Spotted in the Wild
Historical Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and RSS posts previously curated by the club (2017–present). Not authored by the club — preserved here since the original source feeds no longer carry this history.
The 2024 46th Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition
The 46 th Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition was sponsored by the Midwest Bonsai Society. It was held at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, on August 16-18, 2024 and is one of the largest regional bonsai shows…
Limber Pine: Revisit
Limber Pine grows in the Rocky Mountains, and when you can find a good one, it’s like hooking a halibut rather than a cod. It’s got better than average needles, buds back well, and trunks with deadwood abound. Years…
Top 5 updates about the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo
The biggest bonsai event on the West Coast is only 10 weeks away! Here are the top 5 things you need to know about it. 1. Advance tickets are on sale now – enjoy reduced rates before prices go up closer to the event 2.…
Upstate New York Suiseki Study Group Exhibition
The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York has a couple of study groups. On September 7-8, 2024, a special suiseki exhibition will be held at the Autumn 2024 Open House & Sale at the International Bonsai Arboretum. Over 50…
Autumn 2024 Open House & Sale
This semi-annual popular event will be held at the International Bonsai Arboretum on September 7-8, 2024. Come and enjoy bonsai art at its finest in an unusual garden showing bonsai from the propagation bench to the…
Introductory Bonsai Course Starting Soon!
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Which Species Fatten Trunks in a Bonsai Pot?
Growing plants for bonsai tends to assume time in a large training container, or the ground. The goal is to grow a big trunk. In most cases, this is exactly the right idea. A proportionally larger amount soil grows the…
What Bonsai are Worked on in August?
In the Northern Hemisphere, July is the last summer month to trim back deciduous trees. If deciduous like this Chinese Quince are cut too late, past the first week of August, we can set up two problems: not enough time…
Warren Hill Trees, Then and Now
A recent post shared the loss of one of our great teachers, Warren Hill . When we talk of legacy in this community, the bonsai themselves are a part of that. Warren was particularly known for his deciduous trees. Here…
Summer cutback on a large cork oak
After a number of years working with cork oak bonsai, it’s become really clear that for the lower branches to thicken, the top needs regular trimming. This photo from earlier this week makes it clear where the tree…
New Jersey Bonsai Societies Exhibition A Great Success!
Last weekend four bonsai societies worked together to present their 2 nd Annual Open Event “The Art of Bonsai” exhibition and sale at the Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey. Members from the Bergen,…
Does It Matter If Our Benches Are Level?
Aside from looking at things with our heads tilted, yes, it matters in another way, too. If our benches are not level, neither are the pots that sit on them. When we water, pools will then form on one side of the pot.…
Shade Cloth Part IV: Foliage Health
Here is a set of images for a clearer idea of the benefits of shade cloth. This Mountain Hemlock is experiencing sun stress. The needles are yellower than they should be. Hemlocks are normally blueish-green. Placed in…
Holidays but not for you
It’s time for some relaxing and summer holidays here at Kisetsu-en, but we will keep you entertained. As well as we need a little time off we also think you should be able to be inspired on a rainy day. When allowing…
50th Gafu Ten Shohin Bonsai Tour
Join Kora Dalager and me for the 50th Anniversary Gafu Ten Shohin Bonsai Exhibition held in Kyoto, Japan, in early January. This is the premier exhibition of shohin bonsai in Japan. Some of the best shohin bonsai…
New Jersey Bonsai Societies 2nd Annual “The Art of Bonsai” Exhibition & Sale
Join me and hundreds of bonsai lovers next weekend in Lincroft, New Jersey for their Exhibition & Sale. The Bergen, Deep Cut, Great Swamp and Pennsylvania Bonsai Societies are sponsoring this exhibition. Over 50…
Decandling an old cork bark black pine
I’ve been working on the cork bark black pine below for about twenty years. It’s had it’s ups and downs but had filled in enough in recent years that it felt like a good time to thin the tree. The idea is that by…
In Appreciation and Memoriam: Warren Hill
Warren Hill, one of our giants, passed away a few weeks ago. Years ago, back when I was a potter, Warren was one of the first people to buy my bonsai containers. He was the curator of the National Bonsai Collection at…
Shohin redwood update
Three years ago I started working on a small coast redwood (see “Creating redwood bonsai: step 1” for details). Since then I’ve grown out some sacrifice branches and removed them when they reached the desired thickness.…
A Pine Puzzle…
If you see needles that look like this: Your first thought might be, needlecast! And you might be right. Unless, on the reverse (I flipped these needles over), there’s this: scale insect! Scale insect often prefers the…
The “Frog” Azalea, Revisited
Years ago this azalea was much taller. Then the top died back. Then it was gifted to our garden, where we puzzled over what to do with it. Here is the Satsuki ‘Yamato’ in 2017, a few years after arriving in the garden.…
Shade Cloth Part III: Shade The Sides
As soon as you chose the perfect shade cloth percentage, chose from the bewildering array of colors, and proudly erect your new shade cloth structure, you may notice a failure of the thing to work. Along the southern…
The middle stages of pine development – my favorite!
When you have a good trunk to work with and the goal is to improve the branches, you’re working with a tree in the middle stages of development. For pines with large trunks, this stage can last five to ten years or…
Back budding trick for Yew bonsai
Back budding tricks for Yew bonsai and best practice techniques to establish a healthy coniferous bonsai are explained in the main content of this week’s tutorial. You find the video here:…