Bonsai Blog

One benefit to visiting Japan in the fall is that the chrysanthemums are in bloom. Chrysanthemums are displayed with great beauty and creativity across Japan. Several were on display in kiosks in Tamamo Park when I visited last fall. Chrysanthemums! Floral penjing Young chrysanthemum Purple, yellow and pale, surfboards? A fusillade of flowers

The 2011 Asia Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibition was held in Takamatsu, Kagawa, on Shikoku. Takamatsu is a nice tourist destination. It’s on the Seto Inland Sea and is close to some of the larger bonsai growing grounds in Japan. At night, a giant maze of indoor pedestrian malls provides plenty of entertainment. […]

Trees regularly rotate in and out of the Shinpukuji Bonsai Museum. When not on display, these trees – and countless project trees – reside in Mr. Oomura’s backyard. Set atop the mountain on which  Shinpukuji Temple is located, the garden offers views of Aichi prefecture’s mountains and some great bonsai. The Garden A large black […]

My visit, last year, to Shinpukuji Temple’s Bonsai Museum, was my first time seeing the trees in sunlight. The greens were brighter and the trunks darker than I’d seen before. The trees’ health was obvious. Here are some of the pines and junipers on display the day I visited. Semi-cascade Japanese black pine Cork bark […]