Contributions of the group Bonzaï - Bonsaï

Drosera menziesii DC Pink Rain bow: View as large as you can

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 04:00:27 +0000

The Evidence of the very heavy dew we get here Well worth viewing large.

Drosera menziesii DC Pink Rain bow

Liquid Amber autumn colour.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:40:06 +0000

Has been a very hot start to autumn but we got some very clear nights the temp dropped below 9c . for the very first time I have some real colour in the leaves. I normally get only a very light hint of colour First time I have any real depth of colour.

Unexpected duty

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 08:33:26 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

I have always wondered how this plant ever gets polinated as there are not that many bees in WA . I was taking photos of the flowers as we are about to loose the rains for a good week, when I noticed a most unexpercted behaviour. The fly did not just land on the flower it walked all over it the flies probiscis was going all over the flower in the mean time the flower was getting polinated. DO LOOK as Large as you can this a crop of the D810 file so you can see the pollen all over the fly. This time of year we start to see the bush flies about that become a pest in the next few months. This is how the australian plants live with out bees.

Borya Constricta Churchill - Do look at this as large as you can.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Mon, 05 May 2025 07:42:00 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The very first of the Long soaking rain of winter The plants come Back to life. In the middle to the Back on the thicker part you can see the plants coming back to life they are Green ( This was my focus point in the shot). This is the 7th year I have had these plants from the wild. When you see them like this close up they kind of look like palm trees but very small and Very Very old.

The plants open out from the tight closed "Dead" looking plant , then they start to colour up orange then they go green next.

The only thing that did not like living in the city was the moss that grew out in the wild. This has got thinner and thinner but is being replaced by the moss that normally grows on the Bonsai's. The moss gets the same treatment as the plants no extra water but for the Rain no sprinklers system on these but the rain.

Borya constricta Churchill & Drosera menziesii =Do look at this max resolution.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 04:03:11 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

I wanted to add a photo that is typical of this winter one that has had no let up and given no quarter. We have had so few breaks of fine weather it has been consistent clouds and rain. Even this photo was taken in the rain this morning under an umbrella but worth it .

My Introduction to this plant was in summer setting up a Milky way shot sat on the small plants only to find out just how sharp and hard those needles are. look at the orange shot in the wild that's what i sat on.

The flower of the Drosera Menziesii not seen by many people.

This wild Group has been in my care for the last 7 years they are put in a place so its the same as their natural environment. They get full summer heat and almost look like its a dead group till there is natural water "Rain" and been so much of that this year they are flourishing. all I do for this group is remove any weeds that are trying to grow but the summer dry out kills most which is so extreme nothing survives.

Sadly no milky way shot or not even one deep space photo for the last month, each photo I have taken has taken a full month to get three nights.

Last year, nothing like it this year.

www.ipernity.com/doc/1073393/52075714

Drosera Menziesii: Flower enjoy a very rare view

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 05:39:08 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The small group I have that are real wild plants and they get treated the very same as the plants out in the wild. This is a flower very few would ever see if ever as they are way out in the bush living on the wild rocks of the area.

In the 5 years I have had this group this is the very first time its flowered. So what is different this has been a very wet less sunny winter than we have had for a very long time. flowers only last open for a "Day" bottom one I noted open on a day i went to work but was closed by the time I got home.hidden behind the left top petal is another slowly coming out. So three flowers. Sorry Ipernity only shows one PIP on the photos but you can open below and worth the read of this unique group of Natural bonsai's.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera_menziesii

my flowers are 100% not pink but pure white.

summer cloths they all but die in the heat of summer but sleep till the winter rains wake them up.

This shows the growth this winter

Nothing say spring like the Wisteria display and scent.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 22:46:20 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

you can see the flowers that the wind removed from the plant when you look at this shot.this plant is 20 something years old and was sold for a garden Wisteria but I planned to keep it small.

Wisteria

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 22:31:36 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

You can tell its spring when the Wisteria comes in flower. I have been hiding this from the very strong winds to try an capture the flowers. I had a hard time trying to get this through the doors and getting a back ground to show off the flowers. I can promise you, you miss out on the heavenly scent from having this in the room.

This got a change of pot which gives it a bit more room to grow which it has done.

Borya Constricta Churchill - Drosera Menziesii

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 07:55:45 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

You want to know what tough is. this group where sitting out in full sun got cooked December last year with a 45c degree day. I had thought I had lost every thing but kept the group before I went to NZ I saw that the plant had taken a hit the top leaves did not turn green but opened out to the normal Rosset formation than the closes tight leaves.

