Tag Archives: Leaves

Conifer flat leaves

Flat leaves are found across the conifer families including Taxus, Cephalotaxus, and even in Pinus (check out Pinus krempfii) as well as many of the Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae families. Commonly known trees with this leaf shape include all varieties of yew, swamp cypress, dawn redwood and coast redwood. Here are some examples: Conifer flat leaves […] Read more… >

Why do some conifer leaves go bronze in winter?

You may have noticed that certain conifer species’ leaves go a different colour over the winter without dying. This phenomenon is most associated with Buxus (box) and Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar) which take on a range of bronze, reddy-brown colours, as shown in the examples below: Although it may look a bit alarming, these leaves […] Read more… >

Conifer Leaves

I’ve been planning a post on this subject for a while because conifers have always been a bit scary to me from a bonsai point of view – they don’t seem as forgiving or obvious in terms of their growth behaviour. This was one of those subjects which ended up being a lot more interesting […] Read more… >

Bud types – reproductive and vegetative

The reproductive system and organs of plants are extremely varied and complex, and worthy of an entire website to themselves – a comprehensive view is beyond the scope of this website. But what I want to do is provide a bit of information to help you identify which buds might be reproductive vs vegetative. There […] Read more… >

Bonsai Tree Growth Stages

Most bonsai trees progress through stages of development, each with a different objective. In general the progression is thicken trunk -> achieve branch & root structure -> achieve branch, foliage & root ramification -> reduce leaf size -> evolve as branches grow/fall off. The faster we can move through the first few development stages, the […] Read more… >

Phloem

The word ‘phloem’ comes from the word for bark in ancient Greek. It is a parallel system to the xylem which transports water and nutrients up from the roots, but instead transports the products of photosynthesis (‘photosynthates’) from the leaves to the rest of the tree. A big callout to The International Association of Wood […] Read more… >