The award categories for next year’s Pacific Bonsai Expo are set: Best in Show Best Large Broadleaf Evergreen Bonsai Best Large Conifer Bonsai Best Large Deciduous Bonsai Best Medium Bonsai Display Best Shohin Bonsai Display (You can learn more about sponsoring awards at the Expo here.) Large bonsai are trees that are over 18″ tall […]
Display
Bonsai is meant to be displayed. The Display posts cover how to present bonsai at exhibits, the Accents with which bonsai are displayed, and the criteria we use when selecting Bonsai Pots.
How to determine the direction or flow of a bonsai
Some trees point left, others point right. White pine that points to the left(This and subsequent photos are from the 2020 Kokufu exhibition) Korean hornbeam that slants to the right There are a number of ways to indicate direction or flow in bonsai. In the above examples, the line of the trunk (from the base […]
The bonsai pottery of Nao Tokutake
One of the highlights of attending the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, held every other year in Rochester, New York, is meeting and catching up with people from across the bonsai community. As luck would have it, Andrew Robson introduced me to Portland ceramicist Nao Tokutake at this year’s event. Nao toured the exhibition with Andrew […]
Selecting stands for a medium display
Before heading east to the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, I put together a display for a Yaupon holly. I didn’t have a good second tree for the display so I borrowed a small shimpaku from Eric Schrader. Eric and I then tried dozens of combinations of stands and accents to see which we liked best. […]
Pot selection exercise – Japanese maple
I always look forward to repotting trees that haven’t been repotted in a while. It’s a great opportunity to make improvements to the surface roots and I can change the look of the tree by selecting a new container. Although the focus of this post will be on container selection, here are some details about […]