I finally got around to wiring up some of the ficus cuttings I started earlier. I'm re-using some aluminum wire that I had laying about. While I was wiring, I took the opportunity to look at their root systems. The roots are looking nice and strong, really a nice beginning.
While I was back there, I took some more ficus cuttings, some f. benjamina, but mostly f. retusa/microcarpa.
I took one of the wired ficus and set it in a new octopus pot I made. It's a small, stoneware pot, fired to cone 10. I think it looks pretty good. I haven't added this to my etsy shop; I don't know if I will! I did add a bougainvillea to my stilty raku bonsai pot and I added that to my etsy shop though.
The grapes are growing strong! When I cut back the grape to that one single crook, I didn't toss out the top growth. I just stuck it in some damp potting soil and stuck it under the bench. Well it's growing really well. I think I already mentioned that in a previous post, but it's worth repeating. The grapes are again trying to set fruit, so I again cut back on the tiny fruits.
I got some things going on with my clay, but as usual, I'm not talking until I have something. Erm.... I might have some finished this weekend.

Sometimes I look at my little blog and I say to myself:
Self, you have to post more often, don't ya think?
But my Self knows what people want to hear, and my Self knows that people just don't want to hear doom and gloom. They wanna hear about what's new! Well, okie dokie, Self!
Out in the garden, I find myself behind the curve on my cuttings. Before I know it, it will be 100 degrees outside and too late (HA!) to start cuttings. *snicker*
I'm sorry, but I just can't say this with a straight face! My ficus cuttings will start up nicely when I get around to them.
The ficus cuttings I started earlier are getting along FINE! I'll start to wire them up shortly. And yes! I'll start MORE ficus cuttings later.
The grapes are doing FANTASTIC! The hardwood cutting has already nput out some leaf and the stubby stub I left already tried to set fruit, can you believe it? I'm not trying to grow grapes, so I cut it all off, so the grape vine doesn't put all its vigor in creating grapes.
In short, the bonsai stuff is doing GREAT! I'll have to do some potting up soon!
Moving along to my clay...
I *STILL* haven't added any of my latest raku bonsai pots!
If I did it right, you should be seeing a rather leggy bonsai raku pot finished in goldburst and matte multi-color sand patina glazes.
I added a couple new products to my eclectric.etsy.com site: incense burners, and a dragon skull! I included a picture of the dragon skull because... well, because this is my blog and that's what I'm supposed to be doing! HEHE
I won't spam with more pictures of stuff that I added to my shops. I have more stuff, including a couple new luminaries that are sitting on my desk, but I'm run out of time this weekend. I'll have to post during the week.
OH! I did NOT go to April's First Friday. There was TOO much stuff going on at the studio, and it was too windy, so I stuck around the studio and helped Mishy instead. We'll be out there next month!

I need to start more cuttings *NOW* before it gets much later in the season.

I looked in on the cuttings that I started earlier:

The bougainvillea cuttings didn't take. I tried starting these in a tray of soil, but I think the soil just washed away, and the cuttings just dried up. I also tried starting f. benjamina and f. retusa in the same tray, both attempts failed. I had a difficult time starting f. benjamina in 4 inch pots, but some took. The f. retusa cuttings I did in the same 4 inch pots took pretty good, it looks like.

The ivy and moss is growing really well. I continue to make ivy/moss bonsai with great success. Like my other cuttings, I continue to feed weekly with full strength miracle grow. I was looking back at my notes from last year, and I think I was feeding at double strength weekly. YIKES! It wasn't intentional, and I will not be doing that again, lest I burn my little wards.

The grape I brought home last summer from San Diego is starting to bud. I doubt the person I bought this grape from would recognize it as his. I've clipped it way back and I cut off almost all the growth that was left, leaving one strong growing branch. This branch is pretty close to the ground and it bends down a bit, so the growth looks almost cascade. I'm probably going to repot this so it grows more upright, but with a good twist.

