Teacher-san came down and we worked on whatever trees we could. It should have been a mega re-potting day but we were slowed down by a lot of frozen rootballs. Several got started on in the morning, put into the cold greenhouse to thaw, then picked up again in the afternoon.
Never realised either what a funny sound a frozen rootball makes when you thunk it (to check if it's really frozen, not just for the sake of thunking, OK).
Anyway, here's one of the smaller guys that got re-potted. A Lonicera nitida (normally a hedging plant here) which is one of TOH's WIPs. This was bought at a club auction for a couple of quid last year. The horizontal jin was shortened by about 6 inches (15 cm) and I believe TOH has plans of re-working the jin at the front to make it look more naturally weathered. This is a shohin-sized tree, probably about 7 in / 18 cm from base of the pot.
The other bonsai we worked on yesterday are a bit too big for me to photograph at home, so if they're ever taken to a show later in the year, maybe I'll post photos here. The long cotoneaster cascade will have to wait until we find a better pot for it, though.
So, on to other smaller stuff.
This is an overpotted Cristata Davallia fern, which I got last year. I was told it goes dormant in the winter but it's held on to its one frond despite the cold.
Here is a group of cyclamen in flower, plus a moss accent. To give an idea of scale, the moss in the thimble pot is less than an inch (2.54 cm) high. The cyclamen self-seeded in the greenhouse about 3 years ago and this is the second year they've flowered. Their corms haven't grown much bigger, nor do their leaves get any larger, or any more numerous.
I'll tell you what I should've taken a photo of, though - TOH's Peach Cobbler, which was an absolute delight. We did linger over lunch with Teacher-san, talking about pots and going over the latest issue of the Nippon Bonsai Association's magazine. Anything to stay out of the cold, as far as my interests were concerned...
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