On return with all the rains we have had the plants have sent out side branches first and the tops have come back to life. almost all the top leaves had fallen off.

The Drosera I thought was totally cooked with the 45c and bare in mind the plants sit on a plate of granite and at max amount of soil in the middle is 40mm deep out in full sun all DAY long.....

In the 4 years I have had this plant I have removed all the seeds but on return I noted one seed head that was laying on the moss has two seeds sprouted. I have left it as it is and watch and wait to see what happens. In the background I have an empty bonsai pot of soil I have put seed heads in the soil to see if I get a whole new group. This is a a watch and see and more than a huge learning curve..

AS TOUGH As Nails does not even come close to describe this little plant. Very few would even know about this plant who live in Perth.

Waking Up:- Borya Constricta Churchill

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 09:10:38 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

After the very long hot summer we have had good solid soaking rain in our area not just in the hills and spits like we have had for a few months. The plant is waking up after its long summer sleep as you can see the leaves forming rosettes again not closed tightly. With a bit more rain this should turn green

if the plant does not get enough water it will simply hibernate some more.

Albany Woolie bush

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 11:56:51 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This is on one of my native Bonsai's these are huge plants in nature mine is only 40Cm high this year theses tiny red flower best described as a buttery fly's mouth

www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/images/horticulture/docs/pn_adenanthos_sericeus.pdf

Leptospermum 'Mesmer Eyes' (Tea Tree)

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 22:03:10 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The one bonsai I have to be very careful with. They dont like there roots touched why it is in such a big pot.. Unlike the NZ tea trees they have very small flowers all the Australian varieties have big flowers.

The new flowers have green centers older ones have plum colour.

www.homedesigndirectory.com.au/gardening/plant-finder/plant-descriptions/leptospermum/mesmer-eyes/?plant-id=272

Leptospermum 'Mesmer Eyes' (Tea Tree)

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 22:02:56 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

The one bonsai I have to be very careful with. They dont like there roots touched why it is in such a big pot.. Unlike the NZ tea trees they have very small flowers all the Australian varieties have big flowers.
first two years I had this plant it did not flower this year there is a few on the plant.

Back lit leaves on Red Flame Bougainvillea

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 11:13:28 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

I was pruning the plant and walked around the back and was so taken with the sun lit leaves. was well worth a photo this is the main stock plant that use to cover a huge fence. We changed our minds so thought rather than totally ditch the plant in the bin.... what if. here it is nearly 5 years on.

www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/vine/bougainvillea

What many people think of as the blooms of bougainvillea aren't actually blooms at all. The showy paper-like structures are a modified leaf called a bract. These bracts hide the actual flowers inside, which are small and trumpet-shaped in whites and yellows. The showy bracts are typically found on new growth, with the showiest display following their winter dormancy. Normally, you'll see the best blooms following a dry winter. If you're using bougainvillea as an indoor houseplant, keep the plants mostly dry during winter.

Chinese Elm

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 04:52:32 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This is one of the few plants that have been gown from seed From my 16' street tree bonsai. once we sold the home the street tree no longer looks any thing like the tree I had.

In homage to that tree I have tied to keep it to the same shape.

Elm Top view.

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 12:06:08 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

Note the placement of branches no branch is on top of the other unless different heights on the tree.

Melaluca Incana Nana

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 11:55:40 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This year spring has brought a a whole fist full of flowers.

Borya Constricta Churchill - Life on the Rock

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 06:35:59 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

With all the rain that we have had this year these plants have grown so much. Contrast them from very first shot.

This plant is called in WA the resurrection plant as it "dies" is summer heat to dry straw,

In the rains of winter it comes alive as you see here. For the last three years this plant has been part of my bonsai collection and growing perfectly. each year I get to see flowers most people is Australia would never see at all. the plants are no more than 90mm high to the tops of the flowers

There is hope for us all as well we will get our winter and life will flourish.

Chinese Elm -Autumn colour

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 10:34:04 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

This it the very first time I have ever seen so much colour on any one of my Elms. It has been a longer than usual Cold winter . Even on the Coast its gotten very cold at night.

Drosera menziesii

nobody@ipernity.com (Steve Paxton) — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 12:55:38 +0000

Steve Paxton has posted:

Another of the Sundews living happily in the city. Note all the folded ones have insects trapped in them. the only special treatment this group get is end of rains for the year they get taken off the bonsai stand away from water. the plants gets dried out and turn orange only to become green once the winter rains start again. this is all of 80mm high above the small plants its came with.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera_menziesii