented fish, it got more nutrients that salt alone could not provide. And sometimes I observed that too much salt makes the branches brittle and more sensitive to wiring. The living moss on the ground of course will not always be there. but this tree will not be feed with fermented fish until the tree recovers well and adjusted to it's new "house". By that time the moss already serve its purpose and the roots by then are well entrenched. And like other bonsai, moss for aesthetic purposes will be added only for show/exhibit and photo purposes.

As for Robert's trees. He used to be a magician turns artisan...just kidding. probably the same thing as I am doing...but we'll see from him personally if he responded in this thread.


PS. Don't spray salt solution or fermented fish on the rocks. cover it as much as possible and put the solution directly near the trunk, and spray the leaves well.

regards,
jun

Excellent composition! Windswept on a rocky ridge.

Thanks Snobird!
Glad you like it.

Regards,
jun