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bonsai. I have seen many cascadestyle bonsai but I have only one inmy collection.

In looking at bonsai exhibitssome of us go “ga ga” over a littlecascade style while others areentranced by a beautiful formalupright style or a forest planting. Asin art, some of us like Picasso andothers can't stand Picasso but swoonover a Rembrandt. The same holdstrue in bonsai. We don't alwaysagree with the best in show but wepick our favorite according to thestyles or species we prefer. It wouldbe a dull world if we all picked thesame bonsai. So, vive le difference!

When we start in bonsai we wantto do every style (more than once).We want every species (even thoughwe know the plants won't grow inour area). More, more, more is thetheme. Eventually we calm down abit and realize it is quality not quantity we seek. It is fun trying allthe styles and all the species. Welearn from all the trying and we settle down and stick to the styles wemost prefer, whether it is theinformal upright or a cascade or theformal style.

My favorite is the informalupright style with its slightly curvedtrunk and well groomed branches ina really good pot appeals to my feeling of what a bonsai should be.My least favorite is cascade style

Dorie’sSHOHIN BONSAI TIPS

Choices...

By Doris W. Froning

Mrs. Froning is an authority on shohin bonsaiand maintains her collection in Wilmington,Delaware. She often exhibits her masterpiecespecimens and presents programs throughoutthe country. The popular newsletter, MameBonsai Growers of America, was published byMrs. Froning for several decades. She is a regular contributor to International BONSAI.

ABOUT THE AUTHORDoris W. Froning

Shohin bonsai display at the 2004 Grandview Bonsai Exhibition in Kyoto, Japan featuringJapanese five-needle pine, Dwarf star jasmine, Chojubai dwarf flowering quince, Japanesedeciduous holly, Shimpaku juniper and Japanese black pine.

Chojubai dwarf flowering quince,Chaenomeles japonica ‘Chojubai Red’.

Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergi,displayed with a wild flower accessory.

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35INTERNATIONAL BONSAI2005/NO. 3

Right Before Your Eyes– NO. 11 By John Wiessinger

ABOUT THE AUTHOR– John Wiessinger is an artist and naturalist living in Ithaca, New York and a member of the Finger Lakes Bonsai Society. As aneducator he is interested in helping us better understand our natural world and how it affects bonsai. Additional information on his ElectronicNaturalistic series can be located at www.enaturalist.org

Clones, and debates about them, have been in thenews quite a bit in the last few years but nature hasbeen quietly making its own clones for a long time– Dolly the sheep is not the first.

As the poster points out, the winner of the agecategory is a bit misleading – after all, what is anindividual? Although the original trunk is long gonefrom the “record breaking aspens”, successive ram-ets are still growing after 8,000 years. The DNA of allthe sprouts is identical to the original tree, so techni-cally, the oldest tree is the Quaking Aspen.

In the East, where there is adequate moisturefor seed germination, aspens regularly reproduceby seed. This reproduction by seed means there isa mixing of genes and DNA changes from one gen-eration to the next. However, in the West, where itis much drier and most reproduction is by ramets,many acres may be comprised of “a single individ-ual”, all with the same DNA. Aspen ramets are sentup following disturbances that affect mature trees.Fire is the main disturbance, however, logging andavalanches may trigger clone development also. Amature root system can produce from 400,000 to 1million clones per acre! These clones are capableof growing a meter or more a year and can easilyout-compete other forest species that must regen-erate from seed. The shady soil beneath aspensprovides just the right environment for more long-lived trees to get started and eventually, they shadeout the aspens. Although the individual vegetativesprouts are short-lived, a continuous series of ram-ets may be many thousands of years old and covermany, many acres of ground!

Although aspens are not popular with bonsaiartists, you may look at this tree a little differently inthe future. Maybe there’s something to admire inan aspen after all!

Information on Quaking Aspens: http://bss.sfsu.edu/geog/bholzman/courses/fall99projects/aspen.htm

Nature ’s Clone

http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/topics/oldest.htmn Pinus longaeva (Bristlecone Pine) 4,844 years n Fitzroya cupressoides (Patagonia cypress) 3,622 yearsn Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia) 3,266 years n Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine) 843 years years

Clone – a genetically identical individual produced by asexual reproduction

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora,probably trained from a specimen growingin the wild.

One of several tables featuring shohin bonsai in the collection of Harvey Carapella. A wideselection of different species and bonsai styles comprises this fine collection. Note the threetiers of wooden boards used to display each bonsai to its finest form.