I had the opportunity to visit Ryan Neil’s garden, Bonsai Mirai, last week. It was a perfectly beautiful day and the trees looked fantastic with fresh spring growth. Visiting gardens like Mirai gives me the opportunity to study trees that don’t grow in my climate and see different approaches to styling. It’s as much an […]
Ryan Neil
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, […]
Great bonsai at Mirai
My recent trip to Portland included a stop at Ryan Neil’s garden. I’d last visited a year ago (see “Pines” and “Junipers” for details). This year I was struck by how different the trees looked before I’d finished making my way through the gate. In a word, they were full – really full. Twelve months […]
Unbridled Art
The Portland Japanese Garden is hosting a bonsai exhibit featuring the work of Ryan Neil from May 21st through June 19th. Eric Schrader and I were in town on opening day so we stopped by for a visit. The exhibit, American Bonsai: The Unbridled Art of Ryan Neil, features two installments of five trees each in […]
Junipers of Bonsai Mirai
Ryan Neil is well known for his work on collected junipers. His garden reflects this – among the many outstanding specimens at Bonsai Mirai, it’s the junipers that shine brightest. Part of this is due to the natural characters of junipers, some of the more sinuous varieties grown for bonsai. Much of this is due to Ryan’s […]