Home

I had the opportunity to visit Ryan Neil’s garden, Bonsai Mirai, last week. It was a perfectly beautiful day and the trees looked fantastic with fresh spring growth.

At the recent Australian bonsai event, I was headlining with Marija Hajdic there was time for an evening visit after the workshops were done during the day. Despite having a narrow time slot and being busy all day we managed to force through a visit to Sam’s garden. Sam is a very kind and talented bonsai artist so we managed to squeeze that in after work.

The live Q&A Zoom meeting on Thursday has different subjects planned including the John Paton bonsai collection which I visited last week in Australia. Send in your questions now for better preparation and adding pictures. You can of course also pop your questions during the meeting.

The MidAtlantic Bonsai Societies held their annual spring festival on April 19-21, 2024, at the Holiday Inn in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The group is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the art of bonsai through its annual regional spring festival, which moves locations close to its members societies. It is comprised by the Bergen Bonsai Society, Bonsai Society of Greater Hartford, Bonsai Society of the Lehigh Valley, Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society, Brandywine Bonsai Society, Deep Cut Bonsai Society, Great Swamp Bonsai Society, Mohawk-Hudson Bonsai Society, Pennsylvania Bonsai Society, Susquehanna Bonsai Club and the Yama Ki Bonsai Society.

Just landed after a magnificent Australia visit as part of the Bonsai Reshaped event titled “Big & Small”.  The video and photo gallery from the Australian bonsai collection is now ready. The photo gallery can be watched at the photo gallery, and the video is part of the member’s content.

Trees grow big roots that spread wide and deep. Shrubs—no surprise—have smaller root systems, but they differ in other ways as well.

I’ve been training this Japanese larch, Larix kaempferi, from a two- year bare root seedling for about six years. It has been trained in the two-line cascade style in a small square white glazed container. This preferred front is shown here but the back view of this bonsai is acceptable and might be used in a shohin bonsai composition if a different direction is required for eve movement Generally, I do not prefer tall cascade containers, primarily because I can’t figure out how to effectively display them…

I follow a similar approach when I acquire coast redwood pre-bonsai. First I repot, then I let the tree grow for a year, then I can get to work.

The days in Canberra at the Bonsai Reshaped 2024 are busy. Next week a members video from the Arboretum will be posted, but until then a few more posts from the event.

Stunning location in Canberra where the event Bonsai reshaped takes place these days.