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.
Creating redwood bonsai: step 1
A common first step in creating redwood bonsai is to remove most (or all) of the branches. Removing the branches makes it possible to develop new branches with short internodes, and with short internodes, we have much…
My Big Cedar Elm Gets A Pot
Thinning a Japanese maple forest planting
Last year I repotted a Japanese maple forest that was created by Gene Lynch. As a result, the tree is far more vigorous this year than it was last year. I pinched it for a few weeks as the new shoots emerged but quickly…
Sandrobe Dwarf European Beech
Late yesterday afternoon, while we were finishing up the eight small size Trident maple forests, Diane and Dave Steele went to a local garden center to check out some Japanese red pines. The shapes were so poor Diane…
Highlights from the ABAS’s 62nd annual exhibit
The American Bonsai Association Sacramento held their 62nd annual show last weekend at the Shepard Garden & Art Center in Sacramento’s McKinley Park. You’ll find photos of the event below. For those interested in…
Fun With Boxelder
Creating Small Size Trident Maple Forests
Creating Small Size Trident Maple Forests 70 tree Trident maple forest created in one and a half hour– March 2020 The small leaf Trident maple is excellent for bonsai creation. I’ve been growing many in small pots, 3”,…
2022 Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies Spring Festival Club Exhibition
The bonsai exhibition was held on April 8-10, 2023 during the festival held in Parsippany, New Jersey. h. This year there were many beautiful bonsai displayed by the 10 member clubs of the Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies.…
Gearing up for the Pacific Bonsai Expo
It’s been awhile since the last update about the Pacific Bonsai Expo, so I thought I’d share some notes about where things stand. For those who haven’t heard about the event, the Pacific Bonsai Expo is a juried exhibit…
Pinching candles on small exposed root pines
While repotting a batch of two-year old pines this past winter, John Eads and I paused to create a handful of miniature exposed root bonsai. We hadn’t intended to make small trees, but when we found that the roots we…
The Way Of The Forest: Chinese Elm
Bald Cypress Initial Styling And Potting
Practice displays at Sei Boku Bonsai Kai
Earlier this week I visited the Sei Boku Bonsai Kai to talk about display ahead of their annual exhibit in June. After running through the basics, we looked at member displays with an eye toward making improvements…
Root Pruning Trident Maple Bonsai
Spring has sprung, and I hope the good weather remains (It won’t, forecast is for 14F for Tuesday.) But we are still going ahead and repotting and root pruning. I recently sold a developed Japanese maple bonsai. The new…
A Visit To Sean Smith’s New Bonsai Studio
Formal display alcove A few days ago, Mark Arpag and I took a road trip to see Sean Smith’s new bonsai studio in Marysville, Pennsylvania, a short 4-5 hour auto trip from Rochester, New York. I’ve had the pleasure of…
Potting & Repotting Season – Beech And Crape Myrtle
Coast Live Oak update – plus submission tips for the Pacific Bonsai Expo
For the past five years I’ve been working to rehabilitate a semi-cascade coast live oak. Now that the tree is healthy, the silhouette is filling in quickly. Here’s the tree after cutback and wiring last summer (see “…
Potting & Repotting Season – Bald Cypress
Young pine work with John Eads
Earlier this year I spent a week working on young pines with John Eads of Left Coast Bonsai . We pruned and/or wired almost every young pine in my garden to give us a chance to review the approach for trees at different…
Mid-repotting report: Japanese red pine
This week I finally got around to repotting a red pine forest that hadn’t been worked on in a while. Midway through, I paused to take note of the different techniques I was using to do the work. Midway through the repot…
How your club can support the Pacific Bonsai Expo
I’ve received questions from clubs in recent weeks about what they can do to support the Pacific Bonsai Expo this fall. They’re excited about the event and they want to help! As part of documenting the process of how…
Bald Cypress Collecting Trip #3 For 2022
Four-year progression: making a shimpaku juniper from graft
In spring of 2018, I picked up a prostrata juniper from Kenji Miyata. The branches were long and the foliage was course but I liked the curves in the lower trunk. It was a perfect candidate for grafting. I made one…