I tackled some bigger garden grown trident seedlings today. Thicker roots so these took a bit more time and effort to extract than the smaller ones I usually offer.

Trident trunks like this are still available bare root – until the new shoots start to open. Prices from $15 through to $30 for these XXL bare root tridents depending on how good the root base, trunk taper and trunk bends. This one priced at $20 as an indication.

As shown, XL and XXL tridents are usually tall and thin. They are good for larger groups as is but can be trunk chopped and grown on to create trunks will have good taper in a few years.

I’m sure many beginners are concerned about purchasing bare root trees and having them delivered through the mail so some of you may be more interested in some trident maple trunks that are already established in pots.

These are some of the XL and XXL bare root tridents that were left after last year’s winter bare root sale so I potted up some of the nicer trunks. That means these have had a full year to grow new roots and re-establish in the pots ready for whatever projects you’d like to try with them. Some might need another trunk chop to establish a better trunk line, others are ready to start growing branching this summer.

Delivery for some of these will be a little more than the bare root equivalent but generally a single pot doesn’t change the post price much. As usual, I’m happy to provide a delivery price quote before you commit to purchase. Please supply a mailing address or at least a postcode because post rates depend on what Auspost zone you are in.

Shibui Bonsai also has plenty of smaller trident and Japanese maples in smaller 11 cm pots as well as a good range of other bonsai species. email [email protected] to order or enquire about your next bonsai starters.

The trees that were transplanted from the grow beds last winter have grown well and the new roots should be strong enough for them to cope with the posties now. Most have already had one haircut.

I spent last week dodging storms and rain to get photos and the new catalogues are now uploaded to the catalogue page. Feel free to browse and see if anything takes your fancy this year.

My back is not getting any younger or stronger so it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage larger bonsai so I am reluctantly offering several older bonsai for sale.

This is an opportunity to obtain well developed, 30-40 year old bonsai.

Trident maple – informal upright, root over rock.

Grown from seed in the late 1980s. This trident maple is one of my early trials with root over rock. You can see that the rock is on the small side and the tree has grown so the roots have almost swallowed the rock. Branches are well ramified and few scars on the trunk. Priced at $2,500.

Ficus rubiginosa – informal upright.

Grown from seed in the early 1990s. This tree started out as 2 seedlings fused together to form a twin trunk bonsai. The trunks fused very well but, as the individual trunks continued to thicken, the fork between them moved higher and higher so it is now an informal upright bonsai with a very thick lower trunk and a large first branch. The cold climate here is not the best for ficus so ramification is not as extensive as the trident above but plenty of primary branches to continue building on. $2,500

Cedrus deodar – informal upright

Cedars grow slowly so it’s not surprising that this is one of my oldest bonsai. Obtained as a pencil thick seedling from Nell Saffin in the early 1980s and developed slowly in pots, this tree is a beautiful example of deodar bonsai. Cedars of this age and quality do not come up often. Priced at $3,500.

If you’d like to see more photos of any of these trees, please ask. I’m happy to take shots of different sides or any particular aspects of the trees that you’d like to see.

I don’t really want to consign trees of this size and quality to the tender care of the postal service so alternative arrangements will need to be made for delivery. Pick up by the buyer is preferred but other options may be available so, if you don’t think personal pick up is possible, please talk to me about other delivery options.

Shibui Bonsai will be out and about a bit more than usual this year.

We have secured a trade space at the AABC National Convention in Canberra in May. Space for transporting stock is limited and this year we’ll have a new range of display stands on board. We’ll still try to include a good range of trees but convention delegates are welcome to check out the catalogues and ask to have specific trees included in the stock we bring. Also feel free to talk to Neil if there’s any special species you would like to get hold of.

We have also been invited to present a couple of demonstrations at Bonsai by the Harbour in Sydney in June. This will be our first trip up to the Harbour city so looking forward to meeting local bonsai fanatics there. I’ll be demonstrating Shibui Bonsai techniques to create and develop Root over Rock bonsai in one of the sessions. The other session will focus on techniques for accelerated trunk development: field growing, sacrifice branches and more.

We also have the opportunity to bring Shibui Bonsai stock for sale while we are at Bonsai by the Harbour. We’ll try to take a varied selection of sizes, shapes and species but you are welcome to check out the Shibui Bonsai catalogues and ask us to include specific trees that you’d like to get a closer look at. This is a once only chance to secure quality Shibui Bonsai trees without the delivery costs! Catalogue

Apologies to all those of you who have been waiting to see what Shibui Bonsai has to offer this year. I could blame all sorts of circumstances but truth is I’ve been procrastinating. So many other things that seem way more important than taking the photos, compiling the documents and then uploading here. There was the bushfire nearby but our commitment helping out there was only the last couple of weeks so I can’t really lay all the blame there either.

Anyway, better late than never (and any other platitudes you’d like to add). This year’s catalogues should be live on the catalogue page now. Shibui Bonsai catalogue page

It’s worth noting that, due to the abovementioned slackness, there are a few of trees that are not included in the current catalogues. Pines and junipers not re-established well enough to ship yet. Some pots missed out on cat numbers (one of my excuses for not posting) but I’ve decided to publish without those few trees. Maybe I’ll get enthused and add them at some stage during the year. If you’ve read this far and want to see any trees that missed the catalogues, just email and tell me which category you would like to see.

There are always more trees that either don’t fit in the catalogue categories or I’ve missed them during stocktake or photo sessions so it may be worth asking if you want something special and can’t see it in the catalogues.