All that growth that I cut off was substantial. I placed it in some soil and I've been watering it. It started to bud out, so we'll see if it takes root. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Turns out my olive was another casualty of that week in Sept where I lost water. Well, it didn't completely die, it only *mostly* died. I had to severely prune it back and I lost YEARS of growth. That's the bad news. The good news is that it did survive. When I pruned it back, I took the opportunity reassess its growth and I scaled it back a little more than what was necessary. This was an attempt to position the surviving material in a better foundation. I also took a few heel cuttings and I tried planting a section of trunk. Almost all the cuttings were unsuccessful. Planting the whole section of trunk appears to have had some success; I think it's taking, but I'm not sure. One thing for sure, olives are a pain in the ass to propagate!

Weather for today: high of 74 with an overnight low of 46. Still a bit chilly, but not bad.

I spoke to this chatty Cricket representative this morning; I called to have my old cell phone ported over. He asked about the weather and if I was being affected by the snow.

SNOW?! I asked. No, we're looking at a daytime high of 74...

'Oh!' He chimes in, 'so you have beautiful weather until summer?'

Yes, I replied, three months of hell in the summer, but... (looking up the weather in COLUMBUS , OHIO )

Looks like your current weather is 14, with a daytime high of 24?

Yes, he replied.

And it looks like tomorrow's high for you will be... 9(?).

WHAT?!

With an overnight low of.... NEGATIVE FOUR (?)!

WHHHHAAAAAAT??!!!

I sure hope the chatty Cricket rep stays warm tonight. My freezer is warmer than that!

I started a bunch of F. benjamina cuttings over the weekend. I kept these cuttings a bit on the long side, but they're still about matchstick sized. Some slightly bigger, but nothing thicker than a pencil. This year, I'm going to focus on cuttings. Well, that and maybe some pomagranite seeds. The time to order seeds for this year has come and gone. I don't think I'll be ordering any seeds this year, thank you.

I'm really enjoying how the English ivy is looking. I'm also enjoying the brass buttons and Scottish moss. Plus I've been blessed with some great garden-variety moss just blossoming everywhere!

Honestly, it's been so toasty warm that I think I'll start fertilizing next weekend.

Yes, Phoenix gets bloody hot in the summer. Hot hot HOT!!! I complain about it, but honestly, I wouldn't trade it for the deep freeze of the East Coast. Now *THAT* has to be miserable. Like I already stated, it gets a bit chilly during the winter, but nothing that bad. Downright pleasant, if you ask me!

Thinking of that poor frozen Cricket rep, I'm very glad to be porting my old number over. This temp cell phone number they gave me is driving me NUTS! You remember that old movie "Amazon Women on the Moon"? There was this one skit called 'Mondo Condo' where Arsenio Hall's apartment suffers one highly-unlikely and highly unlucky event after another. There's a recurring bit where people keep calling, asking for a certain someone. Yeah, that's this phone:

(Ring Ring!)

Hello?

Buddy Holly?

Sorry, wrong number

Is this 555 867 5309?

Sorry, wrong number

Yes, but do you know Buddy Holly

Sorry, wrong number

That don't mean you don't know Buddy Holly! Where's Buddy Holly?!

Sorry, wrong number

Yeah, so that's how my day's been going. I think I'm gonna strip naked and run through the bike trail.

Is my life really so geeky that I get all excited when a big box (allegedly) filled with nursery pots arrives at my house?

YES!

I'm not sure when the box arrived. The postman does not knock. I thought it was because our postman was lazy. But then I read somewhere about 'valet' service, where the USPS will delivery your package to your door and actually knock (one time delivery attempt!). I thought the USPS already did exactly this as a standard service. I thought wrong! In the age of fees up the yang for things you used to get for free, this should come as no surprise. But I digress.

So anyways, the kids brought me this big ole honkin box. It was a Burger King chicken breast patty box. The box made me kinda hungry, at the thought of a big, fat honkin box of BK chicken patties arriving at my door, but I knew what was really inside! JOY! Just over 200 3.5 inch thin plastic nursery pots. I get these from ebay all the time, and they work brilliantly! They're re-used, so they're cheaper, but it also means they're not just being tossed. Plus, they're very inexpensive, so I can keep my costs down! So yeah, I was doing my happy dance while opening up the BK chicken patty box. The kids fell for the roose, and they thought we were having nuggets (from hell) for dinner. Ha ha, silly monkeys! No nuggets for you, I have NURSERY POTS! WOOOO HOOOOOOO!

