On a recent trip to Portland I made it a point to visit the Portland Japanese Garden to see the new Cultural Village that opened in April. In addition to featuring stylish buildings by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the expansion includes the Ellie M. Hill Bonsai Terrace – a space devoted to showcasing beautiful trees. Rocky Mountain […]
Excursions
Excursion posts feature visits to bonsai gardens in the U.S. and in Japan, visits to the Kyoto's Most Renown Gardens, and trips into the mountains to see junipers and pines in their natural setting.
Satsuki bonsai at Kobayashi Sangyou
Last week’s tour of satsuki bonsai in development at Kanuma’s Kobayashi Sangyou nursery didn’t hint at the general quality of trees there or at the scope of the operation. Most of the six or so greenhouses at the nursery were filled with well developed trees. The smaller, younger, trees were impressive in quality and in […]
Azaleas in development at Kobayashi Sangyou satsuki bonsai garden
Over the years, I’ve seen a number of spectacular azaleas at exhibits like Taikan-ten and Kokufu-ten – trees with super trunks, interesting movement and full canopies. I’ve appreciated them for years and they make a compelling case for satsuki azalea as a great variety for bonsai. On a recent visit to the Kobayashi Sangyo company […]
Rakujyuen satsuki bonsai garden
Kanuma City is satsuki central in Japan. It’s where the eponymous azalea soil comes from, and it’s home to numerous satsuki nurseries including Rakujyuen. Rakujyuen satsuki bonsai garden Rakujyuen is a family business run by Minoru Fukuda, his wife, his son Yoichi, and his daughter Chieko. Rakujyuen has a good selection of azaleas in a […]
Some notes on shopping for azalea bonsai
On my recent visit to Japan, I visited several satsuki azalea nurseries with a group led by David Kreutz of Satsuki Bonsai-en in St. Louis. Dave’s been going to Japan for years and is a great guide for all things azalea. The first garden we visited was Zuishou Nakayama’s. Nakayama’s garden has a lot of […]