Winter

Winter

Saturday, March 16, 2013

My Field of Dreams

I think you should know that if not for my husband, I wouldn't have a blog, nor would I live here I always think I am more like Lisa Douglas from Green Acres than anything else. I used to have pretty hands with painted nails. Once we moved here I started having dirt under my nails, I found out the other day, I even have callouses on my knees! I thought I wish it was from praying, but it is really I think from scrubbing floors and crawling around on my hands and knees in the garden. Anyway, I wanted to share today about all of the fun things my husband does.

The above photo is a Japanese maple. He had a bigger tree and he took and scraped  bark off one of the limbs and then put a pot around that limb put in potting soil and left it. Then about a year later he had a brand new tree. See the little things that look like blooms? Now they are tiny seeds. This is going to be one of his little Bonsai trees.

I thought you might like to see what is called the air layer tree that the little one came off of. I love the leaves and the red tips.

Here is another shot of the parent plant. I love the lighter green leaves and I just love how they get those red tips.

Here is another one of his experiments. This one starts differently than other plants. He wanted to start some of these because they do make pretty Bonsai specimens. You have to let them callous.   You take the leaves and you put them in a dark place. I thought it was interesting because you don't put them in water or in soil or anything. My husband thought the best place for them to be in the dark was his underwear drawer. So for three days that was where they were, that week when I would be putting away laundry I would open the drawer and there were the leaves. It always made me laugh. It worked too now we have so many of these plants.

Now I love these things. I am not a big fan of succulents. but I love these. This is called a Jade Plant.
 watching him clip and wire and do all of the things to make the trees look more appealing.

This is a Trident Maple. He started this from a cutting from another plant. He just put it into his potting soil and now he has this tiny tree.

We love these kind of trees. We have about 10 Cork Oak trees from acorns we gathered at a park downtown. We just love the way the bark looks on them. We didn't know there were other varieties of  Cork but then we found out about Cork Elm Trees. He started this little tiny tree for a tiny limb from the Cork Elm we bought from the Bonsai nursery. I love how tiny and beautiful it is.

See that tiny little spout? That is called a Black Pine Sprout. One of my favorite Bonsai looks are the ones done with Black Pines. We had looked and looked and we couldn't find any at the nurseries around here.
So my husband in October drove around and looked at parks. They have them planted in parks so he gathered pine cones and did experiments. One bunch he just planted into potting soil, another group he soaked in water and the ones that float you remove and plant the rest. He now has 10 little tiny trees.

This is a Japanese Root Stock. It will someday be an awesome Bonsai. See that curve in the trunk? You want lots of different shapes for Bonsai so you see the movement in the tree. It is very important as it appeals to your eyes. Now growing them for your yard you wouldn't want that  But in Bonsai the more curvy and twisted the better it will look.

When my husband was taking pictures he took some of the blue berry bush. It is so pretty and I like how you can see they look like tiny bells.

I hadn't shared about his trees in awhile. It is so fun this spring to see all of the things that he has coming up. I enjoy watching his hobby and all of his experiments. I have always loved growing things but I am just not that good at it. I don't have the time or the patience. My school of gardening is if it can't take a little abuse then it isn't the plant for me. My husband on the other hand, is patient and gentle and loves to see what works and what doesn't and will keep trying until he accomplishes his goal. Kind of like our marriage. He just never gives up on me. Thank goodness. I would have got rid of me long ago. ;)

I just thought I would share a bit of what we do on Saturday mornings. We sit and stare at trees a bunch.

Have a nice Saturday.
~Kim~

30 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i would love this hobby of your hubby's. the underwear drawer made me laugh, though!

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

I love this post for many reasons...1- it yells that God's dreams are always better than ours! 2 - you enjoy your husband's hobbies, and having hobbies are so healthy 3 - you have embraced this new dream with joy and even laugh about fingers with dirt instead of nail polish....and to me I think those are the best hands, working hands!

Meg said...

Oh I'm so glad you posted pictures! I never get to see them when I am there. That is so funny about the leaves in his underwear drawer! LOL! I like the Black Pine sprout. It's interesting how it looks just like the needles on the full grown tree. I've never seen a seed come up with that many leaves.

Beth said...

Your husband surely has a green thumb! :-) about the underwear drawer!

Sue said...

OH! this is so cool, Kim, and what a talented husband you have, I can tell by the photos that he loves and cares for his plants, and of how proud you are of him, no wonder you both work so well together. I just had to smile at the leaves in the underwear drawer, so funny, I probably would have forgotten about the experiment and thrown them away. ~grin~

I was out and about in the garden today and just happened to go by our blueberry bush and it is beginning to blossom, the only problem with that is that here in the south we have late frosts. This happened last year and I forgot to cover the blueberry bushes, which made the crop not so plentiful, needless to say I am keeping a closer eye on them this year. I also noticed that the slugs are nibbling on my asparagus, and now have plans to get some beer to put out, which makes us having to go to the next county to buy it since we are non drinking Baptist. just as sure as I would try and purchase it at the local store, our pastor would come by and I would have a lot of s'plaining to do. lol
Enjoy your day,
Hugs,
Sue

Kessie said...