Big flippin deal, you say. Woop-dee-wow! Settle down there, ya party animal, they are JUST nursery pots, says you, the jaded reader. Not JUST nursery pots, says I. They represent the future of my little garden!

I finally (yay!) got to pot up the remaining Adenium seedlings. Yes, I tore into those pots, what can I say. By the time I got around to giving positive feedback to my ebay seller, I had potted up 50 Adeniums. I'm a happy camper, as I now have more seedlings potted up and I've freed up two starter trays!

Each of my GP trays holds 25 pots; From this batch of seeds, I now have 5 trays. One tray only has 15 pots, the rest being from another batch of seeds. The first batch of seeds gave me about 40. From this batch, I have 115. Altogether, I have over 150 Adenium seedlings started.

While I was outside counting adenium seedlings and practically pissing myself with joy, I looked at the bougainvillea cuttings I recently started. As I expected, most of the leaves have fallen off. The same thing happened with the bougainvillea cuttings I started earlier in the season, so I'm not overly concerned, at least not yet. What happened with those, and I'm hoping the same thing will happen with this batch, is that the leaves fell off and new ones eventually sprouted. If and when that happens, I'll repot the bougainvilleas. Aaron looked at the tray of yellow, wilty cuttings and declared the batch dead. I had to correct the boy, stealing a scene from The Princess Bride, and blending it with the Monty Python dead parrot scene:

Aaron: Dad, these cuttings are dead.

Me: They're not dead!

Aaron: Yes! The leaves are all yellow, which means they're dead.

Me: True my boy, those leaves are dead. But the cuttings are only MOSTLY dead.

Aaron: That's what I said. The cuttings are dead.

Me: No, they're only MOSTLY dead. That's means they're slightly alive.

Man oh manischewitz! My ficus bonsai all need another haircut! I've been putting off doing the trimming until I have space for trimmings. With the Adeniums all potted up, I have two seed trays at the ready. Maybe I'll do some trimming tonight. I'll follow the same basic method I used with my bougainvillea (strip the bottom leaves off each cutting, soak the cuttings in water, then plant). I'll do the trimming at my dining table, as it's too hot to do this work outside. I'm running out of space for all my cuttings, but I'll make due. I should be so lucky that my biggest issue is that I'm running out of room for my cuttings.

Dilemma! There's only so many minutes in the day, and every decision has a price to pay. If I chose to do something during my time off, It will cost me in the loss of time to spend doing something else. So what shall I do with my precious little time I have when I go home tonight? Do I trim my ficus and start the cuttings, or do I throw some clay work? For that matter, should I throw slab, or glaze some bisque work? Perhaps I can do more than one, perhaps I can do all this tonight?

On the other hand, I could use my time off to exercise, get some rest, make dinner, spend time with the wife and kids, unwind and be a little veggie in front of the TV.

Quality of life, or quality use of time? This is my proposed itenerary for tonight:

3:00-3:30 run

3:30-4:00 shower & dress

4:00-4:30 trim the bonsais

4:30-5:00 pot up the trimmings

5:00-6:00 help make dinner or nap

6:00-6:45 dinner

7:00-9:00 clay time

It's way too early for me... just five more minutes.

*hits the snooze bar, but turns off the alarm instead*

Ugh.... what time is it? OMG! I'm late! How can it be Monday morning already?!!! You ever have one of those days, one of those weekends, where you wake up to find that everything is later than you thought, and nothing has been accomplished? Yeah, it was one of those weekends. LOL

I packed up a few pieces of greenware to drop off at Mishy's. I don't know how many, maybe 17 or 18? They took up two boxes. I felt really dumb though because I kept asking Mishy for my pieces I had to pick up. Turns out I already picked them up and/or never dropped them off in the first place. Those 17-18 pieces, half of them were from the week prior. I never got around to dropping them off.

D'oh!

