"Ascending Dragon"

One of the thrills of working with Boon and Bay Island Bonsai is watching fine trees develop over time. This was pointed out in the 5 year retrospective book BIB put out after their 5th anniversary show. Here are three photos I personally took of "Ascending Dragon," Boon's named tree. It is a Sierra juniper grafted many years ago with shimpaku foliage.

The first photo is a scan of a snapshot I took my first summer with Boon, in 2004.

This next photo is of the same tree in 2007 at the annual exhibit:


Here's the tree as it was displayed this year. Boon has brought down the branches and has more plans in the future for this tree. The real difference between bonsai and other visual arts is the changing nature of a growing medium. You just cannot keep these trees looking the same year in and year out. Change is necessary to the health of the tree and to accommodate structural changes such as longer branches.



All that being said, this tree has been an honor to work on and to be around. It is vibrantly healthy and a real stunner.