Heavy snow continues to fall in Tokyo on Saturday, it’s one of the biggest storms I’ve experienced in Japan. This would be just an ordinary snowfall for Rochester, NY, where nothing would be closed and school would go on as normal.

At breakfast I saw Michael Hagedorn with some of his students who were on their way to Obuse, near Nagano to visit Shinji Suzuki’s garden. Michael studied there about seven years ago and is returning for a few days. Mr. Suzuki is in Tokyo setting up the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition Part 2 and the new Japan Suiseki Exhibition. Since I’ve never visited Mr. Suzuki’s garden, Marc Arpag and I immediately changed our plans and joined Michael’s group. Everyone stayed in Obuse for a few days, but Marc and I returned to Tokyo a couple of hours later.

Obuse is a few hours from Tokyo in normal weather. But this snowstorm made the trip up a bit longer, and the return to Tokyo took an extra three hours. When we got back to Ueno Station we needed to wait 30 minutes before we could catch a taxi.

Mr. Suzuki’s garden is beautiful (even in the snow) and immaculate. You could eat off the floors. Everything was pristine and orderly. All the containers were straight on the benches parallel with the edge of the board. Even the carpets and tarps on the floor in the repotting greenhouse were precise. Well, not many people are aware of these small things, but small details are what distinguishes a true master. I believe surroundings are a direct reflection of an artist’s work and personality. You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and Mr. Suzuki’s garden did a superb job impressing Marc and me.

In the entrance way to Mr. Suzuki’s garden were two large historic Japanese red pine bonsai under shelter. These bonsai are from the Tokugawa era and have been container grown for over 250 years, perhaps even 300. They are some of the oldest bonsai in Japan.

The reception room had a large tokonoma alcove with a beautiful multiple trunk Japanese maple bonsai. Also displayed in the room were a Sargent juniper and Japanese flowering apricot bonsai. Thus, an evergreen, deciduous and flowering bonsai were on display, and each of a different style. A truly distinctive display to welcome visitors. The room had a small heater which was appreciated because it was freezing outside. Remember, I don’t like snow and cold weather and personally go dormant at 70F.

Tyler Sherrod, one of Mr. Suzuki’s apprentices from North Carolina gave us a private tour of all areas including several greenhouses, repotting greenhouse, container room and an entire building storing display tables.

The finest containers and display tables were tied for protection in case an earthquake strikes. I even noticed several of the growing benches had cables anchoring them to the ground.

Mr. Suzuki was in Tokyo setting up the exhibits and had his other American apprentice Matt Reel, from Oregon, with him to help so they were not in Obuse during our visit. Matt Real recently completed a Sargent juniper bonsai restyle which was photographed for Kinbon magazine.

Tyler Sherrod showed us an unusual clinging-to-a-rock style Japanese five-needle pine bonsai which was entered in the Japan Bonsai Creator’s Exhibition and won an award.

Most of the bonsai were large evergreens, however deciduous species were also present. I even noticed an Enkianthus (Pearl bush) and deciduous azalea bonsai, as well as numerous Chojubai Japanese flowering quince bonsai.

It was interesting to see one building full of display tables all behind curtains to protect the wood from strong light. They were grouped by size and style. All the tall cascade tables were in one area, next to the root stand section.

After our visit Marc and I took a taxi back to Obuse Station where we took a local train to Nagano where we immediately boarded the bullet train bound to Uneo. But, we sat on the train for about 90 minutes before it even moved and when it did, it was slower than normal because of the heavy snow. Obuse looked to have about 12 inches of snow, while Tokyo only got about 10 inches, but it’s still coming down hard and blowing snow too.

As mentioned before, God seems to be looking out for our tour, and it was a blessing to have switched our visit to Mr. Kimura, Omiya Bonsai Village and Mr. Morimae’s S-Cube garden from Saturday to Friday. The heavy wet blowing snow would have made for a memorable visit, but not the good kind. I have yet to see a snow plow, but did see one snow blower in Nagano. Businesses in Tokyo were closing early and moving snow with dustpans and brooms. The ground was slippery, but I was careful and did not break my foot for the seventh time. I’ve already broken one foot in Japan six years ago, that’s enough.

Other members of our tour returned to the Ueno Green Club sales area where all of the bonsai for sale in the outdoor areas were completely covered with snow. I did not see any customers in the photos I was shown.

Considering the cold weather and blowing heavy snow with travel delays, our 10 hour trip to Mr. Suzuki’s bonsai garden was well worth the extra time and difficult traveling conditions. I look forward to sharing the beauty of Mr. Suzuki’s garden and artistry with friends in our future bonsai tours.

