Bay Island Bonsai held their 13th Annual Exhibit this past weekend at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, CA. The exhibit featured a well developed shimpaku juniper. Shimpaku juniper Before reading any further, which way do you think the tree points – to the left or to the right? When setting up exhibits, we often start by […]
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A really full black pine
The Japanese black pine below was one of the many great trees I saw in the workshop during my visit to Aichi-en last fall. I caught Peter Tea cleaning it up for the sales area at Gomangoku. You can see a before photo on Peter’s blog. What made the tree stand out to me? The fullness, the […]
Unconventional branches
Every once in a while I see interesting bonsai with extra-interesting features. One of the more common is the extra-long branch. A white pine that fits this description caught my attention at last year’s Taikan-ten. White pine – 2011 Taikan-ten The first branch shoots straight out and then rises up, providing the tree’s primary point […]
Jojakko-ji and Tenryu-ji
Jojakko-ji was the hilliest of the temples I visited. Winding paths led higher and higher up the mountain until I could see Kyoto in the distance. The temple was founded around the end of the 16th century by Nisshen, 16th Head Priest of Honkoku-ji. Jojakko-ji’s website offers a step-by-step primer on the temple. Niomon gate […]
Arashiyama
Arashiyama is a neighborhood on the western edge of Kyoto with many temples and related tourist destinations. It appeared to be a popular destination for Japanese in town to see the fall color. As I walked the skinny streets through farms and modest residential neighborhoods on a day that threatened, but failed to deliver rain, […]