First of all, thanks to everyone who responded to my post about red
maples. As a beginner, this group is a lot of help to me.


That's what we're for . . .

snip

'm both excited
about the possibilites and depressed about the collection of hacked up
junipers and boxwoods on my patio. I guess part of my lesson of the
day is that it looks like if you buy an unpromising plant and bust your
backside for the better part of a decade, you can have a respectable
looking bonsai. On the other hand, if you buy an already great plant
and bust your butt for the better part of a decade (and somehow learn
some skill along the way), you can make a bonsai that is a wonder to
behold.


Some of it is why you are interested in bonsai in the first
place. You may find that its the path to the bonsai that is the
most rewarding, not necessarily owning or doing THE prize-
winning tree. It may be doing as well as you can, but not being
the world's bonsai poobah. It may just be the peace and
tranquillity while you sit among your trees -- and we all can
use more of that.

It's probably still worth it for me to work on average plants because I
need to figure out what I'm doing somehow, but I can now see as how
buying $12 red maples at the hardware store probably isn't what bonsai
masters do.

If they're out to prove "mastership" they may do just that; how
better to show what you can do than to take a clunker and make a
ferrari out of it?

But you're right (and see above for, perhaps, a better outlook ;-
). Probably most "masterpiece" trees were other-than-hardware
specimens. Time was when the masterpieces were all collected
trees, but that's becoming more and more difficult these days,
and carefully nurtured nursery or home-grown trees are the more
likely candidates today.


So anyway, my question is totally unrelated to this. Is there any good
books about bonsai that people recommend? Pretty much all of the ones
I've seen are beginning surveys of the techniques, which is fine but
there's only so many of those you need to read.

I suggest you look at the Book Review and Knowledge Base
Sections of the IBC website (URL below). Bart's advice is
excellent, also.

For bonsai design "standards" and how-to, I suggest David
DeGroot's "Basic Bonsai Design" as THE best to start with. It
is available from the American Bonsai Society only, as far as I
know. Colin Lewis' "The Art of Bonsai Design" gives you insight
into his philosophy. Another Brit, Peter Adams has a series of
now-hard-to-find books that deal with the how-to of design.
www.bibliofind.com or www.abebooks.com will be your best bets
for Peter's books. Deborah Koreshoff's book -- "Bonsai: It's
Art, Science, History and Philosophy" -- is, perhaps, the best
overall bonsai text out there today. It may be out of print now
and if so that's a shame, but would be available at either of
the above URLs. I just got Charles Ceronio's "Bonsai Styles of
the World" which is very useful, but overly expensive.

Jim Lewis - - This economy is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

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