History was made on February 9-13, 2014 when the newly reorganized Nippon Suiseki Exhibition held the first ever suiseki exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Under the leadership of Kunio Kobayashi (Chairman) and Seiji Morimae (Secretary General), the event was held concurrently during Part 2 of the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition so people could enjoy both arts in one venue (separate floor galleries). This brings a new era to the combination, appreciation and promotion of bonsai and suiseki.

As often the case, the opening ceremony was a colorful event with a few speeches from prominent figure heads and officers. Seiji Morimae was the MC and did an excellent job keeping the event moving along. After the formal ribbon cutting ceremony they lead visitors into the four gallery exhibition containing some of the most famous suiseki in Japan including a rare treasured suiseki which has not been seen outside a Ueno temple for over 45 years.

Included in the Japan Suiseki Exhibition were 5 special exhibits, 28 tokonoma alcove displays featuring long elegant scrolls, 135 general exhibits and a display of 15 suiseki accessories of historic display tables and water basins. Soil and water were not permitted in this second floor museum gallery so companion plants were not displayed with the stones and the water basins were shown with dry sand, which is unusual for Japanese suiseki exhibitions. Actually, the lack of companion plants put more focus on the stones.

Among the general exhibits were 10 prominent foreign suiseki lover’s displays of some of their finest Japanese suiseki: Dato K. H. Chua (Malaysia), David J. Sampson (England) and Martin Pauli (Switzerland).

 The foreign suiseki exhibitors from the United States were:

Hideko Metaxas, California

Kamuikotan Ishi

Larry & Nina Ragle, California

Sajigawa Ishi

Ronald C. Maggio, New York

Fujieda Ishi

Sean L. Smith, Pennsylvania

Seijaku Ishi

Tom Elias, California

Setagawa Ishi

Wil Lautenschlager, New York, now living in Tokyo

Chikuzen Maguro Ishi

William N. Valavanis, New York

Tamagawa Ishi

The exhibition was beautifully staged and laid out. Small size historic suiseki, boxes and bronze ornaments were displayed in long museum glass cases. The ample room surrounding the displays, tokonoma alcoves and pedestals allowed visitors to fully appreciate their beauty. I have personally studied many suiseki exhibitions in Japan, the United States, China, Indonesia and around the globe and have never seen such high quality stones displayed better and more beautifully. I’ve already made two visits to this exhibition and will return several times on Monday and Tuesday before I leave Japan.

In the evening of the opening day, the Nippon Suiseki Association hosted a party for the exhibitors. Our entire tour group was honored to have been invited to this special event. The Suiseki Study Group of Upstate New York 20 presented a congratulatory certificate to Kunio Kobayashi commemorating this important exhibition. At the presentation, our study group members Ron Maggio, Marc Arpag and I expressed our appreciation to the Nippon Suiseki Association and for leading the way to promote suiseki. We have learned quite a bit by studying the exhibition.

A 232 page full color exhibit catalog was published of all the exhibits and is available on my web site at:

http://www.internationalbonsai.com/page/1442819

On Sunday, February 9, 2014 Part 2 of the 88^th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition opened in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park. On Saturday all of the nearly 300 bonsai were removed and replaced with new masterpieces. Now, I’ve been at more Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions than I remember and I’m still amazed at the number of new bonsai which are displayed each year. There are a few repeats, but most of the trees are new. I wonder how many masterpieces are out there in Japan, but remember, new specimens are always being created while old masterpieces pass on.

Part 2 also had 170 displays, 26 important bonsai masterpieces and 55 medium size bonsai. There were again only 5 shohin bonsai compositions. The judges selected 6 Kokufu prize bonsai for Part 2.

Kokufu Sho Award, Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora

Kokufu Sho Award, Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii

Kokufu Sho Award, Japanese flowering apricot, Prunus mume

Kokufu Sho Award, Sargent juniper, Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii ‘Shimpaku’

Kokufu Sho Award, Dwarf star jasmine, Tracelospermum asiaticum ‘Nana’

Kokufu Sho Award, Kiyo Hime Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Kiyo Hime’

Both parts of the exhibition were superb this year, however, personally speaking, I liked Part 2 best. Perhaps because one of the finest masterpiece Kiyo Hime Japanese maple bonsai was on display. It’s the first time I’ve seen this tree. No, actually I saw it at Mansei-en Bonsai Garden in Omiya Bonsai Village on Friday as it was being prepared for the switch out on Saturday. This cultivar is one of my favorites.

Ezo spruce, Picea glehnii

Again there were pink lights against the bright blue table coverings with the addition of dramatic spot lighting which did not make it easy to photograph. But below are a few of the bonsai which made an impression on me. Enjoy their beauty!

