A lot of satsuki trees in the gardens and parks, by the roads and on the shelves, especially at the flower shows, fascinated us with beautiful flowers in 2017, too. In Japan, satsuki is the old name of fifth month (now June). It means that a lot of Japanese people like the flowers. I would like to show you the photos of the big flower shows and the flowers of my main satsuki trees.
Section 1. The satsuki flower shows in Tokyo and Kanuma
I went to see the satsuki flower shows in Tokyo and Kanuma, and the garden of Takahashi engei and Rakujuen in Kanuma city on June 27th and 28th. And I am a little bit sad to tell you that I was much disappointed at seeing a lot of bonsai at both shows in Kanuma and Tokyo.
Though I am sure that the trees of the class of flowering plants were much better than those that I had seen in 2012, a lot of bonsai of very large and large classes were worse than those in 2012 and 2007 when I had retired from Kogakkan University at the end of March and had been there to see them at the end of May. Especially I thought that the number of bonsai in Tokyo was less than before. More than half of very large bonsai were the trees of natural style which I think are much cheaper than those of orthodox style. It is much easier and sooner to complete the former than the latter.
And a person told me in Kanuma that we could not see a lot of very good orthodox satsuki bonsai at the flower shows in Japan because a lot of Chinese bonsai enthusiasts had bought them. But I know that though there still are a lot of very good satsuki bonsai in Japan a considerable number of bonsai enthusiasts does not present their very good bonsai at the flower shows. Though I saw the very large Shio at the satsuki festival in Kanuma about 20 years ago, it was told that it was more than 10 million yen. And I am very sorry to tell you that it died about 15 years ago.
These three trees got the supreme prize of satsuki bonsai at Japan Satsuki Festival 2017 because they were the best of all satsuki bonsai which had been presented at the show. According to the August number of Satsuki Kenkyu Kinsai (the left photo) has the height of 88 cm the girth of trunk of 73 cm, Osakazuki (the middle) has the height of 72 cm the girth of trunk of 63 cm and Kozan (the right) has the height of 54 cm the girth of trunk of 57 cm. In fact, though the girth of trunk and the age of a tree are the most important factors in the world of bonsai and give us the impressions of dignity and strength, it is natural that artistic quality should be demanded. I think that these Kinsai and Osakazuki were dug out from the gardens and this Kozan has been grown from the cuttings.
These three trees got the great prize of satsuki bonsai at Kanuma Satsuki Festival 2017. Though we will be able to see their photos in the Satsuki Kenkyu in September or October and know their trunk girths and heights, now I cannot tell them to you. And I could see a lot of satsuki bonsai which had the natural style.
But I was very happy to see a lot of very good-coloured flowers of flowering plants at these flower shows, Takahashi engei and Rakujuen. These two trees got the supreme prize in the class of flowering plants of satsuki at Japan Satsuki Festival 2017 because they were the best of all flowering plants which had been presented at the show. Therefore they are very beautiful.
And I could see a lot of beautiful flowers in the class of flowering plants at Kanuma Satsuki Festival, too. Though I took a lot of photos, I can show you only three of them. Since a lot of people came there to see satsuki bonsai and I did not have a lot of time to take a lot of good photos, it was very difficult for me to have good photo opportunities.
I could see a lot of very beautiful satsuki flowers in the exhibition room of Takahashi engei in Kanuma city. They were very beautiful, but I could not take a lot of good photos by the strong light coming from the high windows. Though these two trees had good colour arrangements, they were much cheaper than I thought. And I was much surprised to see the huge Koka of the left photo in other room whose trunk girth I think is more than 70 cm. The colour arrangement was spreme.
Dropping in Rakujuen, I could see two tall satsuki trees which were in full bloom. Since the owner does not have any exhibition rooms, a lot of trees of flowering plants were put on the beer boxes on the ground.
Though I could see a lot of trees which have the natural style in the large wooden pots in Takahashiengei, I could a few in Rakujuen. I think this means that the owners of satsuki shops have their own opinions to sell satsuki trees. And the natural style in the satsuki bonsai may be a trend in the near future.
To compare the trees in 2017 with those in 2012 at Japan Satsuki Festival, I would like to show you the photos of three trees which got the supreme prize of satsuki bonsai at the show in 2012. Though we can see a lot of photos of the trees which were taken at the show every year in the magazine of Satsuki Kenkyu, since I cannot use them, I have to use photos which I took by myself when I went there to see them. As compared with those in 2017, you may feel that there is the difference between them.
