It was a blistering, humid day in Southwest Florida, but I managed to convince my wife, Jenn, to spend the afternoon at the Wigert’s in North Fort Myers. After all, what’s a honeymoon without a little bonsaing! Erik and his wife run a large operation that includes tropical and semi-tropical bonsai stock and a gallery of specimen trees. The nursery is very impressive and Erik is no doubt a talented artist. I was surprised to see him and his assistants wearing pants and long sleeves on such a hot day - no doubt to protect them from the insects. While Jenn was relaxing in the a/c, I was perusing the many rows of stock at the nursery. I managed to pick up an interesting suggestion on how to prevent deadwood from rotting on species with soft wood - MinWax Wood Hardener. Erik specializes in collecting/styling Bougainvillea and uses the MinWax to treat the soft wood of the tree after carving. Check out this gallery of Erik’s trees. Most were collected, including the Lantana, just recently from a beach in the area. Lantana’s grow like weeds in that part of the country.