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora 

Companion planting

Chojubai flowering quince, Chaenomeles japoinica ‘Chojubai’

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora

Korean hornbeam, Carpinus turczaninovii

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora

Companion planting

Trident maple, Acer buergerianum, yes, that’s an orange container

Trident maple, Acer buergerianum, yup, another orange container

Shohin bonsai composition

Sargent juniper, Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii ‘Shimpaku’

Companion planting

Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii

Dwarf stewartia, Stewartia monadelpha

Needle juniper, Juniperus rigida

Trident maple,  Acer buergerianum

Japanese grey-bark elm, Zelkova serrata

Japanese garden juniper, Juniperus procumbens

The sales area is a major part of most bonsai gatherings. The sale of bonsai, suiseki and other accessories for the training and appreciation of the arts is necessary for the professional bonsai artists.

The Nippon Bonsai Cooperative is the professional organization for bonsai artists and growers. A small corner lot, near the Ueno Park Zoo has been leased to the Nippon Bonsai Cooperative for many decades at a low rental price. Across the street is the headquarters for the Nippon Bonsai Association, which is a different organization from the professionals.

Approximately 20 years ago the Nippon Bonsai Cooperative organization removed the old low buildings and constructed a new, state of the art multi purpose, three story building for sales, exhibitions, meetings and judging for the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions. Each of the professional bonsai artists/growers was accessed a certain percentage of the building costs and they are all stockholder owners of the building, not the rented land.

During the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition they provide complimentary continuous shuttle bus service from the Ueno Green Club to the exhibition which is held in the Metropolitan Art Museum, about 10 minutes away. They want, and need, the customers to visit and shop in their sales area. Although sales are drastically down from the “bubble years” in Japan, bonsai business is still big.

There are two main sales area of the Ueno Green Club, indoor sales for high end items and outdoor sales for others. Don’t get me wrong, you can still spend tens of thousands of US dollars (not Japanese yen) for individual bonsai, containers and suiseki outdoors.

The first floor of the building contains the major bonsai artists’ sales areas, as does the second floor. The top third floor is dedicated to the sale of shohin bonsai, containers and other items.

Outdoors you can find almost anything you want and are not even looking for to enhance your growing and appreciation of bonsai and suiseki. Old containers, antiques and scrolls are offered for sale, in addition to tools and suiseki. Sometimes old Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions are available, but I was fortunate to find them first this year.

The outdoor sales areas are considerably less expensive to rent than the warm and comfortable indoor areas. This was evident during the worse snowstorm Tokyo experienced in 45 years a couple of days ago. No, I did not bring the snow from Rochester. You could not even see the bonsai for sale outdoors and vendors were quickly carefully brushing the cold wet snow off the delicate branches to avoid damage. It’s also not nice out there when its windy and quite cold.

Major Japanese bonsai collectors, and occasionally foreign visitors too, make pilgrimages to the exhibition and sales area yearly which the vendors are quite thankful for. They bring their finest items for sale. Oh, photographs are allowed both inside and out. It’s cheaper to take photos than buy a container for over $5,000.

Like in the United States, bonsai is still a “cottage industry” in Japan and vendors are friendly and help each other. Anyone who travels to Japan to see the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition should make the Uneo Green Club a destination to see what is currently popular and experience the hustle and bustle of the bonsai industry of Japan. Who knows, you may even purchase something to the surprise and appeciation of a Japanese vendor.

Satsuki azaleas are the jewels of the late spring/early summer bonsai season. The colorful blossoms in many shapes, colors and sizes as well as the interesting trunk shapes are eye candy for the discriminating bonsai enthusiast.

Because of their popularity, Satsuki azaleas are a big time bonsai industry in Japan, mostly centered around the Kanuma area, north of Tokyo near Nikko. The natural availability of Kanuma soil is the secret to producing dynamic bonsai at reasonable pricing. Satsuki azaleas thrive in Kanuma soil, which is minded in the Kanuma City area. You can see fields upon fields and greenhouses all full of Satsuki azaleas being propagated, field grown, then finished in containers ready for the Japanese as well as foreign markets.

Since Satsuki azaleas blossom in late May and early June the City of Kanuma holds an annual Kanuma. This year the Kanuma Satsuki Festival will be held from May 31 to June 9, 2014 at the Kanuma City Kaboku Center. The two acre complex includes: a permanent exhibition and sales area over a half acre alone, one and a half area auction area, and greenhouses. Additionally the complex has a garden tree sales field of seven acres, additional greenhouses, restaurant and a 66 acre wild bird forest, plus more. This is a truly unique center for Satsuki azalea bonsai production, exhibitions and sales.

