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 […]
Search Results for: pine
Evergreen highlights and displays from the 17th Shohin Seminar
Junipers and pines were the most common evergreen species at the California Shohin Society’s 17th biennial Seminar exhibition. Here are a few that were display. Japanese black pine Shimpaku juniper Shimpaku juniper Exposed root black pine Kinzu Juniper Cork-bark black pine Cypress I only have a few photos of the displays themselves. Most of the […]
Bay Area Bonsai Associates’ 39th annual exhibit
The Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 39th annual exhibit last weekend at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. It’s been a few years since I last posted photos from the BABA show and I’m glad I have the chance to do so this year as there were some great trees on display […]
The story behind The Little Book of Bonsai
Happy New Year! I’d like to kick things off by sharing the story of how The Little Book of Bonsai came to be. Two years ago, I received a note from the gardening editor at Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House in New York. They were interested in publishing a book about […]
Setting design goals for refining mature bonsai
On Tuesday, I posted an update showing fall work on a cork-bark black pine (see “Cutback” for details). Today I’d like to critique the tree and talk about design goals for future development. For reference, here’s the tree after thinning the foliage and wiring key branches. Cork-bark black pine in a Gyozan pot – 24″ […]




