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!

I looked in my bonsai garden this morning. Things are going good, most everything is growing hard and heavy.

I looked at the grape I bought while I was in San Diego . Seems like such a long time ago, but it was barely a month ago. My mom still gets a kick out of recounting the purchase of that grape. The vendor was very excited about the grape's vigor and proudly showed off the grapes that this vine was producing. I agreed with him, that the grape showed lots of vigor, purchased the grape, then asked him for his tools to do some trimming. The vendor dug around the back and finally produced an oversized pruner. The vendor's eyes nearly burst from his skull as I lobbed off all that vigorous growth and the bunch of grapes that he was so proud of. I was left with this stump that had hardly any growth on it, and I marched off, my prize stump in hand, the vendor's pride tossed like so much garbage in the refuse bin.

That grape stump has *EXPLODED* with growth! I left two branches on the stump. One grows horizontally, almost at ground level. The other branches off almost straight up, but with interesting movement. Each of these branches has growth now that is 4-5 feet in length. Overall width of this stump is now about 8-10 feet. Bernie was outside while I was in the garden, so I brought over "Stumpy" so she could see. I happened to catch her as I rounded the corner, so I showed her 'Stumpy' in front of my other grapes. "Yes," she agreed, "it looks fantastic, but why aren't those growing?" she asked, pointing to my pathetic looking grapes that I planted in front of the house.

My poor, pathetic grapes. There they sit in front of the house. Defiant of the heat, desert conditions be damned! Of the original 3, only 2 ever grew. And these two are barely clinging. The leaves are lime green, small, and they look downright pathetic compared to the thick, dark green, verdant growth found on 'Stumpy'. It's a wonder that they even grow at all, considering that they are baked under the full desert sun all day. The sun is relentless; there for the grace of God (and shade cloth) goes 'Stumpy'. And that is the reason that my grapes are not growing. Full desert sun is a killer. Full desert sun, filtered by a shade cloth is fantastic for plants, as long as they can deal with the heat.