Aww, I love all the little trees! Alex just told me that "I miss your mom like I haven't seen her for a year!"

annie said...

This is a wonderful post!
He sounds like a great artist of the living!
Loved seeing the different ones.
Could never grow one of my own, they are lovely!
Have a great weekend!
We have light breezes, mostly sun & 65 degrees!

Alica said...

This is a fascinating hobby! I had to laugh about the underwear drawer too! :)

Empty Nester said...

I laughed at the last paragraph because I was thinking that he sure must have a great deal of patience! I could never do it though because I do NOT have much patience at all. The Bonsai trees are very interesting though. I never realized that.

Anonymous said...

How lovely to see things growing!

Nellie said...

This was very interesting, Kim. Your husband has a lot of patience and skill to work with trees in this way - and with beautiful results!

Have a good week-end!

xo Nellie

Pom Pom said...

A tree is a poem. Someone smart said that!
My girls are funny about house plants. They think it's weird to have plants in the house. I guess I could never keep them alive when the kids were growing up! I used to have a jade plant.
I am so excited about the garden this year. Even if I don't get all the plans made and even if I don't work the plans, I am glad that I am inspired now.
I'll say it again, your hubby is a good egg!

GretchenJoanna said...

I admire bonsai-growers -- they are Garden Artists of the highest degree! It is sweet that you and your husband can love trees together.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I imagine it takes a lot of patience to be able to grow and shape these little trees. I would love to watch too, but I definitely am like you- I need sturdier plants to grow!

Dawn said...

A beautiful post...I love the patience he has. It isn't found often anymore;))

Julia said...

I think that it's a great hobby to grow Bonsai trees. The underwear drawer is a good dark place to get his leaves to root . I wonder if fig leaves would root in there, lol.

Thanks for showing the progress on the Bonsai trees.

Hugs, JB

Cranberry Morning said...

What a nice way to spend a Saturday. I love seeing growing things - which is why I need to get my seeds planted! By the way, did I ever tell you that I took two of those Jane Austen quizzes and both of them came up Elinor Dashwood. :-) And guess what, she's my favorite character in all the books. Haha.

myletterstoemily said...

i love a girl who honors her man, and i
respect a man who loves trees and his
girl!

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

What a wonderful hobby. To nurture these tiny trees and see them come to life is very awarding. You will have to start a fairy garden for him. Wouldn't that be a neat gift from the kids for Father's Day. I was thinking about making one for my mom who lives in an elderly apartment. They have a lovely sitting area in the yard and I thought they could all tend to it.

Debbie said...

I LOVED this post as I truly LOVE Bonsai trees! Soo neat. I love that you support your hubby's awesome hobby too. And as for the calluses on your knees? Well it doesn't get much better I am thinking. : ) Enjoy your Sunday!

Unknown said...

I LOVE bonsai trees. I take my students to Longwood Gardens, a large Arboretum about 30 minutes from my school. I LOVE that trip. One of my favorite exhibits are the bonsai trees. Some are 100 years old. They are planted with moss and tiny ferns at the bottom and look like little worlds. How patient he must be, you are right. Thank you for sharing the beauty! I have a soft spot for Japanese maples too! You are such a loving wife to support his hobby and to admire the qualities he has to be able to do this hobby. Beautiful post, Kim!

Blessings to you!
Heather

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

I was thinking of you and your hubby this week, thinking I need to have a bonsai tree up on top of my cabinets in the kitchen, it would be perfect, and I know he would have the perfect tree! Maybe I will figure out a bonsai tree on my own, but I'm not holding my breath...

Gumbo Lily said...

I really enjoyed this post. How very interesting and fun. I love the Jade, but I like succulents. The story of the underwear drawer sprouting is terrific!

Miss Debbie said...

My hubby has grown hydrangeas, gardenias, and boxwoods from cuttings. It does take patience and care. Wonderful that your hubby has found something he enjoys so much!

Dog Trot Farm said...

Good evening Kim, as I've mentioned before I find your husband's hobby so interesting and this post very informative. This hobby takes a lot of dedication, but such wonderful rewards. I had to laugh when I read about the leaves in your husband's underwear draw. I am envious spring has arrived in your neck of the woods, we are awaiting another snowstorm....thinking of you, Julie.

Kim said...

I've always been fascinated by bonsai. It's so fun to see how they are made.

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

What an interesting post (as all of yours are). I'd never realized the amount of work and creativity involved in creating bonsai. I had to laugh when I read about your hubby storing those leaves in his underwear drawer. ;-)

Debbie said...

hehe Kim you are made for each other and I don't believe there is anywhere you would rather be ;))))

camp and cottage living said...

Kim
I can see with a hobby like this that your hubby must have a lot of patience!
He has managed to grow something from almost nothing.
It must be rewarding to him!

designchic said...

What a wonderful hobby - I'm just trying to get herbs to grow in my garden from seeds...great images!