I used to paint a bit, but gave it up years ago. Plants grow faster than I can paint. I never learned the game of chess until I learned to play it fast. Never could paint fast. Too self critical. I like to prune trees and shrubs. In this case I pruned them to look like they belong in a smaller scale than if they were allowed to grow to full size. Sort of like Giant Bonsai. Just enhance what the tree would look like if it was growing in an old growth grove, on a sub-alpine windswept, rocky ridge up in the mountains. Here's another example of a Cryptomeria japonica, 'Jin Dai' pruned that way. It doesn't block a bad view though, as the OP requested. Mike

Edwin, the ringing bell photo is really great! Guests must be feeded anyway. Some weeks ago Nate and Dax asked me, - after publishing the first series of the Malik Gardens - how the enormous quantity of Jerry's plants are propagated in Europe? I know two persons, who has a "special responsibility" in this prozess. They are Franz Etzelstorfer and Jorg Kohout. Before "trial" the Professore Malik is also deep in the "crime" with collecting and building up a superb mother plantage in his gardens. I wish you not no became a last Mohikan. Collect new younger friends by the time who are interested in impossible conifer missions, who are able to follow great ideas. I think all of the company are living for great ideas. I felt me well in this company. Zsolt

The general consensus seems to be that when a broom is induced by a pathogen, it will not be a single, isolated broom. There will be an assortment of them upon the tree. The following information is on my web site and based upon some of my research done a number of years ago. There are several ideas which attempt to explain the origin of a witches' broom. Most brooms are thought to be viral in origin. A virus upsets the hormonal balance in an elongating bud, causing it to grow little but produce many lateral branches. Such growth continues until the broom chokes itself or is shaded to death, provided the hormonal irregularities themselves are not fatal. If this type of broom is propagated, the progeny will fail immediately, or within just a few years. One clue that a discovered broom is of this type would be the observation of several brooms within a small area, indicating that the virus spread through the area like a disease. Brooms that do propagate successfully are attributed to other causes. These 'other causes' have never really been defined. But some interesting facts or clues are known. Cytokinens are found at a higher than normal level in a witches'-broom. Cytokinens are hormones that do not move very freely around the plant. Their presence stimulates cell divisions. The hormone, giberillen, which encourages shoot elongation is present at reduced levels, especially in a virally produced broom. How these unknown agents upset the hormonal balances in a bud and how they are able to persist into the resulting brooms are questions that still need explanation. Since these agents apparently have a genetic influence as well, the questions are even more complex than they first appear. Grafting a small piece of a 'nonviral' witches' broom onto a seedling will generally create a plant with the characteristics of the original broom. The hormonal imbalance apparently remains, even though a new stem and root system have been added. (Of course the broom itself was on a species-normal trunk and root system while attached to the parent tree.) Either a causative agent was in the piece of broom that was grafted or the genetic structure of the cells was imprinted with a new hormonal code equal to that of the whole broom. Almost all witches' brooms that have been observed to flower have been female. (Pinus sylvestris 'Longmore' is a male broom). If the egg cells are fertilized, the resulting seeds produce a high percentage of dwarf plants. Those dwarfs result from the normal sperm cell from the male flowers of the tree fertilizing the eggs of the abnormal witches' broom. Either the eggs have an altered genetic structure or the causative agent is somehow encapsulated within the seed. The variation of growth rates exhibited by the seedlings, however, indicates genetic changes. A causative agent would be expected to product a relatively uniform population of species normal and witches' broom duplicates, with little or nothing in between. Some seedlings from witches' brooms will die at a young age, develop into weak, sickly plants, or consistently exhibit dead areas. Other seedlings from the same source will be normal in all observable ways while others will develop into compact or dense plants and a few will become quite dwarf. Such variation within a population is thought to be due to genetic factors. Since there has never been a documented case of a witches' broom bringing any sort of a disease into a "clean" population of the same species in a garden setting, I believe that any causative agent is long gone and is most likely some form of radiation. Bob By the way- stick around Dave, I enjoy your enthusiasm and we all get carried away at times. Life is too short for anyone to foster any hard feelings over statements that are made on the spur of the moment and come across in a way not intended.

Rocky Mountain Conifer Group Meeting Saturday March 5, 2016 (1:00 pm to 4:00 pm) The next meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conifer Group will be on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 1:00 pm at the Denver Botanic Gardens in the Plant Society House. Come join us for a fun afternoon of light refreshments, virtual tours of the DBG conifers accessed via Gardens Navigator presented by Ann Frazier, information from Dave Olszyk on hosting the 2017 American Conifer Society Annual meeting, a plaque presentation designating DBG as an ACS Reference Garden, a Tour of the DBG conifers presented by Mike Kintgen, and more! Please RSVP to Barb Inman at beinman@earthlink.net if you will be attending.