Satsuki and Other Trees in Mack's Garden 63

Renewal Ist June 2021

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Though IOC insisted that the Olympic games would have to be held even under the pressure of the coronavirus, will Japanese people who already bought the tickets be able to enjoy them? I will get the first corona vaccination on 29th of June and the second one on 20th of July. It is too late. Though 12,232 persons died from covid-19 in Japan by 23rd May 2021, Japanese government hasn’t put the entire country on lockdown yet. Though it decided a state of emergency on several prefectures, a lot of people are walking on the streets in the big cities now. I wonder which is precious, human beings or money. IOC and Japanese government seem to love money.

I haven’t been able to sell the large satsuki bonsai since March 2020 because a lot of Japanese satsuki enthusiasts cannot go to satsuki shops and a lot of foreign people cannot come to Japan to buy them under the state of emergency. Though I will be 79 years old on 4th June, I can work in the garden. But I cannot bring the very large satsuki trees to the table to photograph them and it is the very hard work that I move them on the shelves to do so because each pot is very heavy after it rained. Unfortunately, we had the rainy season on 16th of May in Ise 3 weeks earlier than usual, and a lot of rain are giving some damages to the satsuki flowers because satsuki trees began to have flowers two weeks earlier than usual.

Therefore, I couldn’t take a lot of good photos of large satsuki bonsai because they didn’t have good flowers all at once. But since some of them had good flowers, I would like to introduce them with a lot of small and young ones. And I would like to introduce the flowers of my young Kogetsu in 2020 and 2021 so that you may distinguish the colours of flowers in 2021 from those in 2020. A lot of satsuki trees which have a lot of multi-coloured flowers never have the same colours as they had in the previous year. And I would like to introduce how to style young trees after blooming.

My trees of quince and cherry in the pots began to have flowers much earlier and continued to have them much longer than usual. It was my first experience. The quince of left photo is about 42 years old. When we bought an old house in 1978, I found the small tree of quince in the garden and inserted some cuttings into the Kanuma soil. Since it has been planted in the pot for a long time and it was very hot in summer, it doesn’t have a lot of flowers recently. The cherry tree of the middle photo is about 8 years old. Though it has a lot of flowers, since it doesn’t have a good style, I have to style it drastically in some years. When we lived in Kobe, since my wife was given the sapling of the cherry tree which has much smaller flowers, the cherry tree of the right photo is about 46 years old. Though it is weak, it has a lot of small flowers.


The Satuki Flowers in 2021


Since it was warm in January, February, March and April, a lot of satsuki trees in the pots and nursery began to have flowers at the start of May. But since we had cool days in May, it took them a longer time to have full bloom. Therefore, when the considerable number of them were in full bloom, the whole figures weren’t very beautiful. And young trees of some varieties of satsuki don’t have a lot of flowers recently. And a lot of satsuki trees in the garden don’t have a lot of flowers. I cannot understand why they don’t do.

Since I sold a considerable number of the small, middle and large satsuki bonsai, though I still have a lot of satsuki trees in the pots on the shelves, I don’t have a lot of good bonsai now. And I am afraid about how long I can renew this web site. Though I can work in the garden now, if the number of good bonsai will decrease year after year, will I be able to maintain the power and strong intention to grow satsuki trees and renew the web site? It is sure that I will lose the subjects of it gradually. Therefore, please give me some questions and problems about satsuki trees.

Section 1. The flowers of the middle and large trees


Since I don’t have a lot of large satsuki bonsai, I would like to introduce a small number of trees here which have been planted in the very large wooden boxes and the large terracotta and bonsai pots. And since I repotted some large satsuki trees last March after removing all flower buds, pruning them drastically and washing the roots, they don’t have any flowers now. These left photos are the front sides of each variety. The right photos are the back sides.

A. Kozan A

I dug out this Kozan from the nursery in March 2011 and planted it in a large terracotta pot. When I repotted it in March 2016, the height was 33 cm and the trunk girth was 25cm. The whole style is very good when it has these flowers because the taper of the trunk is very good.



