Why hold a bonsai exhibit in winter? Not to keep the visitors away. Despite the fact that half of the trees in the exhibit are without leaves and most of the other half are fighting off winter’s tendency to tinge foliage with a yellowish or bronze cast, many bonsai are at their best this time […]
Bonsai Blog
Bonsai Tonight features how-to articles, tips on growing trees from scratch, and reports from exhibits in the U.S. and Japan. See the Complete Post Archive for a list of all posts, or start browsing recent posts below.
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How to grow Japanese black pine from seed
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Recent Posts
BIB 11th annual exhibit – black pine
Last weekend, Bay Island Bonsai held its 11th annual exhibit in Pleasanton, CA. It was a huge success. After 10 years of hosting our exhibit in Hayward, we were uncertain about switching venues. Turns out this was our top-attended event. Thanks to all who visited and all who helped. I’ll be writing a number of […]
Repotting a Japanese black pine
Boon asked me to post an example of repotting a tree into a two-hole pot – my small pine is a good candidate. Here’s the rootball after removing it from the pot. Before root-work – one year of growth I was conservative with the root-work as I had yet to determine which pot would be […]
Pass the sock
You know a bonsai show is close when someone asks you for the sock during workshop. “The sock,” in Bay Island Bonsai parlance, refers to a sock filled with crushed walnut meat. Walnut oil is great for cleaning bonsai pots and juniper bark for bonsai exhibits. And the effort required to apply it is well […]
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 […]