Page 30 - BSAM 2018 Q4

Top; Mountain Hemlock which started life climbing uphill, now styled in a graceful semi- cascade style. Photo: Barb Round.
Bottom; Sitka Spruce on rock base. Peter collects these porous rock formations from northern Vancouver Island. Photo: Peter Wilson.
that in Port Alice, he would try to apply the principles using trees he found in nature. His first tree was a small Spruce, Picea sp. This time he was determined to get better advice, so called a nursery in Vancouver and was told to remove all the soil from the roots, plant it in sand, and various other instructions. He did all of those things, and “the poor thing died.”
“...probably the best call I ever made.”
There was no Internet available at that time, but Peter did purchase a book. However, again, most references were about Japanese tree species. He started working on spruce trees, but “couldn’t get the needle length right.” In desperation, he made a blind phone call to George Hefflefinger, then president of the Victoria Bonsai Society at the south end of Vancouver Island, “...probably the best call I ever made.” George had never heard of anyone doing bonsai with Sitka Spruce, and was intrigued, thus beginning an ongoing friendship.
About a year later they met in person when George called to say he was coming up to Port Hardy (40 minutes away from Port Alice) to collect trees in the wild. Peter met George and his collecting buddy, Dan Robinson, whom he describes as a “great bonsai artist,” who also became a friend and mentor. Peter acted as their local guide and was shown how to properly dig a tree. The following year the two came up again, and Peter arranged to go by boat into wilder country, where they collected Sitka Spruce.
“If you use black pine techniques on a shore pine, you will probably kill it. ”
Over nearly ten years, Peter worked on his trees, “with good encouragement” from George and Dan, and developing “techniques learned the hard way.” “If you use black pine techniques on a Shore Pine, Pinus contorta, you will probably kill it—it is a single flush tree, whereas the Japanese Black Pine, Pinus thunbergii, can generate multiple flushes.” He does not usually pinch back growth, preferring to allow the spring flush to harden off, then prunes it back.
Peter never had the benefit of a class in his early years of bonsai, but later attended a couple of bonsai conventions in Seattle, Washington and Victoria, BC, where he was a silent observer in several workshops, watching and learning as the instructor moved around the room making suggestions. He admired others’ trees on display and tried to discern the methods employed to train them. “If it is really well done, it’s hard to see, but often you can see a pruning scar, and think, oh, that’s how they did that!”
Dan Robinson continued to visit annually to collect new trees, and many others from across the US and Canada also came to visit Peter’s remote location, most referred by George and Dan. The Vancouver Island Bonsai Society (Victoria, BC) made a collection field trip to Port Alice,asdid“BonsaiBoon,”BooyardManakitivipart,a professional bonsai artist from California. Through these interactions Peter continued to refine his techniques and skill, and his collection was gathering some renown. More and more often he was being asked to sell some of his trees. A visitor from Montreal exclaimed; “They should be put in a Museum so everyone can see them!”
28 | BCI | October/November/December 2018