New Bonsai

Here are some photos of my two new bonsai I got up north. Megan and I collected them from the same ski trail that I got my other cedar from, but about a half mile further. The benefit of getting them from ski trails is that they have already been through a very harsh natural environment that leaves them old but stunted. First they are exposed to wildlife by being in the open, then they are mowed every year by the lodge before winter, and then when it does snow they are packed down under the snow by this thing making the ski trails.

The first one here is a Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) that is very small and frail. Right now it has about 5 leaves and one of them is dying off, and when I brought it home and looked at it close it was covered in hundreds of little white bugs. But thanks to our own bug problem we have been having with our house plants, I already had a batch of insecticidal soap at the ready and they are gone now. This particular one has been recently browsed by something, you can see the tooth marks at the top. What is particularly amazing is the trunk that has this wild twisting shape to it (2nd photo). So I really hope it survives and thrives for me! I am already quite attached which is not good because I give it 50/50 to survive.

Paper Birch Bonsai

A look at the trunk

The second one I got was this White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) that is the same as my other cedar. It too has a wild twisting curve that I moved to be horizontal from its original vertical.

White Cedar Bonsai

I am going to give both of them a year before I do anything more except make them as healthy as I can. Right now they are getting a itty bitty bit of fertilizer in their water and good light. They both need to survive the winter outside (as do all seasonal trees) so they need to be well rested.