Okay, so I have two questions about two different bonsai but didn't want to make two posts. Me and my mother recently bought a bonsai each. I have one already, this is her first. We bought them because we�re planning on going to a wiring/shaping class that�s local and you need a tree to practice on! They were both potted in nasty wet slop, so we repotted them in Hoffman�s Bonsai soil. That�s why in the pic of the brush cherry, the base of the trunk is really icky. (No, it's not rotting, just very damp and muddy.) So, first question about mine. A brush cherry. As you can see in the picture, the trunk has no roots coming above the soil or anything. Also, the trunk at the very base is a bit narrower than the middle of the trunk. I have repotted it � before it was potted a bit deeper to hide that. I might follow suit and re-bury it a bit deeper� But first, my question. I have heard you can air layer the base to get more roots to grow. One page I was reading said to take a drill bit and VERY carefully by hand make a small divet in the very base of the trunk. Pack it with rooting gel (I have powder, I think either would work) and sink the divets RIGHT beneath the soil line. Said that this will prompt growth of roots, and then I would have the opportunity for some roots to be above the soil instead of a boring straight trunk the whole way. Could I do this with my cherry? The second question is about my mother�s very unruly Chinese Elm. We�re obviously going to wait till the styling class, but we thought we�d get some ideas beforehand. It�s strange in the sense that one side of the tree has NO branches on it. It�s rather flat. I was thinking we could either do a tiered style of bonsai (I can�t think of the real name, I�ll link an image of what I mean) or a windswept style, looking as if the wind was blowing toward the side with no branches. We will probably cut off the very topmost vertical branch at the top of the trunk, because the other branch serves as a good leader branch and continues the curve of the trunk.. But other than that we�ve never done this before and are looking for ideas. Any ideas for us? (Sorry the pics are phone quality!) Yes, one of the elm branches has nasty wire scarring. It had wire on when we bought it, we cut it off. We are not opposed to leaving that branch on if it would serve. I know it should be cut off, but neither of us are competing or anything � so I figured if she doesn't mind the wire scarred branch, it doesn't matter if it stays on if it can serve in styling. Thank you for any opinions you can give us! (And no, the kitchen table is not their final spot. Just here for repotting and picture purposes!) Here is a link that might be useful: This post was edited by cfox248 on Sun, Apr 6, 14 at 11:53

I've lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Fried rice in those places don't any sauce - oyster, fish or soy sauce. Most of the time there is pork and onion. Cook your rice al dente, and spread it out on a cookie sheet to cool and dry a bit. Day-old rice is great. Get a wok with vegetable or peanut oil screaming hot, add minced onion until translucent, add chopped leftover pork or Chinese pork sausage (my fave for fried rice is cha-siu style pork), add the rice and stir, stir, stir until all is mixed and hot. The amount of soy sauce is up to your taste -- or skip it and add at the table. If you skip it, add salt to the wok ingredients. Add black pepper. I like it fried until just about to get crisp. I also like chopped scrambled egg in mine. Add any vegetables you would like. Leftovers are great for this. Koreans and Japanese have a fusion dish called "Om-rice" short for omelette rice. Spread beaten egg in a large skillet as if you were making a plain omelet. When cooked, slide it out in one round piece on a plate. Put one portion of fried rice in the middle of the egg and roll the egg around the rice until covered (put the edges on the bottom so what you see is just the omelette part). Served with ketchup! They also put ketchup on French toast! Your mileage may vary!

About two minutes after I posted this I found the recipe! Feel free to post any other versions of this soup, as my grandma always liked to leave an ingredient or two out! Cherry Dumpling Soup 1 quart cherries, pitted (wisconsin door county cherries if you can find them) 1/4 c. sugar 2 1/2 c. water Dumplings: 1 1/2c flour 1 t. baking powder dash of salt 1 egg beaten 1/4 c. milk cinnamon (opitonal to your taste) Boil cherries, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Dumplings: mix all ingredients and drop in spoonfuls over cherries. Keep covered and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat. Serve warm or cold, and you can add cinnamon if you like.

then look to the fruit and nut forum my friend ... lots of nuts hang out there ... next time.. include all the facts.. eh??? i think there is also an EXCHANGE FORUM ... may as well give it a go over there ... good luck ... glad you know all about invasives.. etc .... ken BTW; is it legal to import them to CA???? .. check it out at the link ... i didnt bother to read any of it Here is a link that might be useful: link