japanese holly

order: aquifoliales
family: aquifoliaceae
genus: ilex
species: crenata

First Story

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28 march 2012

My japanese holly is my very first bonsai plant. It's not the most perfect bonsai, but I think it's good enough for beginners like myself. It has already got a triangular silhouette at the time I got it. What it needs at the moment is gaining volume in its polsters of foliage. I actually want it to grow bigger, but this will take a long, long time.

It went dormant in winter. It's said to be tolerant of low-light condition. So it was easy for me to find a spot in our staircase, where the temperature doesn't fluctuate much away from 10 °C. Nothing happened since then. Since it's an evergreen, it didn't drop a single leaf.

Once dormancy broken, I brought it back into my bright study. For the first three weeks, I noticed no changes at all. After that, fresh lemon green started to show up. At present, the flower buds have already developed around the new leaves. They are right about the plant being able to back-bud easily, without you having to do anything. So if you accidentally ruin a branch, you can still take on corrective measures.

Update

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2013

repositioning and pruning january 2013.

My holly plant only had a flush of growth this year. After spring pinching, there wasn't any more growth for the entire year. After experiencing at least 2 months of cold it's allowed to wake up in mid-january in preparation for repotting. While moving it into the house, I gave it a major pruning according to its new design. I rotated and tilted the plant to an angle in order to have a new front view. The result is a trunk movement that is more subtle without being boring and the main branches are also brought closer to the trunk. I actually quite like the tilted rooball that is by now completely covered by moss. It gives an impression of a slope close to a brook. Slope is good; it's dramatic. I'm tempted to plant it on a piece of stone slate, though I know I won't find a suitable piece in the near future. So, it's going to get its old pot for now.

R.I.P

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31 march 2015

I had so many plans for this lovely plant, but it didn't make it through the time I was away in Asia to visit my family. Alas! The care-taker must have forgotten to water it on several shifts. When I came home, the plant looked desiccated, leaves turned khaki, stem shrunk. The water given posthumously remained in the soil for a whole week before I realised the plant's gone. Dead leaves persist on the branches but all axial buds are visibly dead. So yes, death confirmed. This is unfortunately not the only casualty during this time. My adenium that was supposed to be kept dry was drowned in a pool of cold water till I came home. Rotting was already under way.