Yeah, that about sums it up. Being that I didn't have anything 'NEW' to add, I added some of the stuff that has just been lying around to my Etsy account. I added 'The Watermelon Bowl', small beaded mame bonsai pot, and some ficus

'The Watermelon Bowl' is a piece that was born from the bits and pieces of other pieces. Strictly speaking, I never set out to make this bowl, yet it is. I was throwing the slab, creating bonsai pots and feet, and I had already put away my clay. I found this bit of leftover clay. I didn't want it to go waste, so I just started smashing it, squishing it in my hands, adding a bit more water and just enjoying the feel of the clay in my hands. I started zoning out, watching 'My Neighbor Totoro', as I slowly rolled the clay in my hands. Before I knew it and not realizing it, I had created this bowl. My one conscious act was to flatten the bottom so it could sit properly. I kept it as greenware for a couple weeks before finally bisque firing it. The bowl then sat by as I glazed different pieces. The Woodland Fantasy glaze was applied because I had some leftover while glazing other pieces. It then sat for another week before I glazed the inside with dragon red glaze, leftover from doing my red dragon trays and bonsai pot. Even after I finished it, it remained by my side until I finally listed it on Etsy. I was expecting the red to be a deeper shade, more maroonish, with lighter shading in parts. I was expecting the woodland fantasy on the outside to be a more chocolate brown. I was expecting it to be brown, with shades of red brown on the inside, more expressive of autumn than the peak of summer that I find myself in. Instead, the red came out true, rich and RED. The outside finished in a lighter than expected shade, with subtle greens coming through and the browns being less dominant. The end result has a more organic feel to it. It is very expressive of the peak of summer that I find myself in, and in which it was created. I had a nice bit of early summer watermelon earlier in the season and I haven't had peak summer SANDIA this season, but the end result of this bowl just reminded me of hot summer days, enjoying the sweet, refreshing taste of watermelon. Don't get me started on watermelon! Quick flashes come to mind: eating watermelon on my Aunt's ranch, feeding the rinds to the goats, camping trips with my family to Viejas Indian Reservation (before it became a casino), AGUAS FRESCAS- Mexican drinks, made from fresh fruit, I'm just gonna stop there.

Tropical Feathers Beaded Mame Bonsai pot-

What did I use to form this pot, I forget. I think I used this egg shaped candle that I bought because I liked the shape. I do know that I used these Mardi Gras beads from my kids to impress the outside. I used bubble feet on this piece, and finished with a tropical feathers crystal glaze. The finished result is a very cute little mame bonsai pot. In this instance, the crystal glaze did not come out as rich as other pieces. It's very green with subtle color variations. The bead impressions allowed the glaze to pool, forming dark spots. The overall shape is conical, the feet sticking out in a non-symetrical fashion. It's not forced into a perfect shape, it's just standing in its own fashion. Perhaps it's waiting, or maybe it is contemplating its next move before pouncing.

Ficus bonsai cuttings-

The cuttings are from my own ficus bonsai trees. I've applied wired to some of the cuttings, and I'm allowing others to just sort of develop without interference on my part. Some of the cuttings are hardwood cuttings, so these have a more developed look. What can I say about the cuttings that I haven't already said in a previous post? I really like the cuttings and how they're developing. They are fattening up rather quickly. It is my opinion that they will develop into very nice bonsai in a very short time. The question then becomes 'how long until this tree becomes a decent bonsai?'

Lots of caveats involved, and this question is not as easy to answer as it is to ask. You have to define what is meant by bonsai and what end results are you shooting for?

Allow me to expand this further by describing my cuttings. Some are hardwood cuttings, taken from wood that is several seasons old. Most of the cuttings are softwood cuttings, taken from wood that is this season's growth. There are lots of things to differentiate between the two, but what I want to look at is the fact that softwood cuttings are almost starting as matchstick thin. The hardwood cuttings have some girth to them. How much depends on how old the wood is. And therein lies the answer.

I took a hardwood cutting earlier this season. I got really lucky and this cutting took. This cutting had plenty of branching already, so once it started to leaf out, I took as as and planted in a small mame bonsai pot. The results are nice: I have a small mame ficus bonsai, which was created by me. The tree was grown by me, and the pot was created by me. I wouldn't call it a 'spectacular' bonsai, however. Heck, some bonsai purists wouldn't even call it a bonsai, as it's the result of a single season of growth.