Section 2. My satsuki flowers
I dug out 12 large satsuki trees from the nursery in March 2014. And I introduced the details of repotting of 9 trees in my web site in 2014. Nikko of the left photo is one of them whose height is 49 cm and whose trunk girth is 48 cm. Juko of the right photo is one of them whose height is 62 and whose trunk girth 48 cm. They are the thickest trees in the bonsai pots in my garden and have the very good taper. And since both of them do not have any very large scars, I will be able to complete them in 5 years. And besides, since they have good colour arrangements, their flowers are very beautiful. But since I did not wash and clean the trunks and branches and put the moss on the surface of the soil in the pots to show them at any flower show, their bottoms are a little bit clumsy.
The left photo is Korin A which I have grown from the cutting. You can know the history of this tree in the archive of my web site in 2014. Digging out it from the nursery in March 2014, I planted it in the large bonsai pot after washing the roots. The height is 53 cm and the trunk girth is 44 cm. And the right photo is Hakurin which I bought in 1997. I planted it in the nursery and dug it out in 2014 from there. Since this Hakurin has some pink flowers, the colour arrangement is very good. The height is 39 cm and the trunk girth is 39 cm. And both of them have the very good taper. Though they have large scars now, if they will be cured, they will be completed as very good bonsai in the near future.
These trees are Korin B and Korin C. Buying the former for 250,000 yen in 1997, I planted it in a large terracotta pot. The height was 38 cm and the trunk girth was 28 cm. And I planted it in a bonsai pot in 2012 and repotted it in 2016. Now the height is 47 cm and the trunk girth is 43 cm. Buying the latter for 160,000 in 1994, the height was 29 cm and the trunk girth was 23 cm. And I planted it in a large terracotta pot and in a bonsai pot in 2012 and repotted it in 2015. Now the height is 38 cm and the trunk girth is 43 cm. Both of them will be completed when they are repotted. Especially the latter is so sort that it may be very expensive.
These trees are Shuho no hikari and Korin D. Buying the former for 250,000 yen in 2001, I planted it in a large terracotta pot. The height was 43 cm and the trunk girth was 37 cm. And I planted it in a bonsai pot in 2013. Now the height is 49 cm and the trunk girth is 48 cm. Buying the latter for 400,000 in 2003, the height was 43 cm and the trunk girth was 38 cm. And I planted it in a large terracotta pot and in a bonsai pot in 2013. Now the height is 45 cm and the trunk girth is 47 cm. Though their trunks were very thick when I bought them, compared with the price in 1990, they were less than half prices. Both of them will be completed in several years.
These trees are Nyohozan and Kinsai. Buying the former for 100,000 yen in 1997, I planted it in a very large wooden pot to make it grow large. The height was 42 cm and the trunk girth was 27 cm. And I planted it in a large terracotta pot in 2007 and in a bonsai pot in 2012. Now the height is 59 cm and the trunk girth is 42 cm. Buying the latter for 350,000 yen in 2007, the height was 57 cm and the trunk girth was 26 cm. And I planted it in a large terracotta pot and in a bonsai pot in 2007. Now the height is 62 cm and the trunk girth is 37 cm. I would like to complete them in some years because I grafted some shoots on the branches of both trees.
This tree is Kozan which I bought for 50,000 yen in 1991. The height 43 cm and the trunk girth was 22 cm. I cut the trunk short in1993. And I planted it in a very large wooden pot in 1997 to make it grow large and put it in a large terracotta pot in 2006. Now the height is 52 cm and the trunk girth is 55 cm. Though it has the thickest bottom of trunk in my garden, since it still has the scar which I made when I cut the trunk short, I cannot plant it in a bonsai pot.
Now, I think I have to be in such a hurry to complete a lot of satsuki trees as bonsai because I am 75 years old now. Therefore when I introduce my main satsuki trees on this web site, I may be able to force myself to do so. Since my youngest brother (66 years old) is on his death bed from some cancers now, I think it may be the time when I have to think of my trees after my death. Though I would like to continue to grow satsuki trees as long as I live, since we have a finite lifespan, we have to obey the providence. If you are pleased to read this web site and think it is useful, I am very happy.
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