This is my fourth Mountain Mahogany – Cercocarpus breviflours Gray var. breviflorus Bonsai tree. I really like this tree. Bjorn Bjorholm gave it a first styling in the summer of 2018. I allowed it to grow where every it wanted to. I finished its styling based on Bjorns input. Bjorn thought it would look best with a very low apex on the tree and so it was done! The tree is recovering under 30% shade cloth and seems to be doing fine. I really like all the deadwood on the tree. The deadwood varies from your typical gray very weathered deadwood to dark black rough deadwood and other deadwood somewhere in between. I think it is important to keep all of these different types of deadwood on the tree. It helps tell the story of the tree trying to survive in the high deserts of New Mexico. This tree was purchased from Cho Bonsai. There is more information on this species here: Mountain Mahogany. I think I am going to remove the branch in front moving from left to right.
By the way the leaf size on this tree is very similar to a boxwood leaf. Very small. Fall color is yellow.
The tree will be allowed to grow through out the summers and then given a fall cleanup. This tree wintered in the garage under fluorescent lights.
New 02-03-2021: I thought I would make a GIF of the tree to show its progression.
New 11-28-2020:
This video is a snippet from the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society 51st Annual Show video of the walk through of the show by RMBS members and Larry Jackel from the Denver Botanic Gardens. The full video is available here: Walk-through at Denver Botanic Gardens:
New 09-6-020:
Here is a screen shot from the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society 51st Annual Show video “Walk Through” of the show.
New 08-19-2020:
I have entered the tree into the 2020 Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society Virtual Bonsai show. I decided to do a three point display with this tree. The tree is planted in a Sara Rayner pot and the accent pot is planted in a Chuck Iker Bonsai pot. The Dragon Bonsai pot was made by Marc Berenbrinker, what a beauty it is. The wood stand under the Bonsai was made by me out of American Chestnut wood. The stand under the Dragon pot is Russian Olive wood, it is really a beautiful wood when finished. You can learn more about 3 point displays here: 3 Point Displays
New 07-27-2020:
The tree is doing great, lots of new growth some of which I kept today and some of which I did not. The tree has one Flower on it!!! The moss is looking great, very fluffy looking moss with uneven appearance to it. I did have to repair one section of moss that was torn off when removing the screening material. The moss had grown through the screen. The tree will not be allowed to grow wider or taller. I will concentrate on creating more ramification on the branches already in place.
Comparison photo of tree when received and now.
New 05-07-2020:
I have added a new gallery for my Mountain Mahogany – Cercocarpus breviflours Gray var. breviflorus Bonsai tree. The tree pretty much survived the winter in my garage sitting under fluorescent lights and only lost a few small branches. The tree did have a lot of new branches so some where kept and some not. Moss was put on the tree using my own Moss technique and the Moss is now covered with screening material held in place by galvanized wire brackets to keep the squirrels off it. The tree is now actively growing new leaves to go with the old leaves. Hopefully there be a lot of new small branches all over the tree. Scissor work be used going forward to manage the new growth and increase ramification. The tree was put in a Sara Rainer pot this spring and I cut of a good 1 1/2 ” of a long thick root which so far has not bothered the tree at all.
Here is a photo provided by Cho Bonsai of the tree in 2018.
New Gallery 04-29-2020
Gallery Spring 2019
