Bark Like Fire

Betula ermanii looking beautiful in winter

Trees and Corvids in the Snow

I love the snow, and it's rare enough in the UK to make a fuss (though, yes it is somewhat embarrassing that a light fall causes the whole country to grind to a halt). These photos were actually taken three years ago, but I wanted to share them out here as I don't have the liberty to just go for long walks whenever it takes my fancy these days, and I'm sure it looks just like this around the Avon Gorge right now!

 

A clattering of Jackdaws (Corvus monedula in Betula pendula)

 Two for Joy (a pair of Pica pica in a mixed coniferous-deciduous copse)

Crataegus monogyna

Corvus corone

 The Downs

Corvus corone in flight

Quercus robur as if draped in ermine, fitting for a Royal tree

Corvus monedula

As Autumn turns to Winter

Cotoneaster horizontalis, bonsai with fantastic colour:

... and Larix decidua after needle fall:

Autumn Bonsai

A couple of Autumn shots from October

 Acer campestre

Larix decidua

Eary Autumn Bonsai 2012

 Carpinus betulus, developing a nice canopy after 5 years in training.

Cotoneaster horizontalis, denser foliage this year, but some serious die-back to the upper right of the trunk has ment some carving and a probable future restyling is needed.

Ligustrum ovalifolium, remarkably quick development; from a collected stump in just three years ... this may have a mature looking canopy in another 3-5 years.

Hollow Field Maple bonsai in spring

This Acer campestre had guy-lines added last month, to bring some of the branches into better positions, and is just coming into leaf. The canopy has to become much more ramified and rounded to look natural.

Ligustrum Bonsai video

This tree was collected as a stump just over two years ago, from a derelict garden that was due to be cleared. The hedge from which it came was probably more than 100 years old. To have moved a collected tree into a small pot, and to have developed and styled the primary and secondary branch structure, in just two years is very unusual in bonsai, but Privet, like most of the Oleacea, is very vigorous and hardy.

There is one disproportionately large root that needs further carving, but this has not been done yet for the health of the tree.

This is the new preferred front of the tree...
 ...and the same tree in February 2010, which provoked this satirical reaction from a friend!