MYRTUS COMMUNIS by Bob Fisher See a large image of this tree The common Myrtle picture above was purchased approximately six years ago from Picov's in Ajax. (Unfortunately, Picov's sold their greenhouses and adjacent property to developers two years ago). They had picked up 4 large plants, and at the time I arrived two were still left for sale. The plants were over three feet tall with a decent trunk size, which is unusual to find in common Myrtle. In any case, after poking my fingers into the soil (which any good bonsai person does!) to show me where the main roots were, as well as their size and condition, so as to determine the eventual front of the tree, I also viewed the multitude of branches to be sure I could develop proper branching arrangements. One tree showed better rootage than the other, and this helped me make my decision. After purchasing the tree, I had one of Picov's assistants help me carry the plant to my car. I realized then and there it would never fit in my trunk or back seat . . . so more decisions were made on the spot. First, I obtained from the attendant her pruning shears and determined approximately where my new leader would be . . . which was about 12-inches from the base of the tree. I took the shears and cut off the top 2 feet of the tree and then did some major pruning on the branches. Finally, I had whittled the plant down so it would comfortably fit in my back seat. I thanked the attendant for the use of her pruners and drove off leaving her standing there in complete shock! Once I arrived home, I replanted the tree in a smaller growing pot using proper bonsai soil. The next step was to determine the style of tree in which it was to be trained. Since the trunk was fairly typical of most tropical trees (fairly straight with no redeeming features), I took the easy way out and decided it would be an informal upright style. I have a decent home collection of books and magazines on bonsai, and usually what I like to do is look through these for a tree which somewhat approximates the tree I am working on. Sometimes I find a picture in a matter of hours (it just pops out at you!) . . . In other cases, the process can take weeks and even months for me to constantly search through the books until I find what I am looking for. In the case of this particular Myrtle, I know I had wired up one of the branches to make my new leader, and had done some preliminary wiring and pruning on the branches. And then, one day I found a tree which looked somewhat similar to my plant. It was in "Bonsai Design" - Japanese Maples by Peter Adams, see pages 93 and 94. From then on it was more a matter of developing the new leader into a new top, and defining the left, back and right branching arrangements, plus developing the individual branches into clouds. I won't go into this in any great detail as there are any number of books available to show you how to do this. I do like indoor bonsai because one can enjoy their tranquility all year round. And, I especially enjoy Myrtle Communis because of their multiple branching, small green leaves, and the bark over time takes on an aged appearance. As with all bonsai, they grow and change, so improvements are always needed. In critiquing this particular tree, the lower branches could be brought forward more, and I would like to reduce their length just slightly to create a more elliptical outline.