It's always difficult to get any sort of perspective from a 2D photo, but you have the makings of a very nice mother/daughter tree, with the daughter tree on the right. If you decide to go that route, the daughter tree needs to have a smaller caliper (trunk diameter) than the mother tree. As things are now, the mother tree is the same size as or smaller than the daughter tree. This means you need to reduce the daughter tree considerably and leave a maximum amount of foliage on the mother tree so it can fatten up. At the same time, you need to keep the tree's future in mind, as you envision it. That's usually the hard part for beginners. If this was my tree, I would reduce the daughter tree today, by removing the vertical branches that won't be part of the composition. This plant tends to grow in tufts of foliage at branch ends just behind pruning cuts (like burning bush), so (on the daughter tree), I would remove any end 'tufts' that have multiple branches so there are only 2 secondary branches growing from each main branch. Concentrate on developing only horizontal branches you'll be keeping as part of the future composition. Let the mother tree grow unencumbered by pruning. ANY branches you intend to keep should never have more than 2 branches emanating from any single point - IE, Y's are ok, but 3 branches from the same point will give you trouble down the road because of reverse branch taper, so correct that as soon as it's reasonable to do so on both trees pictured in your posts. As you develop the top of the mother tree, keep in mind it will want to overhang the smaller tree protectively, so as you prune & wire, the main tree will want to move from left to right, as seen now - if we're looking at the best 'front'. One of your tree's most attractive features will undoubtedly be its roots. Experienced judges of bonsai material look there first, so start working on the roots at the first repot time. Reduce heavy roots the most & allow fine roots in the right places to grow unencumbered by pruning. If you lack roots in a particular spot where roots are needed, get after stimulating root growth in that area and work toward a horizontal root system and roots of equal size/spacing. This picture (above) is actually a preparation for layering off the top of a Carpinus koreana with poor roots, but just filling the holes (done with a brad-point drill spun in my fingers) with rooting gel will produce roots where wanted. If your tree has enough trunk below where the two trunks join, it's a good candidate for layering. See this maple's nearly perfect root structure after layering: You can still see the wire I used as a constriction to block the downward flow of photosynthate to roots, which caused a high level of carbohydrates (to enhance rooting) and a nice swelling (trunk flare) to occur immediately above the constriction. I do this to a LOT of trees with weak root systems - it's much easier than fixing them. This is a very impressive root system (Acer b) for such a very young tree - done by drilling the holes & layering off the top - as you saw in the pics above. Any back-budding that occurs low on the trunks - let those branches grow to increase lower trunk diameter. You can remove them later, after they've done their job, but if they occur very close to each other, eliminate one of the branches to reduce swelling and reverse taper. This goes back to the 'no more than 2 branches emanating from any one point'. Al

Dale........ When I first started growing miniatures, it was in southern California where there is no real winter. Since then, I have moved to the mountains of northern California. The first year I moved here, I was gifted with more than 60 miniature and miniflora roses in April 2004. Since I was working on the house I just purchased, I potted the roses up in the largest pots I could find because I didn't know a thing about over-wintering roses and figured that it would take longer for soil in a large pot to freeze than a small pot. It turns out that was a very wise decision. Some of those roses have been in pots for four winters. So far, I haven't lost one rose to winter even tho'temps have gotten down to the low teens one winter. (Most of the time we can expect low 20s) All of these gift roses came in 2" to 4" pots and, like I said in my other post, I just put those tiny little plants into the big pots. The roses were full size by the end of summer. Then I had to learn about over-wintering roses in pots because I didn't have time that first year to plant anything. I suggest a spring order. Now that I have experienced over-wintering roses in pots, I know it's easier to work with a plant that has already developed a root system. You can pot up in your new roses in smaller pots than I did, if you plant to put the roses into the ground in the fall. Mad-gallica - Micro-minis might get lost in the grass, but I have tucked them into the rose bed in front of larger roses and they can really add to the look of the bed. I have also planted them in a cluster of small plants in one bed and it seems to work. There are miniature roses that can grow to 5' tall... those plants do not get lost and can be quite lovely. And, of course there are roses in both the miniature and mini-flora classes that are taller than the micro-minis and shorter than the big mini roses. Deb and Dave Boyd, who often post here, have a garden listing on HMF. You might want to check out some of his photos of minis. He grows several of my favorites in a zone that is similar to yours. Lyn Here is a link that might be useful: Deb & Dave Boyd's Garden on HMF

I disagree that Manzanita is genetically disposed to to sprawl sideways. In most cases, It commonly grows in a form like the following, and the Pajaro has the predisposition to this form. In the desert of Mexico, plants in this form stretch on endlessly. (I wanted to take some home but didn't think they would like the Florida humidity.) If mine was squat, the first question I'd be asking is, "Is there enough light?" As long as it's in a full sun position, it should perform in spite of the house blocking off its back side. If it is less than 8 or 10 hours of direct sun, I'd move the plant to a better location. Now, I have no idea of your soil fertility, Manzanita's love, or lack of love for fertilizer, but I find that installed plants often don't have an easy time of finding fertility until they're in the ground for 2 or 3 years, in which case they can benefit from supplemental fertilizer. An easy way to explore this is with water soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro. Water with it and see if it brings any new growth. Water soluble fertilizer does not last long in the ground (2-3 weeds), so if it produces a positive effect, you'll need to develop a plan for fertilizing until the "tree" is connected to the soils natural fertility. Scratching some granular fertilizer into the soil at the beginning of the natural growth cycle (or midway if it has been missed) would be better than continuing with water soluble. After the light and fertility are verified, and if and when new strong, centrally located growth begins to appear, I would take the opportunity to lop off in their entirely any of the very lowest, side-sprawling branches, possibly removing as much as 1 /4 to 1/3 of the total plant. Removing the side branches will tell the plant that things are out of balance as there is too high a ratio of roots relative to above-ground portions. To the growth spurt that has already started it will add more oomph in order to compensate for the branch loss, and in an effort to replace them. But since the new growth is generally upward, there is a likelihood it will be the direction of new branches (which will become trunks.) As someone who has not been able to observe Manzanita throughout its natural life cycle, it is possible that the sprawling manner in which it is growing now IS its nature. Some plants sprawl when young and then head skyward a bit later, after they have their tentacles well attached. If that's the case, then having it develop the form you're after may require you to do nothing at all, but wait and see. Knowing that light and fertilizer are something to be considered, one has to test the waters insofar a what could be the problem (if any) and proceed according to analysis of their observations.

Milk here wasn’t homogenised and the cream floated to the top. ‘Top of the milk’ was considered a treat. My mil saved it and served it in a separate jug. Milk came in glass bottles with foil tops. It’s still available that way, as well as in plastic jugs. The foil is colour coded. Silver top is full cream milk. Gold top is even creamier, made with milk from Jersey or Guernsey cows. I’m pretty certain that nobody would serve a glass of cream.