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I’ve been curious, for the last month or so, if my ume was planning to drop its leaves this winter.

The 2019 7th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo, sponsored by Steve Zeisel, was a huge success. The bonsai, displays, demonstrations, critique and vendors were all wonderful and well attended. On Saturday afternoon a Benefit Auction was held to help pay for the event expenses. Vendors, exhibitors and friends donated bonsai related items for the Benefit Auction to support the event and in anticipation for the 8th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in December 2020. One of the exhibitors, Mac McAtee donated a vintage 16-page booklet illustrated with 15 black & white photos he got from a friend. This English booklet was published and printed by Keibun Tanaka for Kokko-En Bonsai Garden. It must have been published in the late 1930-1940s.

I’ve been preparing a cork oak for its initial styling for two years now.

The Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo is being held in Kannapolis, North Carolina, near Charlotte, on Saturday and Sunday 7-8, 2109.

Creating branch ramification on shohin Japanese maples doesn’t happen quickly. After three years of producing short internodes, the tree is now ready for cutback to improve the silhouette and branch structure. (You can see the progress to date here.)

Now that temperatures have cooled a bit, I’ve started repotting. Sometimes I return trees to the pots they were growing in, and other times I select new containers.

 
This blog was written to answer a question for a member of the Bonsai Nut Forum who asked about my display comments. I wrote too much for the answer and thought others might find my personal thoughts interesting. Enjoy!

Oto Hime Japanese Maple for display
I spent all afternoon designing my three displays for the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo next weekend in Kannapolis, NC. There is more than picking out a tree, table, wiping them off and hauling them to a show. Much more for me, which takes basic fundamental display knowledge, taste and considerable time. Plus you need to get everything to the exhibition in good condition.

This Thanksgiving weekend, I’d like to introduce a project I’ve been working on for the past two years: The Little Book of Bonsai!

When thinning needles on black or red pine, I treat branches differently based on my goals for refining them.