Membership has its benefits. This month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting featured a critique from Akio Kondo, a Kokufu prize-winning bonsai artist from Japan. Kondo sizing up a procumbens juniper by Peter Tea Kondo first visited California in 1996 to practice bonsai for a year after completing his apprenticeship to Kihachiro Kamiya at Kihachi-en. Kondo offered […]
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Prize-winning trees from the 94th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition
The Kokufu-ten is Japan’s top bonsai exhibit. It’s presented in two halves. One hundred and fifty-one displays are set up for a few days, then another one hundred and fifty-one displays are set up after a day-off to facilitate the change. The quality of the trees on display is outstanding. I could share photos of […]
Decandling black pine bonsai – an in-depth guide
Now that decandling season is coming to a close, I thought I’d share an overview of the process taken from previous posts. Let’s begin with the obvious question: What is Decandling? There is a lot to say about decandling pine bonsai. There are as many approaches to decandling as there are bonsai professionals, and many […]
Needle juniper at 35th Taikan-ten
A few weeks ago I made a last minute decision to head to Japan to visit the 35th Taikan-ten held in Kyoto. I’m glad I did. Visiting exhibits in Japan provides a great opportunity to catch up with friends from around the world and to do a little bonsai-related shopping for tools, pots and accessories. […]
More conifers and deciduous trees in Shiino’s garden
In addition to many black and white pines, Kentaro Shiino’s Kanagawa garden featured great examples of a number of varieties, including some beautiful junipers. Chinese juniper Chinese juniper Chinese juniper Chinese juniper One of the junipers was delicate enough to merit a post and zip tie support. To prevent tipping, the pot sat in a custom […]