The collection

These are my bonsa-in-training. Every morning I a out here to ensure that the moss gets a light watering, then in the afternoon they get a better watering. As I find images of bonsai trees which may suit the trees I have potted I will wire these to imitate the same style. Going out for a good bush walk is even more rewarding if I come across a sapling which is harvestable  with the exception of the avocado trees, all the rest have been harvested from various spots around Cairns.

Lovely moss on a bonsai

This tree is yet to be styled... I took a chance and harvested it from along a local river - it took over a month before I could see any evidence that this tree was going to survive as it lost all its leaves within a few days of transplantation and looked almost dead... but after a month or so a few leaf buds appeared and I was a lot happier.  The moss is doing very well as well, and you can see that it was harvested in 2 totally different spots... the moss has not taken on the same appearance and has retained the shades of green it had when harvested. The patchwork look is sort of appealing to me.  As for the tiny weeds popping through the moss I let them grow for a few days and pull them out when they start to get too big - it looks a bit like a garden when they are small

Twisted bonsai

This tree was long and skinny when I harvested it. At first I was simply going to chop it shorter to try thicken the base but soon changed my mind after seeing a twisted bonsai which inspired me to try this style. All that remains now is to wait patiently and see if the trunk will indeed thicken up and hold this shape.

The first 2

These were the first 2 trees I ever wired... 

Both were harvested from the wild, growing in the crack of a tree. After potting them and letting them settle for 2 or 3 months I finally tried my hand at shaping them,  These are supposed to be fast growing trees so I am hoping that they will show results faster.

This is the Moss Experiment, Stage 2.

 This is the Moss Experiment, Stage 2.

I have discovered that not all moss found out in the wild will grow in my desired conditions... Moss which was growing vertically (on a wall or rock) seems to have the greatest difficulty adapting to growing horizontally in my pots/trays.

How it started: An ongoing, living experiment

 This was the first experiment in growing moss.  It was started in late 2013 with a sample which filled about half the petri dish. Since then it has grown to fill the entire dish and has begun to throw spores as well.  It was this experiment which got me wondering if I could grow the moss in a bigger container so as to possibly create faerie gardens.  It also reawakened my desire to try my hand at growing Bonsai.