B. Biko

I have grown this Biko from the cutting in 1947. Since this variety is a little weak, though thin branches often died, it continues to live. The style isn’t very good, but the colour-arrangement of flowers is very good.



C. Kinka

I took the cutting from Kinsai in 1974. At first it had less than one tenths of the flowers of Kinsai. And it had had a lot of formal flowers gradually. And when it passed about 20 years, it had more than a half of them. Therefore, I gave up to remove them when it had a lot of flowers. And it changed into Kinka. Since it is weak now, it will die in several years.



D. Nikko A

This Nikko has a very good colour-arrangement of flowers. And the taper of the trunk is very good. When I repotted it in March 2019, the height was 47 cm and the trunk girth 49 cm. Since I would like to sell it after the coronavirus is controlled, it will be completed very well by a person who will buy it.



E. Kozan B

When I repotted this Kozan in March 2019, the height was 48 cm and the trunk girth was 49 cm. The big scar is seen on the middle part of the trunk. When I dug it from the nursery in March 2014, I removed the big burl around the bottom of the very thick branch and pasted the medicine and Cutpaster. But the branch died in 2017 and the trunk has a lot of rotten part now. Though the whole style is good when it has these flowers, it will die in several years.



F. Kasugano

I dug out this tree from my grandfather’s bank of tea field in 1972. Since it was cut low every year, though it was short, it had the wide-ranged roots. And I planted it, exposing them to make it have a good style. Therefore, it has the good aspect of strange roots.



G. Kusudama

I bought a bush of Kusudama and made it into the five-trunked tree in May 1988. Though it has a good colour-arrangement of flowers, recently it is so weak that it has some thin branches which died every year.



H. Sakurakagami

When I bought this tree in November 1988, the height was 66 cm and the trunk girth was 10cm. Since this variety is weak, the trunk girth isn’t very thick now. I granted a very long shoot on the first right branch in June 2020 because it is short. It will be a good branch in 3 years.



I. Sangosai A

After I dug out the wide-ranged roots of Sangosai from my grandfather’s bank of tea field in 1972, I planted a separated root of the tree in a terracotta pot. And I planted it in the nursery in 1991. When I dug it out from there on 8th March 2019 and planted it in the very large wooden pot, the height was 54 cm and the trunk girth was 52 cm. These flowers are beautiful though I pruned it last year, but they are not very deep cut flowers. Sometimes, I have seen one fourths of very deep cut flowers.



J. Nikko B

When I dug out this tree from the nursery on 10th March 2019 and planted it in the very large wooden pot, the height was 50 cm and the trunk girth was 52 cm. This colour arrangement of flowers is very good. And the taper of the trunk is so good that the whole style is very good though I didn’t prune last year to make it have thicker trunk. This tree is one of my best trees.



K. Kozan C

When I bought this tree in 1998, since the height was 50cm and the trunk girth was 19 cm, I cut the trunk short. Though I continued to grow it in the pot, I planted it in the very large wooden pot in March 2019. The height was 43 cm and the trunk girth was 45 cm. Since I cut the thick trunk, it still has the little scar on the trunk.



L. Kozan D

When I bought this tree in 1991, since the height was 43 cm and the trunk girth was 22 cm, I cut the trunk short. And I planted it in the very large wooden pot in march 1995. Since it rotted in 2006, I planted it in a very large terracotta pot. And I planted it in the very large wooden pot in March 2019. The height was 45 cm and the trunk girth was 54 cm. Since the taper of the trunk is very good, the whole figure is good.



M. Subaru, Sangosai B and Shuho no hikari

The young trees of Subaru were given the members of Ise Satsuki Society in about 1993 to put them on the tables at our flower show in 1995. And I planted my tree in the nursery. When I dug it out from the nursery and planted it in a large terracotta potin 2011, the height was 53 cm and the trunk girth was 23 cm. But when I repotted it in 2016, the height was 50 cm and the trunk girth was 24 cm. This tree didn’t grow large for 5 years.

