Last weekend the American Bonsai Society held their 2019 Convention in Houston, Texas. Hosted by the Houston Bonsai Society, the event featured an awesome program of workshops, demonstrations, lectures, and artist spotlights. The convention exhibit included bonsai, suiseki, and kusamono displays. Headliners Enrique Castano de la Serna, Boon Manakitivipart, and Ryan Neil selected the prize-winning […]
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New pot for an exposed root black pine
Just over a year ago, I reworked an exposed root black pine and started thinking about what kind of pot it could go in (see “Refining a young exposed root pine“). Exposed root black pine – December 2017 Last month I took the tree out of the pot, did some root work, and started looking […]
Refining the roots on an exposed root pine
One of the more fun parts of developing exposed root pines is adding movement to the roots. If you use a columnar container for the roots, the roots will grow in the shape of the column. Exposed root red pine It’s easy to add character to the shape of the roots as long as they […]
Watch out for wilting candles on young pines
It’s fun to see new shoots elongating on black and red pines this time of year. The light colored growth makes a nice contrast against the darker green foliage from the previous year and the length of the shoots are a good measure of the tree’s health. Spring growth on a black pine group planting […]
Accent plants: Pyrrosia ferns
If you’ve been to a bonsai exhibit in Japan or flipped though a Japanese exhibit book, you’ve likely seen accent plants featuring pyrrosia, an epiphytic fern. Accent featuring pyrrosia at the 2011 Gomangoku exhibition in Okazaki, Japan Although there are close to one hundred species of pyrrosia, many used for bonsai are cultivars of Pyrrosia […]