I'm going to allow some of the cuttings to grow tall. I will prune back severely, and in a few short years, I should have some very nice looking bigger bonsai. when it comes time to prune back, I can use the cuttings to create multiple potential bonsai cuttings.

Adeniums-

Blah blah blah, blurb blurb, yada yada yada. Pfft.

Yeah, more of the same, they're growing like gangbuster, still waiting for my nursery pots to arrive so I can pot the seedlings. Phone call to Bernie:

Hello?

It's me!

Waddaya want? I'm busy doing [insert laundry list of busy house work]

I just called to see if there's any packa-

No Victor! They're not here.

What?

Your pots haven't arrived.

But... how.... oh... okay then. Thanks!

Of course this is a phone call, so I cannot say for sure, but I'm positive that Bernie rolls her eyes at this point, then hangs up in disgust.

Hey look a Soap box on which to stand.

*takes axe to soap box, creating a kindling pile*

Now it's useful!

Honest, I don't have anything useful to say. I'm afraid if I open my mouth at times like this, I'll start going off on a tangent. I don't want to go off on my soap box. Maybe if I do a time frame of my day yesterday, it will help:

5:15 Wake up, shower and get ready for work

5:45 Leave for Work

6:00 Arrive at work

2:30 Leave work

2:50 Arrive at home, turn on sprinkler for garden, water the grapes and the 'welcome' bonsai

3:00 Power up system, read and respond to e-mail

3:30 Afternoon work-out (treadmill)

4:30 Shower and dress

5:00 Eat dinner while reading more e-mail

5:30 Take a nap

6:30 Wake up, work on garden

7:30 Work on pottery

9:30 clean up pottery working area, take a shower (third shower of the day)

10:00 It's now past my bed time; Bernie is watching LIFETIME movie, so I read/respond to more e-mail

10:45 Go to bed.

I don't always work on my garden and work on my pottery all in one day. However, this is summertime. This means busy busy work in the garden. The bougainvillea cuttings I took earlier are starting to look scorched. I imagine the leaves will mostly drop off and I might have some die back or I might lose some cuttings altogether. And that's okay. My ficus bonsai are looking leggy. It's time for their August haircut, but I don't have room for any more cuttings at the moment. That's not true. If I rearrange (again) I can make room for them. I really don't feel like rearranging, at least not until I get my nursery pots in. I ordered some 3.5 inch square nursery pots, which I need to pot up my Adeniums that are in their seed trays at moment. The pots are in the mail.

I was also looking at my previous ficus cuttings. They're getting leggy. I like that word, LEGGY. It's hard to gauge the height, as I wired the fastest growing ones. Lets just say that they're coming along quite nicely. My seedlings are also doing okay; I have trident maples, sargent crabapples, japanese black pine (arakawa), and pomegranate. What can I say about the seedlings? It's their first year and they've had a very good year, but they don't grow as quickly as the cuttings do.

I thought I was getting a bit lazy, so I did some pottery last night. I only meant to work for an hour or so, but two hours came and went before I knew it. I did a bit of this and a bit of that. I did a dragon impression on thin, round slab, then I formed it over a mound mold. I let the edges sort of flare in and out. Once it dried a bit, I applied pinch pot legs. We'll see how this turns out. I did a few other pieces, with one being a 'turk' style. I simply let the clay shape itself, except for the turk.

Holy crap I'm feeling lazy!

I didn't do *anything* with my clay. I did a bunch of glazing on my dragon pieces, but I didn't create new pieces.

Okay, me being lazy is not entirely true true. I posted four new pots to my Etsy account, so that counts as having done something with my pottery, right? I still have a bunch of pots that I need to post, but I'm rolling out a few at a time now. I figure it's better that way, as listings will show better that way. Hey, if you really want to see my newest pots, even before I put them on my Etsy shop, you could always drop an e-mail on me.

I counted all my Adenium seedlings; I have about 105 potted up, altogether. There's another thirty or fourty seedlings in the tray, waiting to be potted up. I thought about taking some pictures of them as they sprout, but decided that they look too much like bean sprouts to be photographed. No, not really impressive, unless you like bean sprouts.

