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.
Roland visit in the garden starts the summer holidays
Well-known Shohin bonsai creator Roland Schatzer from Italy visited the Kisetsu-en garden—a perfect start on the holidays here. Holidays just add more time to write on the next Shohin bonsai book, so hours will be used…
Highlights from the 37th REBS bonsai show – part 1
This past weekend over 1,100 visitors attended the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 37th annual show at the Rohnert Park Community Center in Rohnert Park, California. The event featured workshops and demonstrations by…
Creating redwood bonsai: reducing the sacrifice branch
When developing primary branches on bonsai with large trunks, it’s common to create them with sacrifice branches that grow freely until they reach the desired thickness. Once the branch is big enough, it’s time to…
Creating shohin beautyberry
Beautyberry is a great deciduous shrub known for its purple fruit in fall and winter. This show of color makes it a popular choice for shohin as it provides contrast and color to multi-tree displays. I repotted a young…
Cork oak pruning follow-up
After pruning broadleaf evergreens in summer, you may see lots of small shoots emerging close to the places that were cut. I usually let these grow a bit before thinning them in fall, but this year I’m removing all of…
Post-bloom thinning satsuki azalea
When healthy satsuki finish blooming, it’s a great time to thin trees that have grown dense. Normally this work happens earlier in the growing season but I didn’t get to it on time and I know that the dense foliage will…
Should I fertilize my decandled pines in summer?
To determine if a decandled pine needs fertilizer in summer, I check to see how the summer buds look. If they’re strong, I hold off on the fertilizer until later in the growing season (usually September or October). If…
Setting up redwoods for bonsai work: step 0
Before getting to the pruning, wiring, and styling steps, I like to get trees healthy before working on them. For coast redwoods, this usually means repotting and giving them a year or two to regain vigor before going…
Coast redwood development update
Three years ago, I wired a shoot on a coast redwood to create a new trunk on a multi-trunk composition (see “ Coast redwood cutback ” for details). The shoot grew well, and it’s now time to cut it back. Coast redwood –…
Wiring at decandling time
Fall and winter are my favorite times to wire black pines. The trees are relatively dormant, the foliage is mature, and I have a long time before spring to get the work done. I can also do this work when I decandle, but…
Cutback at decandling time
Decandling season is a good time to do cutback on black pines. Although we can’t cut past green needles and expect buds to pop on old wood, we can cut anywhere else as long as there is healthy foliage on the branch.…
Exhibit Books
Almost twenty years ago I made my first exhibit catalog – a retrospective featuring trees from Bay Island Bonsai’s first five exhibits. BIB’s first exhibit book Collecting the images and metadata from five years’ worth…
Spring cutback on stewartia
It’s been a couple of years since I shared an update about a twin-trunk stewartia in my garden. The basic care for the tree has consisted of cutback to 2-3 leaves on new shoots and leaf pruning in spring followed by…
Review: Mastering Shohin Japanese Black Pine Bonsai
Eric Schrader and the team behind Bonsaify.com released an online course this week titled, “Mastering Shohin Japanese Black Pine Bonsai: A Complete Guide from Seedling to Show Tree.” I reviewed a pre-release version of…
Cutback and leaf pruning European beech
Now’s a great time of year to check the foliage on deciduous bonsai to see how full the crown is. If you can’t see through the tree, it may be due for some time in the workshop. Mature beech, for example, are usually…
A visit to Bonsai Mirai
It’s always a treat when I get to visit bonsai gardens that I don’t see very often. Although it’s thrilling to see great trees for the first time, revisiting favorites can be particularly satisfying. I had both…
A visit to the Clark Bonsai Collection
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit the Clark Bonsai Collection at the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Fresno’s Woodward Park. The Clark Collection is one of three GSBF-sponsored bonsai gardens in California.…
Tips for hosting a successful workshop
Keying off last week’s theme, I wanted to share tips for workshop leaders. How does one host a successful workshop? Respect your students’ time. Clean the workshop and set up workstations before participants arrive. Try…
International Bonsai Spring 2023 Open House & Sale
The International Bonsai Arboretum will be hosting the Spring 2023 Bonsai Open House & Sale on May 20-21, 2023 in Rochester, New York. The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York will be having the 50th Anniversary one day…
Tips for a successful workshop
It took me years to figure out how to get the most out of workshops. Here are some tips to avoid downtime and get the most out of your bonsai classes. Bring clean and healthy trees. Ensure trees are free of pests and…
Post-bloom clean-up on wisteria
Usually my Chinese wisteria sends out leaves and flowers at the same time. This year it was all flowers. Chinese wisteria ‘Caroline’ After enjoying the bloom, it’s time to remove the flower stems. This saves the tree…
Is bonsai getting harder?
In short, yes! This is an old question that comes up from time to time. Eric Schrader mentioned that he’s fielded the question more than once in recent weeks, and the idea has got me thinking. If it feels to you like…
Setting up an effective workstation
This turned out to be a big year in the garden for repots. Together with Adam, Steve, Christian, and JC, we repotted around 195 bonsai and pre-bonsai plus 14 flats of young trees – far more than the normal routine. In…
2023 Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies Spring Festival Club Exhibition
The 39th Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Festival was held on March 31-April 2, 2023 in Parsippany, New Jersey. This year there were many beautiful bonsai displayed by the 10 member clubs of the Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies. Each…