From driftwood and rocks to bonsai art

Growing bonsai is a challenging but rewarding hobby which instilled in my soul harmony, peace and balance.  I enjoy being creative and with patience, I was learning how to grow bonsai, and now it's become a passion.

"Bonsai" is a Japanese word that could be translated as "a tree in a pot".  The Buddhist monks viewed the bonsai trees as a symbol for harmony between nature, man and soul.

What to use for your bonsai ?!  Your available materials, your mood and imagination.
With every bonsai I made, I discovered something new about Mother Nature, about me and the connection between us.
Usually I study how and where the chosen plant grow, and after understand this I try to direct them gently into the desired direction, maintaining the balance between what I want and what the plant is willing to give me.

Yesterday I played around with two of my pre-bonsai plants. Here it is the result.
For my first project I had chosen a small decorative evergreen apricot scented pelargonium (Mexican Sage) grown from a cutting taken last summer.

It took one year to mature but is promising how it looks now.

 







 
Also I had chosen accent plants, the center piece being one small Coconut plant (Pelargonium Grossularioides) started from seed  which I hope will develop into a magnificent shape in next months or so.



  

Few amazing rocks which I found in ocean waves completed my material list.

Then I carved a nice shaped driftwood until was fixed on the tray.

For soil I mixed a special bonsai soil: one part sterilized Turface, one part Peat Moss and one part Potting Soil - designed to dry out easier than standard houseplant soil.








For my second  project I had chosen an elegant Pelargonium Radens plant  (Skeleton Rose).

It is a two years old plant with deeply divided evergreen leaves with powerful rose scent and small lavender flowers.

It is not exactly a "Tanuki" bonsai, but looks interesting blended with that piece of driftwood.













I curled her roots on the wood and  then I fixed the driftwood in pot using the big black volcanic rock.




On this rock rests the bent trunk of the plant. On its base and on the roots has a lot of new small plants (suckers) and I let them like accent notes (after a while, when I will replanted mother plant, I'll separate them).  







To add dynamics to my mini-gardens, I decorated it with few accent plants and two small toys: Goofy and his tiny house. 



Click & drag to interact with this 3D object movie.
If zoomed in, you can hold the SHIFT key to move the image with the mouse.

Let me know how you like it.