koi and bonsai, interesting similarities
yesterday as i was helping to pot up the new yamadori pines and juniper's from Wyoming, I watched as customers filed by, interested yet not really.
there was just one lone limber pine and that one was really nice. It's lower branches perfect for work as a top bonsai. It was dug and potted up with all the branches it had developed because you need the top growth to send down strength to the roots to help it rebuild from being dug and transported.
Those who could have been prospective buyers, looked at the whole and did not see the tree within.
Kinda like sumi mono koi who's sumi pattern, tho years in the making, will define the value or worth of the Koi. Knowing the bloodline and how it will develop will tell you the chances of it developing to your expectations. If you don't know that a breeder is say putting a matsunosuke sumi, on a sadazo beni while trying to retain the matsunosuke body, you'd have no understanding about what to expect. And if you didn't know that you need
all of the branching initially to get the tree to live before styling, then you couldn't anticipate the eventual design.
At the bonsai retailer, the tree would be semi styled after it was clear it was surviving. Then the quess work would be gone, the buyer would see the design and with a few tweaks of their own have something to be proud of.
Kinda like looking at tosai and not seeing what it's telling you. many wait till they are furthur developed along as two year olds. Interesting heh?
How many times have we seen a post get moved from a main post to one that fits better in a specialty subject. This is one that i think could go the other way
Dick Benbow
"The Koi Coach"
member Team Purdin