Final Blaze of Colour

I managed to dodge the showers today and had enough light to get some final pictures of the display benches with the trees in the final stages of autumn colour.  With the rain and wind this week, most of the leaves will be gone in a few days and then comes the long wait for spring. :(

Click on the photos to see the full size picture

You little beauty

Looking through the 1000's of  newly imported trees at the importers, I generally try pick out the nicer ones for re-sale at the nursery and on the website, looking for good trunks, movement and branching..  There were actually a good number of these, but one really caught my eye and will be staying with me for further development.
The picture does not really do it justice (the old problem of displaying a 3 dimensional object in 2 dimensions).
The tree has nice taper, good branch placement (although a few too many at the moment) and a nice gentle movement from the base to the apex.  I will most likely have to grow a new set of roots as the flare on these little trees is generally less than ideal.  This will be a nice shohin in the future.  Cannot wait to start working on it in the spring next year.

Possible front

probably the back

Greenhouse heater on standby

Well, it looks like it's going to be cold overnight, and with all the cuttings and seedlings now under glass,  I have set up the electric heater in the greenhouse. The thermostat is set to 3C, to make sure the greenhouse stays frost free.  Better safe than sorry.

I will also be moving some of the trees that had a hard time last winter into the unheated greenhouse to give them a bit of protection from the worst of the weather.

Having lost a few nice trees last year, I will not be taking any chances.

New stock at mikobonsai.co.uk

Just spent a few days to get the new arrivals ready for sale.  All cleaned up trimmed and top dressed now, they will be posted on the website tomorrow. Just need to write up the descriptions.

Some more autumn colour

Two more of the Trident Maples have just turned.  Autumn at it's best.

Propagation corner

Spent the day yesterday to move some of my cuttings and separated air layers into the greenhouse for winter protection. Still have about 100 seedlings to move, but that will have to wait until the newly arrived stock has been cleaned up and got ready for sale.

Maple and Chinese Elm Cuttings on the left

Cork Bark Elm and Lace Bark Elm Cuttings

Root cuttings of Chinese Elm and Wild Pear

Autumn colour

Winter Preparations

It's that time of year again :(
With temperatures dropping to below 10C overnight now on a regular basis, it is time to think about giving some protection to the less hardy trees (Fig, Chinese Elm, Sageretia, Chinese Box, Carmona).
I'll be spending the day to put up the bubble wrap insulation in the greenhouse.  At the same time, I will give the greenhouse benches and floor a good clean, removing any plant debris, moss and sneaky weeds that may have accumulated over the summer months.