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.
Deciduous bonsai at the Pacific Bonsai Expo
Back in March, when the submissions started coming in, Eric Schrader and I were thrilled by the quality of the deciduous bonsai. Deciduous trees, a group of species that includes maples, elms, and hornbeams, among…
10th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo
Steve Zeisel, sponsor of the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo did it again, and visitors enjoyed an elegant display of bonsai! Every bonsai was of much better quality than in the first nine expos featuring naked trees. He…
2022 42ND Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition– Part 3
A few parting images from the exhibition. The attendance was not as previous years, but the bonsai were of a higher quality. This exhibition often includes hanging scrolls, suiseki and other art as accessories as well…
The New Kyoto Bonsai Garden
In March 2021 The Kyoto Bonsai Garden opened in the middle of the Daitokuji Temple complex. A preopening was held in November-December 2020. The Covid pandemic caused delays and the formal opening was March 20, 2021.…
Scoring broadleaf evergreen bonsai at the Expo
Let’s look at two of the more impressive broadleaf evergreens in the Expo, a ficus and a cork oak. Chinese Banyan Tiger Bark Ficus by Jeff Stern Image courtesy Julian Tsai Cork Oak by Michael Roberts Image courtesy…
2022 42nd Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition– Part 2
Today the exhibition quietly opened on time, but without a ribbon cutting ceremony, which was cancelled because of Covid. The large crowd of visitors was missing as were foreigners. However, within an hour the…
2022 42nd Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition- Part 1
The 42 nd Nippon Bonsai Taikan Exhibition opens in a few hours from now at 9am, Friday November 25 and will continue through Monday, November 28, 2022. The event is being held at the Miyako Messe in Kyoto, Japan. This…
Pacific Bonsai Expo recap
I’m still catching up from the festivities last weekend, but I wanted to share three things related to the event before moving forward: the winners, the thank yous, and a few photos. First up, the winning entries! The…
Autumn 2022 Bonsai Beauty At The International Bonsai Arboretum
We had kind of an early autumn coloring in my garden this year. Although the colors were beautiful, they were not at their typical splendor, but I did have an opportunity to capture some of the beauty.
Pacific Bonsai Expo- Bonus Part 5
In addition to the 73 bonsai displays the Pacific Bonsai Expo had two artistic displays. “How Big Was Naka’s Bird” was designed by Eric Schrader, featuring numerous origami paper Tree Swallows handmade by Linda Mihara.…
Pacific Bonsai Expo- Part 4
The Pacific Bonsai Expo – An Exhibition of Extraordinary Bonsa i is being sponsored by Eric Schrader and Jonas Dupuich. People patiently waited outside for over an hour before the doors opened. When the exhibition…
Pacific Bonsai Expo- Part 3
The Pacific Bonsai Expo- An Exhibition of Extraordinary Bonsai is being sponsored by Eric Schrader and Jonas Dupuich, both skilled professional bonsai artists living in Alameda, California. Held in the Brick Yard, a…
Pacific Bonsai Expo- Part 2
On Monday and Tuesday Marc Arpag drove just over 1,000, with me as navigator. Wednesday, we took off again at our normal departure time 4:00 AM! It was dark, of course, and we suddenly ran into a snowstorm. Mark and I…
Pacific Bonsai Expo- Part 1
Marc Arpag and I are traveling across our great country (around 3,000 miles) to exhibit a few bonsai, sell some trees and more importantly to also support the Pacific Bonsai Expo www.pacificbonsaiexpo.com in Oakland,…
Top 10 things to know about this weekend’s Pacific Bonsai Expo
1. The Pacific Bonsai Expo will be held this coming weekend, November 12-13, at the Bridge Yard in Oakland, California. The address is 210 Burma Rd. 2. Show hours are Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm, and Sunday 9:00am –…
Three more weeks until the Pacific Bonsai Expo!
If you haven’t heard the news, the Pacific Bonsai Expo is sold out – thanks so much for the support! There’s a chance we’ll have a limited number of same-day tickets available at the door, but we have yet to receive…
Pacific Bonsai Expo updates
I can’t believe it – the Pacific Bonsai Expo opens in four weeks! Here are the latest updates. Saturday is sold out, but tickets are available for Sunday, November 13 . There is a chance same-day tickets will be…
Bonsai stand conventions
Bonsai stands are small tables used to display bonsai. They’re commonly found in exhibits or in formal indoor displays. We rarely see them in the garden as few stands are built to last outdoors. Why use stands at all?…
The 2022 8th Upstate New York Suiseki Exhibit
This year’s suiseki exhibit was held in the Greenhouse Gallery at the International Bonsai Arboretum on September 10-11, 2022, in Rochester, New York. An active membership of 13, from a much larger group of the Suiseki…
Pacific Bonsai Expo update
This fall’s Pacific Bonsai Expo is coming together quickly. As a result, all of us working behind the scenes wanted to share some updates so here we go! Volunteer signups are online now If you’d like to help set-up the…
Open House Bonsai Displays
Today we finished setting up my displays to welcome visitors to my garden for this weekend’s Open House & Sale. Each of the individual displays was very carefully designed, and the entire four displays as well. Each…
Lower Trunk Bases & Surface Roots
The lowest area of bonsai is one of the most important features which creates beauty and the character of the bonsai. We work the surface root area quite a bit when transplanting. Please note that nearly all of these…
Kokufu scoring exercise results
For those of you curious to learn which trees scored best in the recent Kokufu scoring exercise (see part 1 and part 2 for details), here they are! Large conifer – shimpaku juniper Large deciduous – Japanese beech…