It got to over 112 today. To the uninitiated, that sounds hot. 'But it's a dry heat' is what I keep hearing. Don't get me wrong, that is still hot no matter how you slice it, it's just that it's easier to take this heat with low humidity, versus being stifled with high humidity AND excessive heat.

Anyhoots, looked in on my ficus cuttings. They're growing like weeds. I wired up a few more while I was out there. The F. Microcarpa cuttings are growing faster than the F. retusa, but the retusas have smaller leaves and IMHO look more interesting.

I've been using Miracle Grow on all my trees. I've simply been following the package instructions, feeding once a week. I've been very lucky in that I'm not getting hit too badly by bugs. Maybe it's because when I see aphids, I knock them off individually with jets of water whenever possible. I keep my eyes open for weeds and manually pull them if I see any. I do my best to keep my garden area free of freeloaders while trying hard not to poison the good guys.

The good guys in my garden are the fence swift, the assassin bug, the lacewing, the spider. I love all of them! Aaron enjoys catching the occassional bug, but I ask him to treat them all with respect and regard. He likes to keep bugs for a day or two, then he'll release it. A few weeks ago he caught this HUGE grasshopper. Now I'm sure it was only about 3-4 inches long, but I swear it looked a lot bigger. When Aaron released it, it hopped into the air and flew off. It's wingspan was about the size of a small bird, and it flew around for a while before flying off over the canal. He caught a juvenile preying mantis and asked to keep it until it grew to adult size. It looks like a regular Chinese preying mantis, so I let him keep it. He hunts beetles and other bugs to feed his mantis. He understands that his mantis needs to eat, but at the same time he treats the little bugs with about as much respect as you can expect to treat a soon to be meal.

Wow what a weekend!

My sole remaining molly had a bunch of babies. The male died last week, so I suppose he did his life work before finally expiring. Looks like the angelfish have reconsidered their pairing; the breeding trio is no longer a trio. And it looks like one of the smaller angelfish who was previously left out of the spawning dance is now paired up with the large female. I have to watch them, but that's a bit difficult with my schedule. Too many projects going on for me to just sit in front of a fish tank.

Pfft. Anyone buying this line of bullshit- that I'm just *so* busy? HA!

Life is going at a full-tilt boogie, and I'm revelling in it. This is my house! I'm in my natural environment. Fishies are breeding cause they're just being natural. And I'm stopping right there before I go off on a tangent. Too early in the morning to dive into six inches of water, aka the deep end.

I didn't get a chance to do much with my clay over the long weekend. Let's be frank here; I did what I could with the glazes I have, but I'm running low on some glazes, ran out of a couple. I'm just waiting on my paycheck so I can buy more glazes. I did some study work on some bisque seashell impressions and my 'primitive' rolled impression. I used semi-transparent cocoa bean as a first layer. I then took a semi-moist sponge and removed most of the glaze, leaving the brown glaze in the nooks and crannies. I then used the semi-moist sponge to apply semi-transparent dragon red. Mostly on the raised portions. Finally, I highlighted with Sassy Yellow. Okay, maybe I did more than just highlight. I might have gotten a bit heavy handed with the yellow, but hey, this is why I'm calling it 'study work'. I can't wait to get this fired. I want to see how they turn out and if I can use this technique on other pieces. I did get a chance to glaze a few pots. Not many, but better than nothing.

Speaking of nothing, there was nothing holding me back from doing bisque work. I just didn't have it in me to do any clay work. Maybe I was a little down because I didn't have glazes. Perhaps I really was busy with other projects. Or perhaps I didn't have the energy. I have been really tired these last few days. My back is really hurting and I'm stiff everywhere. Yep, I haven't been working out. Need to get back into my workouts.

I did some work on my seedlings and cuttings. There were a few more Adeniums that sprouted so I potted them up. Also did some work on my pomegranate seedlings. Did I already mention that my ficus microcarpa have been doing very well? While doing some work on the pomegranates I had the water going. I noticed the Adenium seedlings are getting flooded. I also noticed that they don't seem to mind the flooding! Perhaps this is why they're getting so fat. Perhaps they're getting fat despite my overwatering. Perhaps they really shouldn't be watered so much, but the fact that they're thriving is testimony to their tenacity.

