Now that temperatures have cooled a bit, I’ve started repotting. Sometimes I return trees to the pots they were growing in, and other times I select new containers.
Here are eight options I considered for a contorted flowering quince. Do you have a favorite?
Pot #1 – round Yamaaki
Pot #2 – unglazed Japanese
Pot #3 – Jan Rentenaar
Pot #4 – round Japanese
Pot #5 – Vicki Chamberlain
Pot #6 – Vicki Chamberlain
Pot #7 – Bunzan
Pot #8 – Bunzan
Clump style bonsai like this contorted quince can look good in a variety of containers. Glazed choices are more common than unglazed for flowering trees (the flowers are pale orange) and I wanted to go with something glazed to provide color to the garden and to potential displays.
I limited my choices to relatively round containers as the square and rectangular pots I have strike me as too formal for the tree, and oval containers make more sense when there is an obvious main tree or an established front. As I’m just beginning to work with this tree, it’s nice to use a pot that looks good from all angles.
As for the specific choices, I found Pot #1 has a good shape for the tree but is a bit large and lacks color. A glazed version of pot #2 might work, but it too was on the large side.
The Rentenaar container, pot #3, could work, but the mound needed to cover the roots would have been fairly large making the lower part of the composition take up too much visual mass. A smaller version could work, but then the question of how to complement a deciduous container in slab or stone-like container comes up. Any suggestions?
I find pot #4 acceptable, but it lacks character and the lip is a bit wide for the tree. I liked both of Vicki Chamberlain’s containers for the tree, #5 and #6, but again, each was slightly larger than what I was looking for.
The final options were from Bunzan. I prefer pot #8 overall, but liked that #7 was shallower and lighter in color.
Contorted quince in a Bunzan pot – 11″
After seeing the tree throughout the year I’ll likely have new ideas about which container suits the tree best. And in one or two years, I’ll plan to make another switch.
One Week left in Kickstarter Campaign for Pacific Bonsai Museum Book
The Pacific Bonsai Museum has reached 77% of their goal to produce a book featuring the stories of thirty trees from their collection.
I’m excited about the project because there aren’t many books that show long-term bonsai development. Although before and after transformations can be exciting, bonsai take on their best characteristics over time. This book promises to offer a glimpse at this process with explanations from the curators.
To order a copy or learn more about the project, visit A Gallery of Trees: Living Art of Pacific Bonsai Museum on Kickstarter.
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