Rose Rock Bonsai Garden

 Well well well, I haven't done much related to bonsai lately. The much loved and world renowned Rose Rock Bonsai Garden has officially been besmirched! Here are some pictures of it: (Appreciate the pics now because they will be on the cover of Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Teen Beat, New York Times and of course for Dr. Hook: Rolling Stone) 

We had five pecan trees in our yard when we bought the house in 2003. Since then it has been a battle against these trees. The pecans that fell from them would cause hail type damage to our cars, roof and heads. Every time that we had a storm or the wind blew they dropped branches. Now finally every one of those trees are gone! We have to get rid of the wood and brush. My neighbor is going on vacation next week so all we have to do is toss it over the fence then it becomes his problem. Just kidding our city has a wood recycling center where they get wood and brush and send it through the wood chipper and give it to residents as free mulch! I love this town!

The tree trimmers pretty much cleaned up the bonsai garden to be just like they found it and now I just need to do some spring cleaning. 80 degrees today and its still winter so spring will be here pretty soon. 

Thats all for now

Aaron

Crepe Myrtle Seeds

 This morning I ordered 25 seed for my favorite tree, the Crepe Myrtle. I ordered from New Hill Farms

I ordered seeds for Purple Catawba Crepe Myrtle,

I love the Crepe Myrtle because of the delicate looking flowers that last most of the summer and the bark exfoliates adding another level of interesting characteristics. The crepe myrtle is usually a multi-trunked shrub / tree that can grow 15-20 feet tall. I don't think that I will grow a crepe myrtle bonsai that tall. Its hardiness zones are 6-10.  I'm in zone 7 so I'm in a good place. Here in Oklahoma the crepe myrtle is nearly indestructible. I have three of them growing in my yard and we have dug them up, poisoned them, cut the even with the ground and they still grow back. My crepe myrtles are all pink, my mother in law has over 20 crepe myrtles in her yard that I planted back in 1998, and they are all white. I will be getting cuttings from those later in the year but 

I also want purple ones because pink and purple are my wives favorite colors. I would love to make a dual colored crepe myrtle bonsai for my wife. I'm thinking of planting a pink one and a purple one in the same pot. Plant them far enough apart to keep them seperate trees but close enough that their branches intertwined so that you can see the pink flowers right next to the purple flowers. I could do this in one of those large cement mixing pots and grow a large forest planting with the trees about three feet tall. That would be cool. 

If you wish to follow along as these seeds becomes a prize winning bonsai tree, just click on the FOLLOW button on the right side of the screen. You can leave whatever comments in the comment section below. My email is Aaron@K5ATG.com

Love All, Question Everything

Aaron

Dwarf Schefflera Update 21 Feb 2025

 I finally received my Dwarf Schefflera cutting in the mail today. It was well packaged and the cut end of the cutting was wrapped in paper towels and plastic wrap. This kept it nice and moist so it wouldn't dry out. Great idea, simple cheap and effective, wish others would do this. 

The Etsy vender that I used was Aether Plant Shop I will be using this seller in the future when they offer plants that I'm looking for. 

I dipped the cutting in some rooting hormone:

After the application of the rooting hormone I put it in my "cutting pot" which is a small ceramic bowl filled with old bonsai soil and kept in an eastern facing window and under a full spectrum grow light.  I will check it on a month or so to see if there are any roots growing. 

If you wish to follow along as this cutting becomes a prize winning bonsai tree, just click on the FOLLOW button on the right side of the screen. You can leave whatever comments in the comment section below. My email is Aaron@K5ATG.com

Love All, Question Everything

Aaron

Dwarf Schefflera

    Last summer I lost nearly all of my trees. Here is a quick list:

• Crepe Myrtle (4) (Crepe Myrtle is my favorite tree)
• Bald Cypress
• Flowering Dogwood
• Ginseng Ficus
• Dwarf Schefflera (3)
• Eastern Redbud
• Rose
• Japanese Black Pine
• Japanese Red Maple
• Native Red Maple
• Pecan
• Loblolly Pine
• Trumpet Vine
• Chinese Privet
• Seiju Dwarf Chinese Elm (I love this tree but I can't find it!)

It's going to take me a long time to replace these. Now some of these were nice but most are from seeds because that is about what I can afford. 

Today I was lucky enough to order a variegated Dwarf Schefflera from a vender on Etsy. I'm not expecting much but I will fill you in when I get it. If it is worth the money I spent then I will provide a link to the vinder. 

Ballad of Twiggy Tom

Twiggy Tom contacted me and made me forward a message in response to the nude picture of him that has been posted to the internet. These are Twiggy Tom's words and not mine. Once his sap is flowing, he can be pretty riled up.

Ballad of Twiggy Tom

You people are so rude
You saw me without any leaves
I was completely in the nude
You stole my modesty
Ran off into the dark
Like a bunch of thieves
I was naked, only in my bark

Someday I will be big and strong
Don’t believe? I’ll prove you wrong
My journey will be long
Soon I will embark
I will be here to show you all
I will be the best you can recall

Twiggy Tom is my name
I’m serious, this isn’t a game
I’m going to be bigger than the biggest
Richer than the richest
I will again cover myself
And will look down upon you
As if you were a little elf

Once again I will be beautiful
You can’t argue, its indisputable
You will give anything just to hug me
But I will look at you and know, you can’t fix ugly

You caught me at my worse
I was so mad, just had to curse
Oh your eyes did they peep
Made me feel really freaking cheap
I was as naked as Adam and Eve
Cover myself with leaves of a fig
Can’t believe, you even saw my little twig!

-Twiggy Tom

Fun in the Sun 01 Feb 2025

     Well here in beautiful Midwest City, OK we are kicking our coldest month of February with some beautiful days lined up for us.

 

    

    For the next couple of days the highs are going to be from 67F (19C) to 78 (26C). So I decided to take some of my tropical babies outside to soak up some sun. Sunlight from that big ball of fire in the sky is always gonna be better for my bonsai than any grow light I can afford. So as I'm typing all of these letters for your enjoyment, my trees are out front working on their sun tans. Even internationally loved Twiggy Tom! 

    So if you get a bit of sunshine love in your cold dark winter, take them trees outside! Now if you go peeping the forecast in the beautiful picture above, you will notice that the night time temps are just a little chilly for my tropicals. So I set an alarm to go off right around sunset so I can remember to bring them in. 

    If you want to follow along as turn sticks and twigs into mediocre bonsai trees, just click the subscribe button. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below and you may contact me directly at Aaron@K5ATG.com

Catch you next time!

Aaron Scott