Michel

Hi,

I promised You guys the account of a bonsai with
a really moving story about it; here it is.

Juniperus Communis

Escalles – Cap Blanc Nez – Pas de Calais – France

1944: During the liberation of northern France,
a bomb fell next to a small beach house situated
beyond a high dune, dominating the landscape.
The bomb wasn’t intended to hit that house,
but one of the bunkers next to it.
Anyway, the roof went and the brick walls were rubbled.
Some time later on, a seed falls into a crack of one of
the remains of a wall, starting its own lonely battle
against the odds, with the salty air and the in this
case “extremely poor soil”.

Early 1989: During a big cleanup of some final remainders of the war,
the last remains of the house are completely blown up. A small juniper
with a stunted growth, flies off through the air,
desperately clinging to its few bricks foothold,
but manages to survive both the violent take off as well
as the bumpy landing, several dozens of meters further out . . .
A few weeks later it is discovered by a keen eyed Belgian
amateur bonsaiist, and makes its journey to Antwerpen.

In 1995 it is wired for the first time and trained
into a multiple trunk, and since it is obviously loving
its unique foothold, it is allowed to keep it.

This is the story told to me by the collector
– and the actual owner – himself: a good friend in Bonsai,
Mr. Huub Behets, chairman of the Vlaamse Bonsai Vereniging
(Flemish Bonsai Society).
According to him, he pieced together the first part (in bold italic)
as an educated guess, but it won’t be far besides the truth;
The rest is KNOWN to be real.






Huub also told me that he regretted finding only this recent pic,
showing the tree being far away from former glory and beauty,
even somewhat tattered right now as it suffered from a Juniper
moth attack in 2008.
As Huub and his family were on summer holiday at the time,
the infestation wasn’t detected straight off and took the
opportunity to really damage the plant.
Since then, the only concern has been to nurse the plant into
full health again. Soon Huub can start restoring it to its former glory,
which it held a few years ago when I first saw it on a prestigious
exhibit, and learnt about its moving, touching history.

__________________
Greetz,
Michel

M.B.

Wow, what a cool story. Thanks for sharing.
Mary B.

Phil

Now that is a fascinating story Michel and thank you for taking the time to share it.
Not in any way shape or form to take away from the care and training that Hubb gave this tree but it seems to be what one could consider as a “natural bonsai”! I’m sure that if and when it is on display that the story would have to accompany it as otherwise people would be doing the double take as to its “pot”! I sincerely hope that it revives to its former health as this tree is indeed a piece of history. Simply amazing to the heartiness and extreme tenacity of this tree considering how easily I can manage to kill one by simply looking at them the wrong way! lol

When I get the time I may even place a module about this tree on the homepage.



~Phil~

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Please, always keep in mind that the typewritten word does not always convey what you wish to say, and to always treat others as you would have them treat you. Think twice-submit once.
I started out with nothing....and still have most of it.
"Its hell out there, give them hell back." ~ Prowler/Victor Gray 12/31/1943 - 11/24/2008

JLDoggett

A tree worthy of the term venerable. A wonderful story and a tree that deserves to be remembered.

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"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and wrong....because sometime in your life you will have been all of these"

And I further resolve to click on an ad, each time I visit, to help support the site and to be welcoming to lurking guests when you join! After all, you're already here.

Michel

Hi,

I'm glad You guys like it, but all credits for this one
must go to Huub for collecting the tree, training it
into a bonsai and finally, for readily sharing its story;

Huub, when You read this;
thanks a mill', buddy ! ! !

I know he's already been lurking 'round here to have
a peek and was quite pleased with the result
and consequently, he's been plowing again through
his gargantuan archive of bonsai pics and managed
to dig up an old pic from the time of the Aldenbiezen exhibit,
when the tree was first put on display for the public,
and where I first got impressed by it;
And indeed, its display was capped with a discrete card,
reveiling its unique, moving story.

Regrettably, this pic is old (from those first compact
digicam days) and thus made in a rather low resolution,
but at least You'll get a small insight into the trees' former glory;

__________________
Greetz,
Michel

kiani

Great story. Wish we could see the tree trained and get some new high res shots.