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. […]
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.
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 […]
Kinsai satsuki azalea
‘Kinsai’ is a popular satsuki azalea cultivar. The flowers are red and the petals are narrow. Mostly. There are a few different variations of kinsai (pink flowers, wide petals, etc.), and there can be considerable variation among the flowers on a single tree. You can see this on the specimen below that has started to […]
Pot selection exercise – dwarf wisteria
Earlier this week, I presented a program on repotting for the East Bay Bonsai Society. We started by covering techniques for securing trees into containers based on the numbers of holes in the pot (see “Securing” for details). Next we looked at the process with a live tree – a dwarf wisteria. After performing the […]
Pot selection exercise – contorted quince
Now that temperatures have cooled a bit, I’ve started repotting. Sometimes I return trees to the pots they were growing in, and other times I select new containers. Here are eight options I considered for a contorted flowering quince. Do you have a favorite? Pot #1 – round Yamaaki Pot #2 – unglazed Japanese Pot […]