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I usually aim to prune flowering quince such as boke, toyonishiki, or chojubai in fall after most of the leaves turn color and begin to fall off. In recent years, however, my garden has lacked the cold required to make this happen.

In the 1930’s engineer Walter Shewhart developed the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle of work. This inspired Taiichi Ohno in the late 1940’s with the idea of kaizen, a manufacturing mindset of continual, incremental improvements. It is credited with the success of Toyota. Now the concept is used in many businesses.

As we step into 2026, a new bonsai season awaits us. Winter has finally arrived, bringing below-freezing temperatures that play an essential role in the life cycle of our trees. This cold period helps them enter deep dormancy—a natural rest that ensures their health and vitality for the coming year.

To continue with tradition, here is the year’s photographic odds and ends. Hope you enjoy. 

For the first time in years, I have a dawn redwood in the garden. It was a favorite species of mine growing up but I’ve only worked on them as bonsai here and there over the years. After working on one last week, I’m not sure why I don’t see more of them trained as bonsai.

A reader asked for an explanation of this sentence from a previous post: 

One of this year’s highlights was getting to spend time with Walter Pall in his garden. After joining his master class for a few days in Zorneding, Germany, I headed to Walter’s garden to record him talking about his trees. The result was a series of nine videos in which Walter shares stories of how he acquired his trees, how he approaches styling, and what he gets out of growing bonsai.

You wouldn’t think Japanese Black Pine and Satsuki Azalea are similar in any way. And yet the common techniques for Black Pine and Satsuki are mirrors.

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Steve Zeisel, sponsor and organizer of the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo did it again! A huge crowd of visitors and bonsai enthusiasts enjoyed an elegant display of fine bonsai! Every bonsai was of much better quality than in the first 12 exhibitions featuring naked trees. He privately holds the event to promote bonsai and allows exhibitors to express their beautiful bonsai and creative displays, especially in their winter appearance. 

Our formal upright design series wraps this week with comments on each of the 9 remaining design options.