Bonsai Tonight – a history
Spring, 2004. A number of SOBs (Students of Boon) sat around Boon’s workshop on a sunny day sharing gossip – good gossip – about bonsai professionals around the world. We hit upon an idea, an alternative to Bonsai Today. It would be a website for anonymous posts of gossip, hearsay and in-jokes. Photos welcome, no holds barred. And somewhere out of the din came the phrase, “Bonsai Tonight.” I can’t say for sure whether it was first uttered by Marco Invernizzi, Howard Smith or myself. I ran inside and purchased the domain without skipping a beat.
The following winter a handy photographer – thank you Sylvia – captured a few shots of us setting up BIB’s 6th annual exhibit. They were intended as a kick-off for the “Bonsai Tonight” we had discussed the previous year.
Howard combats wrinkles while Mike finds humor in hand-held steamers
I’m now one year into a very different Bonsai Tonight. Last January, time and desire came together and I made a first post. Soon after, I had the great fortune to return to Japan which led to many more. The year’s most popular post and photo came from a visit to Taikan Bonsai Museum in Obuse, Japan. It’s a truly outstanding garden.
Taikan Bonsai Museum
I find, however, that I remain inspired by the lighter side of bonsai as well.
A Windy Day, or, The Fastest Bonsai in the West
Thanks for reading. I’m optimistic for the new year and am looking forward to sharing as much of it in bonsai as possible.
Cheers,
Jonas
Age, character, and beauty
January has always been one of my favorite times of the year for bonsai. Full of repotting and show prep, wiring and cutback, the month entails some of the hardest and most rewarding work of the year. It also fills me with optimism for all of the bonsai work the year will bring.
For all of this, I’m grateful. Bonsai has enriched my life and led me on wonderful adventures around the world. Through it, I have made lasting friendships and learned to appreciate some of the more subtle beauties nature has to offer. I expect this year will be no different.
Years ago, I came across a flyer that provided a good summary of what makes a bonsai special. Age, character, and beauty, it asserted. I’ve used the definition often. If a tree lacks age, it cannot demonstrate its relationship to the environment. If it lacks character, there is nothing to distinguish it from the next tree on the bench. And if it lacks beauty, whether the elegance gained over time or the heart-rending tenacity that keeps it alive, the tree will fail to move us.
Full of age, character, and beauty, the Bristlecone Pines never fail to move me. The following grow along the Discovery Trail in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.
One of the more famous trees along the trail. It lived for over 3,000 years.
It’s neighbor is still alive – it too has celebrated more than 3,000 new years.
John next to a huge Bristlecone pine.
Maybe the most photographed branch in the grove. The natural twists are outstanding.
A proud tree on the west edge of the grove.
Two Bristlecones catching last light.
Impending Exhibit
Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th annual exhibit is scheduled for January 16-17, 2010. It will be held in a new location – the Alameda County Fairgrounds – in Pleasanton, CA. In preparation for the event, I began selecting trees to display in January. In July, I put together a few trial displays to get a sense of how I might display the trees I planned to exhibit. I realized, at the time, that I had a bit of work cut out before the exhibit.
Planning, it turns out, only gets you so far in bonsai. The final decisions about what will or won’t be shown depend, in large part, on how good the trees look at exhibit time. This is why many of the great shows, like Kokufu, are juried a matter of weeks before the actual event. For the most part we have a good idea of what trees will make it into our exhibit well ahead of time, but there are always surprises as the event draws near.
I’m now considering showing up to four trees this year: a maple, a juniper, and two pines. I can’t yet say which will make the cut. Beginning tomorrow, I’ll be working on each in an attempt to get them show ready. This will entail a bit of wiring, plucking, cutback and repotting.
Trident maple
I’ve shown the trident maple above on a couple of occasions, most recently in 2005, but the other three trees have yet to be shown. As deciduous trees aren’t typically shown with wire, preparing the maple will include the usual cutback, cleanup and repotting, but it won’t, thankfully, include wiring.