Bernie is never long on the compliments. If she likes something, she'll tell you it was 'okay', and then only if you prod her. If she really likes something, she'll suggest it as in 'maybe you could make that dinner tonight' or 'if you want, we could go there...'. I've never heard her say 'Victor, that dinner was fantastic' or 'I really enjoyed that show'. That's just her way. She considers it unnecessary to voice a compliment. Rather, if she likes something, she will show it through her actions. At least, that's how she explains it to me. Me, I can live for a week on a single compliment. I'm a sucker for flattery, and I live to serve. So when my pal, Lisa, invited us over for dinner on Sunday, I decided to bring her a bonsai. I grabbed one of my Fukien tea trees out of my garden and repotted it in my largest handmade pot. It was an egg shaped pot with bubble feet. The body was Blue Caprice crystal glaze and the feet were mosaic blue and dragon red, semi-transparent. I finished repotting, soaked it in, then showed my finished bonsai to Bernie. Her reaction: OH WOW!

Bernie's reaction took me by surprise. She wanted to keep it! I suppose she hadn't visualized my quirky little pots with bonsais. She thought they were a bit small, too lumpy and not very 'professional looking'. When she finally saw that brightly colored, quirky pot with the bonsai potted in it, she saw it. The lumps were personality, the quirkyness was expressiveness. The diminuative size of the pots exagerated the size of the bonsai itself. The funky, brightly colored bubble feet complimented the bright green colors of the tree. This was not a 'professionally' made pot, created in some factory. This was a single, expressive pot, created by an individual to be an individual. I took some pictures of the finished bonsai. I might post them later.

Fourth of July! We went to Glendale Community College to watch the fireworks display. It was over 110+, even after 8pm, and my back was hurting, so I was grumpy as all hell. There was a storm to the north and high winds, so there was talk about cancelling the fireworks display. Bernie finally had enough of my crap and told me she was just going home. I don't like seeing Bernie upset like that, so I had to talk her down. Hunter was getting hungry, so I suggested she park the car and feed Hunter. Then we could go home. She parked it and started feeding him. Me and the boys got out of the car and sat on the pavement. It was just too hot in the car, I explained. I got out the cooler, sat on the cooler, and drank some water that Bernie had packed for us. The wind blew hard enough to cool it down to about 90. 'At least it's cooling down a bit', I explained to Bernie. I sat there, watching the light show that nature was putting on. The storm to the north was producing some spectacular thunderheads with lots of lightning. I could see that it was raining about 12 miles away. I could faintly smell the rain, but I could also sense that rain was not heading our way. The sound of the outdoor concert being put on by GCC could be heard from our position in the parking lot. There was a grassy area to the north of us where TONS of people had assembled to watch the fireworks and enjoy this summer night. The smell of grilled meats mixed with the distant smell of rain. The parking lot was not crowded, but there was a number of people tailgating and hanging out as well. It was a hot, sultry, Arizona night. 'This beats sitting at home, doing nothing', Bernie called out from inside the car. She had finished feeding Hunter, and was bouncing him, trying to burp him. Suddenly, the lights in the grassy area went out. A cheer erupted from the gathered crowd. Our collective patience was about to be rewarded. I called out to Bernie, to come out and join us. I had not realized it, but the fireworks were going off in the field adjacent to the parking lot we were in. We were really really close to the fireworks, so they were bigger than life when they went off. The very first firework of the night was a great big one. We could feel the concussion of the explosives as each one went off. The display seemed to go on and on... and on. Bernie complained that her neck was hurting from looking up, so I got up and propped myself up behind her, cradling her neck in my arm so she could look up. It was definitely one of the better fireworks displays I have witnessed. Granted, it was nowhere near what I imagine goes on in New York , or the east coast, but I'll bet they don't have the lightning in the background that we had. And I'm positive that NOBODY in the USA has to brave such hostile heat as what you find in Arizona for the 4th of July.

