I was fortunate to find myself in Washington D.C. last weekend during a spell of fantastic weather. So I headed to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum. I’d visited several years ago, but had forgotten what great age the trees in the collection have attained. Keeping these trees healthy is no […]
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.
Bonsai Tonight – a history
Spring, 2004. A number of SOBs (Students of Boon) sat around Boon’s workshop on a sunny day sharing gossip – good gossip – about bonsai professionals around the world. We hit upon an idea, an alternative to Bonsai Today. It would be a website for anonymous posts of gossip, hearsay and in-jokes. Photos welcome, no […]
Age, character, and beauty
January has always been one of my favorite times of the year for bonsai. Full of repotting and show prep, wiring and cutback, the month entails some of the hardest and most rewarding work of the year. It also fills me with optimism for all of the bonsai work the year will bring. For all […]
Impending Exhibit
Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th annual exhibit is scheduled for January 16-17, 2010. It will be held in a new location – the Alameda County Fairgrounds – in Pleasanton, CA. In preparation for the event, I began selecting trees to display in January. In July, I put together a few trial displays to get a sense […]
The future behind us
Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk, by Michael Hagedorn. Crataegus Books, 216 pp., $14.95. Available from Crataegus Books and Amazon. Before Michael Hagedorn completed his apprenticeship – before, even, he left for Japan, I was excited for his return. Hagedorn came to bonsai as a talented artist. I believed, upon hearing that he […]