After being inspired by Xeract, I made a trip to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection.  It's owned and maintained by Weyerhaeuser Company on the corporate campus of the company's world headquarters in Federal Way, Washington.


The entrance to the collection.


It's not just bonsai!  This is also the home of a wonderful collection of rhododendron species.






One of my favourite pieces.


My husband admiring some of the bonsai.


Bonsai with companion piece.


This is still a bonsai, but it is taller than I am!

I hope everyone enjoys the photos as much as I enjoyed going out to view the collection.

Kingfisher

This post was last modified: 05-05-2007 07:34 PM by Kingfisher.

Great pictures!

My favourite is the fourth picture down, I love the moss covered floor it has, and the shape of the bonsai is incredible. The pictures make me realise just how good bonsais can look, and how far I have to go to get one looking anything like these. Something to aspire too!

The amazing thing is that most of these bonsai pieces are not that old--I will dig up the brochure and match the bonsai up with the age when I have time. I think only one of the pieces is over 50 years old.

Kingfisher

That is impressive, to get a bonsai to look like that must take a long time. It intrigues me how much they are worth, considering that a beginners bonsai will set you back £20 or so....

Wow, they are fantastic ,  I like the one that's taller than Kingfisher. My specimen has been neglected so you can tell that by looking at it as it looks very sorry & pathetic , perhaps I should treat it better. Xeract is right it should make us aspire to do better!
P.s. I like the colour of the rhodos that's almost that twilight colour of the blue bells.

This post was last modified: 07-05-2007 09:01 AM by tibbar.

I would like to see pictures of yours and Xeract's bonsai! I'm sure they are not as sorrowful as you are both making out, even if they aren't quite up to the above standards.

I agree, we need to see photos of everyone's bonsai .

Everytime my husband accompanies me to a garden show, he lingers in the sales area and longingly looks at the bonsai...

The pink and blue colour combination of the rhododendrons was absolutely electrifying.  I don't know if anyone noticed (and it's hard to see), but that photo also shows that the sand used for the paths was raked in the Japanese manner.

Kingfisher

When I get access to a digital camera I'll post a picture of my sorrowful excuse for a bonsai

Your husband should buy a bonsai if he likes them, they are great fun to have.

I didn't notice the Japanese raked paths the first time I looked but now that you've mentioned it I do, and even in the picture the rhododendrons look amazing so I can imagine they must look fantastic in real life.

I am not sure that I want my bonsai seen in public as it has suffered years of neglect, & hardly has any leaves on it. Perhaps I will feed it & trim roots etc & take a before & after pic or perhaps I should just throw it away!!! I will assess the situation for a laugh.

After all those lovely pictures from Kingfisher.
My poor pathetic Bonsai.....It's no wonder I gave it up !!!!!

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Now when you have stopped laughing.....................Any suggestions apart from throw it away?

This post was last modified: 23-05-2007 01:18 PM by tibbar.

Do you have the wire in place to shape it? The main branch looks as if it's trying to escape--perhaps you should see if you can get it to grow parallel to the ground?

It needs more 'gnarly' stuff , but it really doesn't look that bad...

Kingfisher

Its not that bad tibbar! The main branches do look a bit too straight and lonely, if you got some wire you might be able to "bend" it back a bit.

I think that I might wire it again it will go quite horizontal but I remember loosing half of the head of the tree years ago . I might treat it to a face lift & see how it gets on. I would like it to become very bushy but we will see or I might just go & get a new one but like I said this is about 25 years old or more. i do have several japanese acers in pots which are doing a lot better but they are not bonsai .
The thing I liked most about the trees in Kingfishers pics were that they were really bushy & very green.

Here is a picture of my bonsai (finally). It's not a natural beauty by any stretch of the imagination! It also seems to have a baby bonsai starting to grow so I'll have to try and repot that.

This post was last modified: 11-06-2007 04:23 PM by Xeract.

It's not that bad, Xeract! I would say a spot of training and some pruning would get it going quite nicely, actually.

Kingfisher