After visiting the Bonsai Collection at the Huntington, I carved out time to visit the adjacent Chinese Garden. It was an eye-opening experience! Taking its inspiration from 16th and 17th century gardens in Suzho (near Shanghai), the 15-acre complex features a large pond, more than a dozen historically-inspired structures, and twelve different paving patterns. Liu […]
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.
Visiting the GSBF Collection at The Huntington
Last weekend I had a fantastic visit to the GSBF Collection at The Huntington. I was in town for the Bonsai-A-Thon, the garden’s annual fundraiser, as a visiting artist sponsored by Joshua Roth (thanks, John and Michelle!). The garden much bigger than it was when I last visited (more than twenty years ago!) and there […]
A brief visit to Bonsai Mirai
I had the opportunity to visit Ryan Neil’s garden, Bonsai Mirai, last week. It was a perfectly beautiful day and the trees looked fantastic with fresh spring growth. Visiting gardens like Mirai gives me the opportunity to study trees that don’t grow in my climate and see different approaches to styling. It’s as much an […]
Takeaways from the second Shohin School Winter Seminar
Last month, Andrew Robson and I hosted a Shohin Seminar in Milwaukie, Oregon, featuring Japanese professional Daisaku Nomoto. Around fifty participants from seven states enjoyed two days of shohin education focused on how to create and display small trees. The event was a ton of fun and participants had the opportunity to shop from a […]
A visit to Bill Valavanis’ bonsai garden
The day after this year’s US National Bonsai Exhibition, Bill Valavanis hosted a workshop at his garden, The International Bonsai Arboretum, while volunteers unloaded trucks and visitors (like me) enjoyed the trees! Bill’s garden is one of the must see bonsai gardens in North America, and it’s been among my favorites since I first visited […]