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.
Visiting ancient Sierra junipers
Last weekend I visited some of my favorite Sierra junipers near Carson Pass, California. On these trips, I visit old favorites and look out for new highlights that’d I’d missed on previous trips. Juniper deadwood…
Rocky Mountain juniper – first wiring
Last summer I did some major cutback on a Rocky Mountain juniper (see “ Initial styling ” for details). I repotted the tree over winter and let the tree grow freely all year. Here’s what it looked like in early fall…
Seasonal maintenance – removing flowers from dwarf flowering quince
Five weeks ago I pruned and defoliated the chojubai below (see “ Cutback on a white chojubai ” for details). The tree produced buds right away, and within a few weeks, it was covered with flower buds. White chojubai…
Sunday Fun – Cedar Elms And The Monster Crape
2020 Autumn Open House- Sales, Displays & Free Programs
Our Autumn Open House is normally not an expanded event during years hosting the US National Bonsai Exhibition. This is not a “normal” year with nearly all bonsai events throughout the world being cancelled. So this…
A Visit To Bergen Water Gardens & Nursery
Every summer our Bonsai Society of Upstate New York has a garden tour. In the past we have visited excellent and interesting collections of Hosta, Dwarf Conifers and even a top Dwarf Conifer & Rare Plant Nursery. Last…
Defoliating Two Japanese Maples
Although defoliation is “generally” recommended as a bonsai training technique it actually requires considerable thought and it’s necessary to contemplate each specific tree and the purpose of removing foliage. Today…
2020 Open House: Sale, Bonsai Displays & Demonstrations
Everyone is invited to visit this year’s Spring Open House & Sale on Saturday-Sunday, June 6-7, 2020, at the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, New York. Please be safe and wear a mask. Since I was unable to…
2020 Spring Beauty at the International Bonsai Arboretum
Full Moon Japanese maple Well, “Spring” has finally arrived in Rochester, NY, although the official safe frost free date is May 30! All the bonsai are now outside and the indoor tropical species are also being moved…
Magnolia Bonsai
While most bonsai fanciers in our great country are finished with transplanting and now defoliating and trimming deciduous bonsai, we in the frigid Upstate New York area are still dancing with moving trees inside and…
Chrysanthemums In Spring?
It is spring and my garden is beginning to display brilliant colors, so what am I doing sharing information on chrysanthemums now? There is an active thread on the Bonsai Nut Bonsai Forum discussing chrysanthemums for…
Wisteria Bonsai
Last week I participated in GardenScape 2020, Rochester’s premier garden show. We forced many Azaleas, Pears, Cherries and two Wisteria to blossom in March, rather than in May. The two Wisteria bonsai woke up and the…
Bonsai at GardenScape 2020
GardenScape 2020 is the annual garden show in Rochester, New York, which runs from March 12-15, 2020. It is held at The Dome in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester only five miles from my garden. Landscape…
Bonsai Development Series #22: cutback-decandling techniques for young pines
Developing refined growth while maintaining sacrifice branches can be a tricky balancing act. If the sacrifice branches are reduced, the future branches become strong. If sacrifice branches grow freely, the future…
Cryptomeria – seven year update and first wiring
Back in 2011, I started an air layer on a large cryptomeria. Two years later, I removed the layer and the tree was off to a new start as a bonsai (see “ Large cryptomeria air layer part 1 ” and “ Part 2 ” for details).…
The right way and wrong way to make major cuts on young maples
When I saw the young maples growing in Kazuo Onuma’s garden, I immediately wanted to give his techniques a try (see “ Onuma’s mini-bonsai growing techniques ” for details). I picked up some bare-root liners – young…
Bonsai Development Series #21: The effect of removing a sacrifice branch
Earlier this summer, I pruned and defoliated two field grown trident maples. I reduced all of the branches on one of the trees, and left a sacrifice branch on the other. Both trees have grown vigorously since they were…
Just in time for fall – pumpkin galls
I’ve been curious about the small, round bumps that develop on the leaves of California live oaks for a while now. Some years I don’t see any, but most years a few show up toward the end of summer. Flattened round ball…
Wiring tip: how to prevent branches from splitting away from the trunk
It might just be me, but I’ve found that it can be easy for wired branches to split away from the trunk during branch setting. This is more of an issue for deciduous trees than for conifers, but it can happen to all…
Finding the right hormone levels for making seedling-cuttings
Five years ago I posted the results from an experiment that measured the effectiveness of different approaches to rooting seedling-cuttings (see “ Effect of hormone treatments ” for details). The study had been on my…
Insights from using a chemical injector to acidify the water for one year
Last summer, I wrote two posts about the connection between water pH and bonsai health (see “ Effect of fertilizer on pH ” and “ How to lower pH ” for details). In light of the recent high temperatures across much of…
Diagnosing spots and twig dieback on a Japanese plum
Somewhere in the mid-1950s, my grandfather, Leo Dupuich, acquired a number of bonsai from a local landscaper and bonsai enthusiast named Jim Miyasaki. When my teenage father saw the trees, one stuck out to him – a…
Cutback on a white chojubai quince
I usually hold off on pruning deciduous bonsai past the first half of August. Not all trees can grow well enough late in the season to make it worth investing in new shoots before fall. That said, I’ve worked on…