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Two years ago, I picked up a field-grown Korean hornbeam salvaged from the fire that struck Telperion Farms in 2020. The tree had a fun trunk but there was room to improve the roots so I started an air-layer.

The spring weather has finally arrived (and hopefully will persist) and the maples and other flowering specimens are in their glorious spring brilliance. 

Techniques and caretaking are equally important parts of any workshop, but I try not to pressure certain styles or ways of designing a bonsai onto the participants. Instead, I try to set up possible options and aesthetic considerations and let the student make the final decision.

One of the best things about working with cork oak bonsai is that you can cut almost anywhere on the tree and expect new buds to pop. The buds don’t always appear where you want them, but there are usually enough to work with.

My bonsai garden is a long-term experiment with tree technique. Often this is a conscious thing, sometimes it isn’t.

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.