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Making Bonsai Pancakes with Peter Tea

03/14/24

If you don't know Peter, one of our most accomplished young bonsai artists, you're in for a treat. And if you do know Peter, you're still in for a treat.

Korean Hornbeam bonsai by Peter Tea in aqua pot

One thing that jumps out for me with this remarkable tree, is the well developed ramification all the way out to the tips of the twigs. Here's Peter Tea's caption, "The deciduous work begins! Defoliated this Korean Hornbeam and a slight thinning and cut back."

Ramified Seiju Elm bonsai in a Sara Rayner pot

Another one with good ramification. Here's Peter's caption, "Ramified Seiju Elm in a Sara Rayner pot! It’s going to get a repot in February."

Chinese quince bonsai by Peter Tea in teal pot

Here's what Peter wrote about this tree, "Chinese quince getting more refined! The roots are also starting to fuse and we’ll show more of that in the next repotting. Graft I did in early 2023 up top is growing and looking forward to fill the hole there. Pacific Bonsai Expo 202?"

Japanese flowering apricot bonsai by Peter Tea in teal pot

I'm looking forward to seeing this tree in few years after Peter has worked some of his magic. Here's what he has to say about it, "Japanese flowering apricot is blooming at the garden! We’re going to graft a few branches closer to the interior in March and dense this guy up!"

Peter Tea and friends gathered around a bonsai planting in Golden State Bonsai Federation's bonsai garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland CA

We'll let Peter do the talking, "Eli, Max and myself headed down to the Bonsai Garden in Lake Merritt and repotted this 1500+ year old California Juniper. It took three of us to lift the tree out of the pot and we were able to get the tree into a smaller oval pot."

By the way, Lake Merritt in Oakland CA is the home of the Golden State Bonsai Federation's bonsai garden. 

Peter Tea and friend slicing a bonsai rootball with a Sawzall

Here's Peter's story with one, "Eli and I making some pancakes! Repotted a number of Black pines in big nursery containers. Whipped out the Sawzall to take slices of the rootball away to save time. Once we got close to the roots we planned to keep, we went at it with hand tools." 

Seiju elm bonsai with moss covering some of the trunk by Peter Tea in grey pot

Peter's caption for this one, I purchased this Seiju elm back in 2017 at an auction and the first thing I did was cut all the branches to stubs and repotted it into a smaller pot.  I did this because the branches were very leggy and pot was huge! After a few years of branch development I sold it to a client of mine and has been under his care for the last 5 years. He has since decided to downsize his collection and now the Elm has retuned to the garden! The tree is now just starting to bud out due to warm days in Sacramento last week. I plan to continue its branch development and hope to show it in the future! 🤩
The tree stand right at 17inches tall."

Black Pine bonsai curved into a spiral by Peter Tea in small brown pot

One more by Peter and it's a doozy. Here's what he wrote, "Rebuilding this funky little Black Pine! Looking forward to a good 2024 and the continued refinement of this tree. 

"I feel like I should give this tree a name. What do you think?"

 

Sources:
Peter Tea on FB
Peter's website
GSBS Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt
Peter Tea on Bonsai Bark

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