Welcome to Rose Rock Bonsai

 Let me welcome you to the official blog for the Rose Rock Bonsai Garden. Lets start off with "What is a Rose Rock? 

Well a rose rock is a small rock where the crystals that created the rock formed in flat pads that with other pads creates a rock that resembles a rose. Here you can read the Wikipedia page on it: Desert Rose (crystal) Rose rocks are formed in different parts of the world but most notably in central Oklahoma. In a park about 1/2 mile from my house is an area that is littered with hundreds of rose rocks. The Rose Rock is the official rock for the great state of Oklahoma. Here are a few rocks from my personal collection:

Here is a Rose Rock Bouquet, formed by dozens of rose rocks that attached to each other when they were forming. 

My mother loved to garden, especially yellow roses. She had a pretty nice collection. Sadly she passed in 2021. Out of her three kids, I was the only one with a house and yard, plus I grew bonsai trees so we had a connection through gardening. I inherited her planters, statuary, plant and her collection of rose rocks. 

When I was in better health I had a pretty nice goldfish pond in my backyard. I started developing serious back problems and I was unable to care for the pond. Eventually it just filled up with leaves and other debris. Me and my son decided to clean it out and fill it in cause I just couldn't take care of it anymore. The pond liner measured 15 feet wide and 30 feet long. It had some holes in it so it's days of holding water were done. 

So I took the pond liner and laid it out in my yard and thus created the Rose Rock Bonsai Garden. The pond liner works great as a weed barrier. Since I have become disabled, my budget is really small, I have to support myself, my wife and 2 kids on a small disability check. I would love to cover the pond liner with pea gravel or a nice mulch, but that isn't in the budget. So we raked up fall leaves and shredded them by going over them with a mulching lawnmower. It works for me and it is free. Every couple of years I have to clean it off because the leaves break down and make some very good compost/dirt. Which is what I mostly plant my bonsai trees in. 

For the past decade I have been very active in amateur radio. I would build my own radios and antenna. However my health has declined to the point that I just can't do a lot of electronics. Soldering is really hard for me now. So I have had to make a life choice. I will continue operating my radios but building them is no longer an option. Also this past winter I had both sides of my SI joints fused. I had a hard time in recovery and here in Oklahoma City we had a hot summer with long stretches at 95 to 110 degrees. I couldn't get out and water my trees and they weren't getting watered by my kids like I was told. I lost every one of my outdoor trees. I went from about 35 trees to just the 4 that I have now. So I'm going from building radios to growing bonsai trees. I'm pretty much having to  start from scratch. I have a pretty nice blog for radio: k5atg.com so I decided to create a bonsai blog. I named it after my little Rose Rock Garden which was named as a tribute to my mom that I greatly miss. When I go out there to the bonsai garden I feel like my mom is right there with me. 

Since I was unable to take care of the garden this past summer it is in really bad shape. So I'm going to start cleaning it up over the winter and get it ready for spring. I do not have the funds to buy actual bonsai trees so I will be starting mostly from cuttings and seeds. I'm going to share everything I can on this blog. 

I invite you to follow along my bonsai adventures. Please subscribe to this blog if you want to be updated. 

Question Everything, Love Everyone

Aaron

01 November 2024