As we approached the pass near the top of White Mountain Forest Road, the flora signaled a change in elevation – fir gave way to pine, maples to beech. Maples added golden hues to beech-covered hillsides until they dropped away, leaving the silvery-bronze beech and a scattering of white pines. I found the beech impressive […]
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.
Fall Color in Central Japan
Just a few days into my visit to Japan last year, our host, Mr. Oomura, took me and Boon on a drive to see trees in fall color. The season had yet to hit the lower elevations, so we got in the car and drove several hours from Shimpukuji Temple to traverse the White Mountain […]
Bonsai nursery and environs
Bonsai nurseries are rarely found in high-rent districts. Many are isolated blocks within residential neighborhoods or semi-rural areas, especially those with agricultural activity nearby. Ishii’s nursery is in the latter category. While there are plenty of nice houses in the area, there’s plenty of farmland too. And great vegetable gardens! Here are some more trees […]
Ebihara’s maples
While Boon, Peter Tea and I were poking around Ishii’s nursery outside of Nagoya last year, we came across a number of great Japanese maples. They looked familiar to us, but we didn’t immediately figure out why. Japanese maple Great root base Another substantial root base A pair of maples It was the first time […]
Ishii
It was almost a year ago that I was preparing to visit Japan for what turned out to be my best vacation to date – a bonsai adventure that lasted almost two months. I shot far more photos on this trip than I was able to share last year so I will now return to […]