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.
Oribe Glazes
The color “Oribe” is a type of Japanese ceramic glaze in blue and/or green. It first appeared during the Keicho and Genna Eras (1596-1624). The name Oribe is derived from Furuta Oribe, a pupil of Sen no Rikyu, under…
You just finished repotting – now what?
When you finish the last of the repotting – and breath a sigh of relief – it’s time to sit back and let the trees grow into their new homes. While the trees are busy sending out new roots, our main job is protecting…
Pot selection exercise – cork oak
One of the best things about repotting season is that it provides an opportunity for us to select new containers for our trees. When we move trees from training pots or poorly matched containers to something better, it…
Three repotting tips
This winter is turning out to be a big repotting year for me. Throughout the season, three themes are guiding the work. 1. Work in Batches To get through as many trees as quickly as I can, I’m repotting in batches. When…
Pruning and repotting coast live oak
I thought I was in for a simple before and after post about a coast live oak until I began the root work. Live oak before pruning Live oak after pruning After removing a few large roots, I found a pocket of old soil.…
Toshio (Norio) Kobayashi
I’m always learning something new. Last week I visited the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and enjoyed a special exhibit on Bonsai Chronicles curated by Dr. Fumio Taguchi. There were large images and even accompanied with…
2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 5
This year, Part 2 of the 97 th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is being held on February 15-18, 2023 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan. I’m not quite certain what the exhibitor was featuring here,…
2023 10th Japan Suiseki Exhibition
The 10 th Japan Suiseki Exhibition was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, on February 14-18, 2023. This is the same venue as the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, but in a different gallery on the 2…
Highlights from the 2023 California Shohin Seminar exhibit
The California Shohin Seminar, held every other year in Santa Nella, California, features workshops, demonstrations, vendors, and an exhibit. For those who have attended the seminar, you know it’s one of the most fun…
A Visit To Shunka-en Bonsai Museum
On our journey to Tokoname, we visited Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. It’s been a few years since I last visited his museum and can’t believe he has even more larger bonsai than before. However,…
2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 4
Chinese hackberry, Celtis sinensis. This year, Part 2 of the 97 th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is being held on February 15-18, 2023 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan. Part 2 has all new…
2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 3
We spent our third full day of visiting Part 1 of the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition and the Ueno Green Club sales area of the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative. Enjoy these last few photos from Part 1 of the exhibition,…
Shohin School Winter Seminar recap
A few weeks ago, Andrew Robson and I hosted the first Shohin School seminar at the Milwaukie Center in Milwaukie, Oregon. The two-day event focused on shohin display (Saturday) and development (Sunday). Our special…
2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 2
We spent our second full day of visiting Part 1 of the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition and the Ueno Green Club sales area of the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative. Today we woke up to snow flurries which later in the…
2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition- Part 1
This year, Part 1 of the 97 th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is being held on February 9-12, 2023 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan. Having missed the last two Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions, I…
An Unexpected Surprise Visit To Omiya!
Many years ago, Megumi Kadokura posted several old photos of bonsai on Facebook. I recognized many of the bonsai and people. We began corresponding and I learned that her grandfather was a well-known bonsai artist who…
2023 California Shohin Bonsai Society Seminar
This popular event was held on February 3-5, 2023 at the newly remodeled Mission Del Oro Hotel in beautiful downtown Santa Nella, California. Over 125 full registrants participated in workshops, lecture-demonstrations…
Highlights from the 41st BABA Exhibition
On January 14-15, 2023, the Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 41st bonsai exhibition at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. Here are some of the highlights, starting with the Best Conifer award…
Field-grown black pine progression – part 2
In last week’s post we left off in 2017 – about 10-15 years into the development of a black pine that was field-grown at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol, California. Here’s the tree two years later. March, 2019 Because…
Field-grown black pine progression – part 1
I’ve been waiting a long time to share the progress on one of my black pines, and now is a great time for it! Let’s start with the back story. In 1993 – by coincidence it’s the year I started growing bonsai – Kathy…
Introducing Shohin School!
Over the past year, Andrew Robson and I spent a lot of time talking about small trees. The result is Shohin School, an effort to promote the understanding and appreciation of shohin bonsai. Andrew setting up an…
Small and medium displays at the Pacific Bonsai Expo
Let’s wrap up our initial tour of the Expo with some examples of medium and shohin displays. Given a standard exhibit space that’s six feet wide, it’s common to fill the area with two or more trees depending on their…
2022 10th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo– Part 2PART II
As promised, Joe Noga’s professional studio photographs. AWARD WINNERS Best of Show Japanese Five-needle pine Adair Martin Best Conifer Japanese Black pine Arjun Sawlhey Best Deciduous Chinese Hackberry Brian Mercer…
Conifers at the Pacific Bonsai Expo
If seeing great deciduous bonsai at the Pacific Bonsai Expo felt like a treat, seeing the conifers offered a different feeling. It felt like a great opportunity to catch up with trees, and species, that I don’t get to…