Honestly, I would have preferred to be at home, doing nothing. My kids get older with each passing day, week, month, year. Sooner than I would prefer, they'll be done growing and they'll be leaving my house. I'll have lots of fourth of July's, where I'll be sitting at home, doing nothing. No, I'm not being melodramatic, nor is this thought necessarily depressing. Simply, I'm just stating the obvious: things are dynamic. Everything changes. What I'm trying to say is that you should enjoy the moment.

It's July 5th. The girls are still at Grandma's for one more week. I'll be leaving next Friday to pick them up. I'm looking forward to it. It's quite without the girls and I'm missing them.
More adenium sprouted; I now have about 36. I went out this morning to pot up the new sprouts. It was 88 at 7am. The older adeniums are definitely taking on a redish tone to the trunk.
I poked around my little garden, moved a few items that were just taking up space, and pulled a few weeds. It's a teeny, tiny grow area, but it's being very productive. I need to get more soil.
The ficus microcarpa cuttings are growing nicely. They're suddenly putting on lots of height! Maybe I'll do some initial training on some. The ficus retusa cuttings aren't showing the vigor of the microparpa, but they're not as old, either. I'd say they're doing pretty well, all things considered. As soon as I get some more soil, I need to pot up my retusas.
I did some more training on my pomegranates yesterday. It was later in the day and very hot, so I just grabbed them, brought them inside, and did some wiring and training at my leisure.
I finished up glazing a few more pots. I don't know when I'm taking them to Mishy's, sometime next week maybe? I ran out of my favorite glazes, so I'm heading out to the ceramic shop to pick some more up.
That's all I have for now. BTW- at 9am, it's already 95f. Supposed to get to 105. Woot!

Growing Bonsai in Phoenix , Arizona

The growing of bonsai in Phoenix Arizona poses some very unique challenges. The extreme desert conditions means that a lot of the 'classic' bonsai subjects have absolutely zero chance of growing here. Summer temperatures of +115f in the summer are common. Winter temperatures can drop to below freezing. What this means is that tropicals need to have winter protection from frosts. Below is my short analysis of tree material that I have used, or have contemplated using Juniper- very popular bonsai subject. Grows very well in the Phoenix heat, and is not at all bothered by the low winter temperatures. Strongly recommended as a bonsai subject. Japanese Maple- Very popular bonsai subject, very beautiful classic bonsai subject. Does poorly in the desert heat. Not recommend for use in Phoenix Trident maple- Popular classic bonsai subject. Does a bit better than Japanese maple in high desert heat. Needs protection from the summer sun, keep as shady and cool as possible. Japanese black pine. Popular classic bonsai subject. Can tolerate high temperatures found in Phoenix , but should be kept well shaded. Crabapple- Popular classic bonsai subject. Will tolerate high summer temperatures, but provide lots of shade and try to keep as cool as possible. All literature on this subject indicates that this subject should be given a period of freezing temperatures. Keep well watered, do not allow to dry out. Very beautiful flowers and fruits. Deserves more research on it's use is recommended. Pomegranate- Popular classic American bonsai subject. This is a Mediterranean tree, so I do not know if it is used in Japanese bonsai. This subject does extremely well in Phoenix . Tolerates high summer temperatures, and does not mind the ocassional winter frost. Fast grower. Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Olive- Popular classic American bonsai subject. Another Mediterranean tree that also will do extremely well in Phoenix . This tree seems to thrive in the high desert heat and is not bothered by the occassional frost. Not enough good things can be said about this tree, it is fantastic! Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Ficus- Very popular bonsai subject. Ficus benjamina, retusa, microcarpa, nerifolia all do extremely well in the Phoenix heat. Keep well watered. Protect from winter frost. Can be kept indoors, but will require lots of light. Cuttings take well. Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Chinese elm- Very popular bonsai subject. This is a semi-tropical that can go evergreen, depending on conditions. Requires plenty of light. Keep well watered. Tolerates lots of abuse. Protect from winter frost. Recommended for use in Phoenix . Bougainvillea- Not a well known bonsai subject. Fairly well known for it's papery 'flowers'. I remember this shrub from my days in Hawaii as a tenacious, fast growing shrub. It will grow back from a stump with very little if any roots. As a tropical, it tolerates the high Phoenix summer temperatures, even thriving in it. Give lots of water, light, and fertilizer and you will have a monster grower.