I covered the birth of this bonsai in a post from December, 2012…if you look on the sidebar of this blog, click on that date to get you up to speed. I potted the tree in March, 2013 and it came through all the previous work with no problems. The tree lives in Seattle, and I would check in to see it whenever I was up on bonsai business…it lost one branch on the right after a year, which I think was due to the adjustment to life in a pot. It has otherwise filled in nicely and I was asked to re-style it this winter. Just so you can see what I started with, here is the tree before work ever started:

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That was in November, 2012. And here is the same tree February, 2016:

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Now a view of the right side, or the tree’s left:

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The back side:

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And a view of the left side, or the tree’s left:

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A detail of the shari:

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In nearly four years it can be seen we went from a few long, droopy branches to some finer branching beginning to form some nice layers around the long, slanting trunk. We are on the lookout for a new pot for the tree, the next step in its bonsai journey. I hope this inspires you to start considering trying this species for bonsai…nothing says ‘Northwest’ quite like these trees do 😉 Now how about a little touch of spring? It’s come early for us here in Portland, and this violet just couldn’t wait…

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