Bonsai and Pots

Last July we made our first trip to the Salem Art Festival in Salem, Oregon. It was at that wonderful festival that I purchased my pre-bonsai Chinese Elm tree.

A pre-bonsai has been partially trained and is significantly less expensive than a true bonsai. A pre-bonsai, therefore, is a great way for a beginner to learn the art of bonsai. Since I am the definition of beginner when it comes to bonsai, I purchased this book.



Purchasing the tree in the middle of summer meant there was little I needed to do besides keep it watered and fertilized. Much to my delight, I kept the tree alive and growing over the hot summer we had last year. When the weather started to turn in late fall, I moved the tree up next to the house where it sat until recently.

Over the long winter I researched new pots for transplanting the tree. Rather than purchase just any bonsai pot though, I decided to ask my friend at work if he could make one. I've mentioned Bob's work before as he's made just about all my plates and bowls (pictured). Lucky for me, he bought a kiln last fall and can now churn out the pottery any time I want he wants!

Just look at the wonderful pot he made for my tree! His work is seriously beautiful.

Alas, winter in Portland this year seemed to really hang on and we had multiple late February - early March snows, however, the weather did finally seem to turn the second weekend of March and I was more than ready to try my hand at re-potting my bonsai.

Armed with my book knowledge, I started by preparing my new pot, covering the bottom holes with some garden fabric I had already.

I then fed a couple 6-8 inch pieces of wire through the bottom small holes and through the fabric. Since the typical bonsai pot is rather shallow, the wire is used to tie the roots to the pot.

Now the fun part; I get to use my tiny tool set! After cutting around the edge of the pot the tree was in, I carefully lifted it out and used the tiny rake to gently untangle the roots.

It became more evident once the roots were untangled as to where to cut. In this case, I cut all the lanky, long straggler roots then rinsed the root ball.

I then placed the root ball in the pot around the wires. Aesthetically, it's important to place the tree slightly off-center in the pot. Next, I gently twisted the wires securing the tree to the pot.

Finally, I added soil to cover the tiny exposed roots and watered, waiting to fertilize until the growing season starts in earnest.

Some bonsai trees require very specific soil, in the case of the Chinese Elm, I was able to just use a basic bonsai soil mix.

I gave my tree a little trim to the branches and placed it back  against the house to protect it until the fear of frost is over, hopefully soon! Time will tell on whether this re-potting was successful, fingers are crossed!

**Update** I'm happy to report, my bonsai re-potting was successful!

It looks so nice in it's new pot.

Snow Photos!

Who can get enough snow photos? This is what Portland woke up to this morning. Naturally, the city is shut down, closed, nothing to see here folks, moose out front should have told ya.

Without further ado, here's why.

Yea, we should probably take down the Christmas decorations at some point.

This guy had the right idea on how to get to work.

Snowshoes! I actually like my idea better; work from home.

What are the chances our garbage will be picked up today? The grey can is garbage, the green is food scraps and yard debris, and the blue is recycling, in case you were wondering.

The rain chain is frozen.

Yes, I did clean this off so the hummingbirds could eat.

Enjoy your day, I think I'll make another cup of coffee and actually start working!

Hydrangea Wreath

Did you cut all your hydrangea blooms last month? Do you have a wreath frame or some grapevine sticks? Do you have a glue gun and 10 minutes to make a pretty fall wreath?

I did!


Let's back up...After yoga last week we were walking home past a flower shop.  In their window was a pretty wreath made of dried hydrangea blossoms. My mind immediately went to work!

I had dried hydrangea blossoms and I even had a wreath frame I picked up years ago from a garage sale.  I don't know why I never put the two together before now, but after seeing the wreath in the window I knew I was going to make that wreath!

A little glue and a couple days later, I did.

Now, I'm not going to insult your intelligence, this is obviously a really easy project.  If you're not starting with a wreath frame you can make one from some grapevine sticks.

Amazon also has wreath frames quite cheap.

The best way to dry hydrangeas is to pick them in early Fall and put them in a vase with no water. This will keep them from turning brown.

For symmetry's sake, It's a good idea to lay your blossoms on the wreath before you glue them.

If you had a small wreath frame you could do this and use it as a candle ring.  A couple of those on the table for Thanksgiving would look so pretty!

Birds

Bushtits

Every now and then we get some beautiful birds in our yard. My sister was an avid bird feeder and watcher and we've continued her legacy by keeping our bird feeders well stocked.

Western Tanager

We get hummingbirds, bushtits, nuthatches, chickadees, flickers, finches, jays, and many others. One spring we even got tanagers and I've seen a peregrine falcon sitting on our back fence more than once!

Cedar Waxwing

Just last week as I was working from home I saw two cedar waxwings land on the lilac bush. I googled what things they eat as I wanted to attract more. That's when I stumbled on this great website.

You can filter by region, food preference, feeder type, or just click on a bird and see what they like to eat.

If you don't already have any, pick up a few bird feeders and start enjoying nature's parade!

I recommend these feeders:

 A simple basic feeder works great for hummingbirds. Mix 1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups water for food. Hang close to a window so you can see the birds and feed year round in the Pacific Northwest.












 These are great for bushtits and flickers. We've found these suet cakes with hot pepperskeep the squirrels from eating them, especially when there's plenty of other food available, and the birds still love them.  In really hot weather (over 95 degrees), the cakes may melt.











Keep in mind that feeding birds begins an unending battle with squirrels in your feeders. We've found that this feeder helps keep squirrels from eating your birdseed.  However, in the dead of winter when there's little food for squirrels they will try anything to get to your feeders.

Another comprehensive resource is this article from Happy DIY Home.

This and That in the Yard

Autumn is in full force in the Pacific Northwest! It's definitely getting colder and wetter but before winter hits full force, I thought I'd do a quick round up of what's still blooming in the yard.

This rhododendron is holding it's own. This particular one blooms in the spring and fall.

Of course I've got a few mums in the yard for fall blooms, like this yellow one.

My asters are hanging in there too, although they're looking a little ragged.

What a surprise this was!  I've got about five daisies blooming!  Next year I'm going to cut them as soon as they finish blooming to encourage more blossoms.

My morning glorys are still blooming their beautiful deep purple color.

Finally, my lone pumpkin. I'm going to pick it soon as the elementary kids going to school across the street have been eyeing it lately!