In a message dated 3/8/2004 3:33:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, writes:


Michael:

Which one did you work with? This specimen has 1/5 inch long 1/4
inch wide leaves, which is much better than the 3-inch leaves of
other Pieris cultivars at the nursery. Dirr says 'Pygmaea'
leaves are 1/2" to 1" long. The nursery had this one growing in
the shade, which may be why leaves are a bit larger.

Jim:

The leaves will indeed reduce to around 1 inch or less--at least this was my experience.



It was the need to leave leaders that I was wondering about.
This one has 3 trunks about the size of a broomstick; the one I'd
like to cut would be leafless if I cut where I want.

Maybe I have to do it in stages over a few years????

Most of the nursery specimens have three trunks. You can safely remove one or even two of the trunks this season.

I've seen pictures (in BT, I think, but I've lost my index
of BT
galleries) of some very nice Pieris bonsai.

You will find the tree rewarding to style and develop over the years. I am finding myself caught between an unquenchable thirst to keep everything that I create and letting things go so that I can take promising and already existing specimens to the next
level.

Pieris simply isn't in my backyard, but that does not mean that it shouldn't be in yours. );-)

I am just another practitioner in the sea of bonsai artists expressing a personal preference. I also prefer red wines!

Cordially,

Michael Persiano
members.aol.com/iasnob/index.html



Thanks, Michael.

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