Kyushu bonsai enthusiast Mr. Iwakiri has been growing white pine for about as long as he’s been growing black pines. His garden provides plenty of evidence for this. Iwakiri’s pines Triple-trunk white pine Iwakiri reaches for a branch After pointing out a young white pine with a massive trunk, Iwakiri showed us the pot the […]
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.
Shohin pines at Gashou-en
Here is but a small sample of the shohin pines at Gashou-en. Japanese black pine Black pine Black pine Sasaki clearly appreciates black pines as there was no lack of the variety at his nursery. Some had large trunks, others slender trunks with good movement, and almost all of them were under 8″. Black pine Black […]
Gashou-en
Masahiro Sasaki is doing his part to put Mifune, Kumamoto, on the map. The small Kyushu town is home to Gashou-en, a large nursery specializing in small-sized bonsai. Every other tree was worth a double-take. Here are some of their chojubai. Japanese flowering quince ‘Chojubai’ Chojubai (subtract two zeros to get an idea of the […]
A visit to Mr. Honda’s garden
Some 20-30 years ago, Kyushu bonsai hobbyist Mr. Honda began buying pine trees from Nomoto Chinshoen, a Miyazaki bonsai nursery. As the trees had little in the way of branching, Honda planned on developing the branches on his own. He’s done quite a job. Black pine bonsai Japanese black pine The trees aren’t particularly old […]
Mr. Fukunaga’s maples
Mr. Fukunaga has been growing bonsai for a long time. He gave most of the trees in his garden their start which is really something considering how far along they are. His deciduous collection features a number of different varieties including hornbeam and trident maple as well as some of the less common varieties like […]