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.
Kokufu scoring exercise part 2: multi-point displays
This week’s topic is scoring multi-point displays – displays that feature more than one bonsai within a six-foot space. This is the most common approach to displaying small and medium-sized bonsai, trees that are up to…
2022 44th Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition
The 44 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 19-21, 2022 and is one of the largest regional bonsai shows…
Kokufu scoring exercise part 1: coniferous and deciduous bonsai
In the run-up to this fall’s Pacific Bonsai Expo , I’ve been thinking a lot about evaluating bonsai. We’re working on a scoring system for the Expo judging panel and wanted to give everyone who’s interested a chance to…
Bonsai soil Q & A
Several years ago I wrote about bonsai soil in a post titled “All about akadama.” (If you haven’t read it, you can check it out here .) I continue to get questions on the topic so I thought I’d provide a few updates. Q.…
Creating redwood bonsai: step 2
The first step when creating branches from scratch on coast redwood pre-bonsai is to stimulate lots of new shoots. Once this new growth appears, the next step is to trim the shoots on the upper portions of the trunk to…
Decandling and thinning a red pine forest
Late spring is a great time to decandle healthy black and red pines (see “ Decandling ” for details). It’s also a good time to thin dense areas or remove extra needles that didn’t come off in fall. Over the years I’ve…
Suggestions for studying bonsai with exhibit books
When I think back to my earliest memories of studying bonsai with Boon Manakitivipart, I remember there were Kokufu books everywhere. We’d look at them in the workshop, at lunch, and after dinner. They were a constant…
Wrapping up decandling season
I finished decandling my black and red pines about a week ago. And since I’d neglected to pull needles or thin branches last fall, I did that work too. (If you’re new to decandling, see “ Decandling: an in-depth guide ”…
Bonsai Development Series #27: Focusing growth on the lowest primary branches
After growing a trunk to the desired size, the next step is creating primary branches. And the bigger the trunk, the bigger we can expect these branches to be. The main challenge is that most trees want to invest…
Pruning shohin olive
Summer is a good time to prune olive bonsai. By pruning when the weather is warm, I can expect olives to produce new growth until the weather cools in fall. For two small shohin, cutback consisted of reducing long…
Summer pruning young deciduous trees
It’s been a while since I last pruned some young quince and crabapples I’ve been growing from seed. By pruning in summer I can encourage them to produce new growth that I can wire in fall. Here’s a six-year old…
Decandling field-grown black pines
One of the most fun stages of development is when the trunk has reached the desired size and the focus switches to improving branch density. The black pine below was field-grown at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol,…
Bonsai Development Series #26: Focusing growth in a single sacrifice branch
For the last few years I’ve been pruning my young pines down to a single sacrifice branch. This slows growth but allows me to fit more trees on the bench. Decandling time is a good time to do this work because it gives…
Highlights from the Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai’s 25th annual show
On May 21-22, 2022, the Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai hosted their 25th annual exhibition at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. The event featured some fantastic satsuki azaleas in full bloom along with…
ABS Rendezvous On The River 2022
The ABS Rendezvous On The River Conference was held in Memphis, TN on May 26-29, 2022. It was hosted by the Memphis Bonsai Society and Brussel’s Bonsai Nursery. The venue, Whispering Woods Conference Center was…
Visit to Rakuyo, the bonsai garden of Andrew Robson
During my recent visit to Portland, Oregon, I spent the bulk of my free time at Rakuyo-en, the bonsai garden of Andrew Robson. Andrew started Rakuyo to focus on deciduous bonsai. Although I’d seen photos of the garden…
Highlights from the Bonsai Society of Portland’s Farm to Table seminar
Last weekend the Bonsai Society of Portland held “Farm to Table,” an event that focused on techniques for developing field-grown material. About 100 participants from Oregon, Washington, and California enjoyed two days…
Twin-Trunk Sweetgum Work
Spring cutback on ume
Over the years, I’ve experimented with a number of approaches to developing ume. I’ve fully defoliated the tree in spring, partially defoliated it, and avoided defoliating at all. I’ve let it grow stronger before…
International Bonsai Spring 2022 Bonsai Open House & Sale
The International Bonsai Arboretum will be hosting the Spring 2022 Bonsai Open House & Sale on May 21-22, 2022 in Rochester, New York. Come, visit and see what’s new in the garden and enjoy a 20% discount on most items.…
Creating An Ezo Spruce Forest
A few days before the April 2022 Mid Atlantic Bonsai Festival, April Grigsby posted a photo on her Facebook page of the largest container she made indicating it came out of her kiln, straight. This is often a difficult…
Defoliating a Japanese maple
My shohin Japanese maple grew well this spring which makes it a good candidate for defoliating. I removed the leaves, pruned a few long shoots, and covered the surface of the soil with moss. Before defoliating After…
Container Selection & Positioning A Scots Pine Bonsai
Selecting a container for bonsai is of paramount importance as it adds to the beauty the tree presents to the viewer. Also, by definition, a bonsai must be potted. There are many factors in determining the correct…