Some Penjing and Bonsai of China

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

A personal Bonsai and or Penjing collection in the front grounds of a Pharmaceutical packaging company. Most of the pines are the local Chinese red pine (pinus massoniana) that were collected many years ago as much skinnier trees that were then cut and bent; then grown on. There were some photos of the original trees but no ages etc.

Some Japanese Black and Red pines were also there but most of these had been imported from Japan.

Buxus harlandii and me for scale.JPG

Chinese elm.JPG

Pinus massoniana 2.JPG

For scale.JPG

Murraya.JPG

Not sure but interesting twisting.JPG

Pinus massoniana (Chinese red pine).JPG

Pinus massoniana 3.JPG

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Pinus massoniana 4.JPG

Pinus massoniana 5.JPG

Pinus massoniana 6.JPG

Pinus massoniana 7.JPG

Taxodium ascendens.JPG

1 Some general views 1.JPG

2.JPG

3.JPG

4.JPG

5.JPG

Most of the trees are huge as you can see by the people to scale.

Grant

[Timothy]

Some beautiful trees. Is'nt there a limit to the height of bonsai ?
What do you guys think? To me it seems impractical to have such huge trees. Imagine repotting time?

[Grant Bowie]

Some beautiful trees. Is'nt there a limit to the height of bonsai ?
What do you guys think? To me it seems impractical to have such huge trees. Imagine repotting time?

I agree they are all too big but it is not my country.

I heard a discussion on this very point and supposedly the limit is now 1.2 mtrs in china and .9 mtrs in japan; but as to china;


Firstly,

Manpower is not a problem in China; average wage only about $6,000 per year and for many hours and not much overtime pay etc. The trees are now being repotted more regularly than ever before as they imitate the rest of the world of bonsai practices. Needle size has not yet been handled well that I saw.

Secondly,

No Chinese would acknowledge any rules to abide by as to size. Despite being highly regulated by government they will ignore everything they can get away with. There is little consideration for other people; it is all about them first. Try getting out of a bus or lift and not be trampled by people wanting to get in; its head down and charge( from Grandmothers to little girls)

Thirdly;

Size is important to the Chinese. It brings prestige(Conspicuous consumption?)

Grant

[Timothy]

A bit of a culture shock ?
Thanks for the info.

[Boics]

Some great trees there and nice clear photos.

The size debate is interesting.
While I prefer smaller trees at the end of the day these larger trees make convincing representations of much larger specimens again.

Take for instance that massive tree that Grant stands beside. If there were no scale one could easily think the tree was 5, 10, 20 or 100 times the size.
They are in a pot - is this not Bonsai?

[Josh]

Thanks for sharing Grant. So when you say they were in the front grounds of the company, were they protected or just open to the public. That is an amazing collection anyway you look at it.
With the wind we had here lately I saw a couple of English elms that had been blown over. They were being cut up and mulched. I thought about asking for the stumps to try and get them to retrospect but they were over 4 feet wide. If I'd got them, regrown a top and put into a pot would they bd bonsai or just stumps in pots.
I think there should/could be a classification for bigger trees as there is for smaller trees. The big one is still awesome no matter what the rules say and I certainly wouldn't say no to it. Awesome display, thanks Grant.

Josh.

[Bougy Fan]

Thanks for posting Grant - guess it's different strokes for different folks. Would love to have the "problem" of one of them in my yard

[Grant Bowie]

Re security at the bonsai collection,

There are guards everywhere in china; even housing complexes. If there weren't guards everything would disappear very quickly.

Most Factories have guard houses at the entrance and would have guards around the clock. I am not sure if it is open to the public all the time.

grant

[Soru]

Thanks for sharing your pictures.... they are really interesting as are the observations of Chinese culture!

[Grant Bowie]

At this particular collection the owner told us that all the pines that he had grown and shaped were by clip and grow; no wire on the branches except for pulling down and sharp bends. The trees looked in good condition and a few of our tour group that had visited before said the trees were in much better condition than last time.

Grant

[Tambrand]

Just wanted to say thank you.
I am not bothered by the size.
Tambrand

[DustyRusty]

Wow! Beautiful trees. Each very unique. Thanks Grant.

I agree with Boics, if you can get it in a Bonsai pot then it's not
too big.

[Grant Bowie]

This was a very large, very formal, very well presented show of Bonsai, pots and Suiseki.

lots of trees were wired but lots of clip and grow as well. Most of the trees were to be auctioned and some were estimated to sell for around $180,000.

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[Grant Bowie]

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