This Sangosai is a part of the tree which had large wide-ranged roots which had been dug out from the bank of tea field and planted in the large bonsai pot in 1972. After I removed the half of them which died, I planted it in the very large terracotta pot. Since it is weak, it will die in several years.

I planted a young tree of Shuho no hikari in the nursery in about 1996. When I dug it out from the nursery and planted it in a large terracotta potin 2011, the height was 46 cm and the trunk girth was 30 cm. And when I repotted it in 2016, the height was 50 cm and the trunk girth was 35 cm. This tree grew large for 5 years. The left photo is Subaru, the middle one was Sangosai and the right one is Shuho no hikari.



Section 2. The flowers of young trees


I have grown these young trees except one from the cuttings. I inserted a lot of cuttings of Nikko which have smaller leaves into Kanuma soil to make the bonsai which I hoped might have a good colour-arrangement of flowers. And I had made several young trees of Benigasa and Yama no hikari before their parents died. And the rest were the trees which were made to use them as the materials to make roots of several trees in the nursery by grafting.

A. Nikko C, D, E and F

These trees of Nikko are those which I couldn’t sell at our flower show about 20 years ago. Since they are short and their trunks are thick, the tapers of the trunks are good. Therefore, they have good styles. And they have good colour-arrangements. These sizes of satsuki bonsai are expensive and very popular in Japan.


B. Nikko G, H, I and J

These young Nikko are the rest of trees which I used for grafting to make roots. They are about 8 years old. Though you cannot see any red flowers in the second and fourth photos, all of them have good colour-arrangements.


C. Nikko K, L, M and Kozan E

Nikko K is in the groups of Nikko G, H, I and J. The colour-arrangement isn’t very good, they have good flowers. And Nikko L and M and Kozan are in the groups of Nikko C, D, E and F and Kozan E. Nikko L and M are two parts of the five-trunked tree whose main trunk died. Therefore. their styles aren’t good. And they don’t have good colour-arrangements though the main trunk had beautiful flowers. But since they have the thick trunks, I still keep them. Though Kozan E is short, since it has the thick trunk, the whole figure is good when it has a lot of flowers.


D. Benigasa SA, B, C and D

The parent of these trees was so weak that I made a lot of saplings about 10 years ago. And a friend of mine asked me to give him some saplings. These flowers of Benigasa are so large that tall trees looks well when they have flowers. Though I have 7 trees of Benigasa now, recently they don’t have a lot of flowers. I don’t know why they don’t have a lot o flowers. I always removed one thirds of flower buds until a few years ago.


E. Yama no hikari A, Hibai and Banri no Kagayaki

These trees of Yama no hikari have beautiful flowers. Though I didn’t remove any flower buds in winter, they don’t have a lot of flowers like above trees of Benigasa don’t have. It is fact that the large tree of Yama no hikari in the garden don’t have a lot of flowers. This is my present great problem. These flowers of Hibai are good because it has red and purple flowers. Though I inserted several cuttings into Kanuma soil, this is only one tree which has two-coloured flowers that the variety of Hibai has to have. Now I don’t know which new shoots I have to choose when I take cuttings. Since this Banri no kagayaki had only one swelling red bud on the lower branch, the colour arrangement is OK. I made several saplings of this tree to make roots of the trees in the nursery by grafting. This is a rest of them.


F. Jukokan A, B, C and D

I made a lot of saplings of Jukokan to make roots of the tree in the nursery several years ago. Since these trees have good flowers, I continue to keep them.


G. Jukokan E, Asuka and Togenkyo A and B A

Jukokan E is in the groups of Jukokan A, B, C and D. Since this Asuka was weak, I changed the bonsai pot to a terracotta pot in March 2019. And I am happy that it has a considerable number of flowers and this colour arrangement is very good. These trees of Togenkyo have only a few flowers of Togenkyo. Therefore, they will be Kinsai in some years. And several young trees of Togenkyo which I made in the same year don’t have any flowers of Togenkyo. And some of them have a lot of formal flowers and two of them have only formal flowers. These are not Togenkyo but Kinsai or Kinka. I am very sad to see them because I think I have to give up growing them.


