Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca.' Size: 46 inches. Japanese estimated age: 80 years. 
Bill Hatashita, of Southern California, began training this bonsai in 1969 from nursery stock or an old landscape tree. It is unusual to see a thick-trunked blue Atlas cedar bonsai. The Atlas cedar is one of only a few true cedar species of the world. It is native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria. This cultivar must be propagated by grafting, and the graft site can often be ugly. The graft union at the base of this bonsai provides a stable-appearing beginning for the tall, straight trunk. The foliage pads are well spaced, and the crown of the bonsai is rounded to present the feeling of an older tree. Continued pinching of the new shoots is necessary to maintain the foliage pads.