After a long wait, I confirmed this year that my oldest princess persimmon can bear fruit. Young princess persimmon – with fruit! Growing princess persimmon from seed is an inefficient approach as there’s no way to determine whether a seed will produce a male or female plant. As most enthusiasts grow princess persimmon for the […]
Bonsai Blog
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Bonsai Development Series #11: Culling trees with poor characteristics
I’d like to say that every pine I start from seed grows into a winner, but that isn’t the case. To avoid investing time in trees with flaws that are difficult to correct, I periodically evaluate all of my bonsai and cull out any that don’t make the cut. Doing this frees up time in […]
GSBF convention exhibit highlights
The Golden State Bonsai Federation held their 41st convention this past weekend at the McClellan Conference Center in McClellan, California. The event featured two exhibits – one for general entries and one for judged trees. Below are some of the trees that were on display at these exhibits. Western juniper – Best in Show Deadwood […]
Illuminated bonsai at the Oakland Autumn Lights Festival
Each fall, the Gardens at Lake Merritt host the Autumn Lights Festival. The event is a fundraiser for the seven-acre garden in Oakland’s Lakeside Park. Held over three evenings, the event attracts thousands of visitors of all ages. More than five thousand made it to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt to see trees illuminated […]
Photographing bonsai – getting the level right
I’ve long found that the hardest part of photographing bonsai is figuring out how high to hold the camera. Holding it too high can be good for showing the foliage but not so great for seeing the branch structure. Holding the camera too low reveals more of the branch structure but doesn’t offer a good […]
