Last month, Andrew Robson and I hosted a Shohin Seminar in Milwaukie, Oregon, featuring Japanese professional Daisaku Nomoto. Around fifty participants from seven states enjoyed two days of shohin education focused on how to create and display small trees. The event was a ton of fun and participants had the opportunity to shop from a […]
Excursions
Excursion posts feature visits to bonsai gardens in the U.S. and in Japan, visits to the Kyoto's Most Renown Gardens, and trips into the mountains to see junipers and pines in their natural setting.
A visit to Bill Valavanis’ bonsai garden
The day after this year’s US National Bonsai Exhibition, Bill Valavanis hosted a workshop at his garden, The International Bonsai Arboretum, while volunteers unloaded trucks and visitors (like me) enjoyed the trees! Bill’s garden is one of the must see bonsai gardens in North America, and it’s been among my favorites since I first visited […]
A visit to Bonsai Mirai
It’s always a treat when I get to visit bonsai gardens that I don’t see very often. Although it’s thrilling to see great trees for the first time, revisiting favorites can be particularly satisfying. I had both experiences on a recent trip to Ryan Neil’s garden, Bonsai Mirai. Since my last visit seven years ago, […]
A visit to the Clark Bonsai Collection
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit the Clark Bonsai Collection at the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Fresno’s Woodward Park. The Clark Collection is one of three GSBF-sponsored bonsai gardens in California. It opened in 2015 and features 140 bonsai, a rotating selection of which is on display at any given time. The […]
Shohin School Winter Seminar recap
A few weeks ago, Andrew Robson and I hosted the first Shohin School seminar at the Milwaukie Center in Milwaukie, Oregon. The two-day event focused on shohin display (Saturday) and development (Sunday). Our special guest for the weekend was shohin professional Daisaku Nomoto from Miyazaki, Japan. (All photos are courtesy Aki Yamakawa – thanks, Aki!) […]