Bonsai Nurseries in Taiwan

As I am still on summer holidays here in Taiwan I had the chance of visiting some more bonsai nurseries two hours drive south from Taipei.  I was lucky enough to travel with Jack Lin and his wife.  Jack is a bonsai teacher and friend.  

Apart from seeing more of Taiwan and eating different food, I also decided to buy.  I need to fill up my upstairs balcony/rooftop with what I hope will be 50 trees.

Please enjoy some pictures of a few bonsai nurseries in Taiwan.

The first nursery we walked into on a hot 37 degree afternoon.

I would like to have some of these!

It doesn't take too long before my shopping cart begins to fill.

Nice bonsai, however Jack didn't like the cookie cutter style of almost every tree at this nursery.

I don't have a problem with it though.  Maybe I am easily pleased?

Plenty of sunshine in this part of the world.

Hello there.

Black Pine imported from Japan.  There were two I saw that would probably eventually die.  More make it than not and Taiwanese pay a lot of money for these very old Black Pines.

Green all around.

Jack tells me this particular tree is called a Desert Rose.  They graft so easily in the summer.

Anyone for a pine?

 For Goodness Sake...IT'S A FAKE!

The next three pictures are of fake bonsai trees.  The interesting part for me was that the trunk and larger branches are real wood that has died.  They then drilled small holes into this dead wood and stuck in some small branches and leaves made from plastic.

Not the real thing but....

they are...

easy to look after....sorry I had to say it.

Back to the real stuff.  This warehouse sold thousands of pots and gardening tools.  Bonsai trees are never too far away.

Huge bonsai pots.

Have you ever thought of that?

Different.

The Desert Rose grafting.  They take in about 2 weeks!

A plant I saw at another nursery.  Amazing.

Juniper trees wired.

I bought 2 of these.

Chinese Elm 

A good view of how you can develop taper in a bonsai tree.

Some bigger junipers.

Some of these larger junipers have had their top section lobbed off.  This reduces the tree's height and forces more side branches to grow.

Elm roots that have been used as cuttings.

The roots have good natural movement at their base and then you can graft a smaller cutting to the top.

If you let them grow they will develop into what you see here.  Chinese Elm trees are so tough and forgiving.

Hope you enjoyed some pictures from my day trip.  I ended up buying about 20 trees.  I hope to upload what these guys look like on my rooftop soon.  I am trying to create a mini nursery of my own.