[Category 1] Leptospermum polygalifolium

[Ash]

Wild Leptospermum.jpg

My inspiration for this bonsai is the beautiful Leptosperumum that grow on the exposed granite peaks of high tropical rainforest clad mountains of north Queensland (see photograph above). The bonsai I am entering in the Australian Native Bonsai Awards 2011 is a Leptospermum polygalifolium styled entirely by me from stock collected in 2001. The lower trunk, shari and sabamiki are natural but the undulating branches and fine ramifications have all been grown from tiny buds that emerged ten years ago. I have trimmed this tree, shoot by shoot, with fine scissors nearly every week for a decade to achieve the ramification and foliage shape in my photograph of wild Leptospermum. This is the first time this bonsai has been exhibited.

Bonsai leptospermum.jpg

Species: Leptospermum polygalifolium Salisb.
Period in training: ten years two months
Form: informal Upright / slanting
Dimensions: 710 mm (including pot) x 700 mm
Pot: 390 mm x 90 mm
Artist/Horticulturalist: Ash, north Queensland