Summer Poetry and Maples

Michi no be ni
shimizu nagaruru
yanagi kage
shibashi tote koso
tachidomaritsure

In willow shade
where clear water flows
by the wayside-
"Just awhile!" I said
as I stopped to rest

-Saigyo, Poems of a Mountain Home

Summer is here, with a large lack of spring. Today was the first day in a month in a half that I've had to water the bonsai myself. I shall not miss the rain, I promise you that. We didn't really have a spring this year, and summer is launching right in to the thick of things with the wet, humid heat that breeds fungus and pests in bonsai and discontent in bonsaists. Watch here for the next installment of the Closer Look, Bonsai Pests. We'll be hitting Scale insects next.

My species sheet on Japanese Maples has hit the newstands at KOB, check it out!
http://knowledgeofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=2937