One of the most common questions I get this time of year is whether or not the summer growth on decandled pines is strong enough. A better question might be, based on the summer growth to date, is there something I need to do to keep the tree on track? Here’s a black pine I […]
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Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 34th annual show
This past weekend the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society held their 34th annual show at the Memorial Veterans Building in Santa Rosa, California. Coast redwood The show is the largest in Northern California featuring over 200 bonsai on display. Cork oak California juniper The show requires a full day of setup and lots of help from […]
Rapid recovery – developing a cork oak bonsai
I have yet to find a bonsai variety that develops as quickly in my backyard as cork oak. The cork oak below was dug from a nearby nursery at the beginning of 2016. Unlike the other oaks that were dug the same day, this one promptly lost all of its leaves and showed few signs of […]
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest sits at 10,000′ elevation in California’s White Mountain range, just east of the Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley. The main draws are the ancient specimens that are over 3000 – and sometimes 4000 – years old. The trees aren’t huge like their neighbors to the west, the Giant Sequoia, but […]
Natural deadwood
I happened across some beautiful deadwood on a recent hike. Although carving deadwood features in bonsai is a popular pursuit, it can’t compete with the work produced by time and the elements. Convoluted twists on a dead trunk Dead branch Sculptural deadwood I’ll say more about the location – likely obvious to many of you […]