Pines, on the other hand, can show well with wire. How to know when to wire and when to pass? That’s a good question that can make for wonderful debate when the tree in question is ancient and shows loads of character. When the tree is young, like the the 15 year-old specimen below, it’s harder to get away with sloppy branch placement. I’ll start by pulling extraneous needles and then see what else is needed. With or without additional wire, the tree will benefit greatly from a more appropriate pot.
Japanese black pine
A fellow BIB member and I split a juniper several years ago and I ended up with the half pictured below. Another way of putting it: the owner of the other half of the tree realized that his half would be better off without the bit you see below. It’s been a fun project.
Western juniper
The corkbark pine below previously belonged to the late Mas Imazumi – a very prominent and much missed teacher who popularized bonsai around the U.S. for decades. I’ve been returning the tree to its former vigor over the past few years and was happy to see that it filled in well this summer. I don’t know if I can get it ready for show this time around, but I expect it won’t be too much longer if it doesn’t go in this year.
Japanese black pine – corkbark
For years, I’ve been particularly opinionated about which trees belong in BIB’s exhibit and which trees don’t. Despite Boon’s encouragements, a number of us have repeatedly turned down requests to show our trees for fear that they just aren’t ready. After years of maintaining a hard line on the topic, I’m beginning to soften a bit. Not about what makes for quality trees, but about which trees are ready for exhibit. In a “perfect” world, with benches overflowing with outstanding trees, yes, I’d be happy to uphold rigorous standards. But in our world, a world rife with opportunities to improve our trees, I’m warming to Boon’s mantra of, “Show it one way this year – we’ll improve it and show it another way next time.” At least, that’s what I’m telling myself about this year’s candidates.
Pine cone technique
I’ve often heard the lament that there isn’t enough good black pine bonsai available. I can sympathize. Returning from a visit to Japan can forever skew one’s perspective toward very high quality trees – trees that are hard to come by in the US. Short of a move to a country with permissive import laws or a career in smuggling, one of our best options for sourcing black pine bonsai is growing them from scratch.
Growing bonsai from seed is a somewhat selfless act as the next generation will benefit more from our work than we will. That said, growing trees from seed can be a lot of fun. Growing up in a family that maintains a retail nursery has instilled in me an appreciation for the horticultural side of bonsai. And as pine has been a life-long favorite of mine, it’s only been natural to grow them from seed.
I’ll admit – I was very fortunate to start a batch of pine seedlings my first year in bonsai. For that I owe thanks to Boon. And to Bonsai Tonight issues #12 and #20. For anyone considering growing black pine from seed I highly recommend getting your hands on these issues as they’re full of good advice on the topic.
The first step is finding pine cones. Fortunately, Japanese black pines are popular landscape trees. The trick is finding a good specimen. Things to look for: needle quality, bud density, and bark.
After finding a good specimen, stop by in October when the cones mature. I collected the cones below a few weeks ago. Upon returning to the same tree this afternoon, I noticed that almost all of the remaining cones had opened – meaning that I’d be waiting until next year before harvesting more cones.
Pine cones – Japanese black pine
Try for larger cones rather than smaller, and cones from more vigorous branches rather than those from weaker ones. Experience has shown that the more robust the cone, the better the seeds inside.
Typical pine cone
After bringing the cones home, give them a quick bath in a highly diluted lime-sulfur solution to kill any fungus or pests that might be living amongst the cones. Then set the cones out to dry.
Cleaned and ready to dry
Soil sifters, it turns out, make great cone-drying trays. Place the cones in the sifter, then cover them with an additional screen to keep the birds away. Don’t place the cones too close together as they’ll expand when they open up.
Protected from birds
If you haven’t done this before, I recommend collecting more cones than you think are necessary. While some produce a handful of viable seeds, others produce none. I also start many more pines than I want to end up with. Even when growing seedlings from an outstanding source, it’s not certain that all offspring will be as impressive as the parent. Starting a few more than you need is a good way to hedge your bets.
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