H. Sangosai C and Korin A

This Sangosai is a part of the tree which had large wide-ranged roots which had been dug out from the bank of tea field and planted in the large bonsai pot in 1972. After I removed the half of them which died, since it was separated from Sangosai B, I planted it in the bonsai pot because it was two-trunked tree which had very strange style. Since I found the good material of a sprout for a long surface root under the tree of Korin in the nursery, I planted it in the large bonsai pots several years ago. Since it is a little clumsy, I may had better remove some trunks.


Section 3. The flowers of Cascades


I wanted to have some saplings of Hikorin about 10 years ago. When they grew large in the terracotta pots, since they had some very long shoots, I styled them into cascades. At the same time, I made some cascades of Korin and Togenkyo. But I don’t like this style because it is the very hard work now for me to bring all of them into the garage whenever a strong typhoon is coming to us. And suddenly we have a very strong wind which blows some of them away from the shelves and beak some branches and the ends of trunks. I have 10 trees of cascades now.

A. Hikorin A, B and Korin A and B

Though Hikorin A has a lot of flowers, the style isn’t very good. And since the trunk of Hikorin B was short, using a long shoot, I made it much longer last year. Therefore, this tree isn’t completed yet. And I have to make a lot of good branch pads of Korin A and B. It is more difficult to make good styles of cascades from the bushes of satsuki than to do so from the very tall saplings.


B. Nikko N, Togenkyo C and Unknown

This Nikko G has a good colour arrangement of flowers. Though it doesn’t have a lot of flowers, the whole figure of the tree isn’t bad. Since the trunk is thick, it is about 17 years old. Though this Togenkyo had a lot of flowers of Togenkyo when I made the style of cascade, it doesn’t have any flowers of Togenkyo. And since it has a lot of formal flowers now, it will be Kinka in some years. Therefore, I think I will give up growing it and not repot it. The last one is the Unknown because I found a seedling under a large Korin and planted it in a pot about 15 years ago. It grew slowly. Though it has the same leaves as Korin has, the flowers are red and large. Therefore, it is called Hikorin though the colour of this tree is as same as the colour of Hikorin is.



Section 4. The flowers of the trees which were repotted


Since I sold a considerable number of middle and large satsuki bonsai, I decided to keep one thirds of flower buds of the trees which I repotted in March last year so that I might see more flowers of satsuki trees on the shelves. But it is true that it gives some damages to them.

A. Hakurei, Nikko O, Komei A and B

This Hakurei was the four-trunked tree because one trunk died. And one of the four trunks was supported with thick wire because it was very weak. And I planted three saplings to make this tree into the seven-trunked tree. Since I repotted it last March, though these flowers are smaller, it has good flowers. Nikko O has a very good colour-arrangement of flowers though they are smaller. And I like this style of three-trunked three.

These two Komei have the large scars in the lower trunks. Since they had the large rotten parts in them, I removed them completely using the chisel and knife and supplied the underwater bond between the trunks after applying the medicine about 30 years ago. Though they are weak, they have lives since then and have beautiful flowers though they are smaller than always. But I think they will die in several years.


B. Togenkyo D and E

Togenkyo D has a considerable number of flowers of Togenkyo. Since this cascade has good flowers, it is only one tree of all young trees that I have grown from the cuttings. The rest are Kinsai or Kinka. I bought this Togenkyo E in 2001. Since it was a very tall sapling, I wired it after cutting short. Since I removed some formal flowers, you cannot see them. I couldn’t see any formal flowers three years ago. But I think it will be Kinsai in several years. This tree is the parent of a lot of young trees which I made.




The archives

The archaives are the back nukmbers of my web site. If you are interested in them, please read them. I am sure that it is very useful for you to grow satsuki trees and to make them into good bonsai.

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