This year for the first time Kora Dalager and I will be leading a special tour to Japan highlighting the Kanuma Satsuki Festival in addition to visiting Omiya Bonsai Village, the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, the private collections of Kunio Kobayashi and Masahiko Kimura and Seiji Morimae’s S-Cube, the largest bonsai garden in Japan. Additionally we will begin our exploration to Japan by visiting the Nippon Satsuki Exhibition in Ueno Park and also the colorful Toshogu Shrine famous for its colorful buildings and ancient giant Cryptomeria trees. This was the home of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

We will attend the opening of the Kanuma Satsuki Festival and have a full day to study the thousands of Satsuki bonsai, visit the sales area as well as the lovely garden areas. Photos from the 2013 Kanuma Satsuki Festival are included here.

 A Private Visit To The Garden Of Shinji Suzuki

Additionally, also for the first time, we are having an optional tour to the bonsai garden of award winning bonsai artist Shinji Suzuki. The optional tour will take place the day before the Satsuki Bonsai Tour begins. Mr. Suzuki lives in Obuse, north of Nagano Japan which will a ride on the bullet train, regular trains, taxi ride as well as an additional night in our Tokyo hotel. Additional photos may be seen in this blog from my recent visit in the February archives.

Please contact Kora Dalager or me for availability of this small limited optional tour and pricing:

kora@astound.net

wnv@internationalbonsai.com

Join us on an exciting new tour to see, study and explore the Satsuki Azalea world in Japan as well as experience the Japanese bonsai world and culture of Nikko.

The Kennett Collection is the private bonsai collection of bonsai connoisseur Doug Paul who has created the finest bonsai collection in the United States. His fine eye and love of bonsai (and kopi) can be seen in each of the over 1,000 specimens he keeps surrounding his beautiful gardens and home in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Paul has traveled to Japan many times searching for fine quality bonsai to add to his collection. His love of Satsuki azaleas and Japanese five-needle pines is easily seen in the vast majority of the collection. He was the first American to display a bonsai in the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition in Tokyo as well as other exhibitions. Select specimens which he has purchased are kept in Japan and displayed before importing into the United States.

A small full time staff care for the bonsai collection while world-class bonsai professionals from the United States, Japan, England and Italy regularly travel to Kennett Square to shape and train the trees.

In order to make room for new specimens Mr. Paul needed to sell about 400 trees. Rather than selling them to professionals he chose to have a public auction on March 14-15-16, 2014 at a nearby garden center in Delaware where there was more room for the buyers as well as no sales tax. This way the public had a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add quality Japanese bonsai to their personal collections. It was very generous of him to price the bonsai at very low prices, even cheaper than he purchased them in Japan. Mr. Paul likes American and European bonsai containers and many of the bonsai sold were in expensive, one-of-a-kind containers. The prices of the bonsai ranged from $25 to $19,000.

All of the bonsai for sale were photographed ahead of time and posted in his web site so buyers could study and prepare their purchasing lists. The sale drew people from as far as Texas, Canada as well as most states east of the Mississippi River. Many prominent bonsai professionals were present adding to their personal collections as well as purchasing trees for their clients.

People began to gather well before the 10 am sale on Friday morning when the temperature was about 30F. There were perhaps 200 people in attendance and it looked more like a national bonsai convention than a private bonsai sale. Upon arrival buyers reached into a black box to get their wrist bands of 13 different colors which indicated the entry order into the sales area.

Peter Warren from England organized and ran the sale and went over the rules before 10 am. People would be allowed in when their wrist band colors were announced for 10 minutes before the next group was allowed their turn for buying. A couple of minutes before 10am, the sign with the entry schedule was revealed. Peter reviewed the rules again and asked buyers to leave their trees until later in the morning to prevent confusion, which was an excellent idea.

Buyers had about 10 to 15 minutes to make their selection and only 3 trees could be purchased during their initial buying period. At 1pm the sale would be open to everyone and people could purchase additional trees. Also Peter announced that any cheating would not be tolerated and buyers would not be allowed to purchase any trees if caught. I did not see any cheating, but many disappointed buyers who were in the 13^th group to enter. At the conclusion of his remarks Peter wished all buyers good luck.

All the bonsai were well prepared and organized by species and size. Of course there was a large section of Satsuki azaleas and pine bonsai. Each tree had two labels with the item number and price. The white label remained on the tree, while if one wanted to purchase a tree they removed the yellow label. Therefore, once it was your turn to enter the sales area trees without a yellow label were already purchased. Buyers would then take their yellow labels into the heated tent with hot coffee and doughnuts to get a receipt of their purchases. At the next table the receipts were taken, paid for and returned to the lucky buyers to retrieved their trees. Only the staff, all in yellow hats, were allowed to pick up the trees and move them into the loading area. They even helped people pack their cars and trucks.

Around noon all the buyers had entered and the sales area was nearly empty. It was unbelievable how fast the trees were sold. In some of the attached photos you will see empty tables with only a few trees remaining, however, if you look closely, very few were still for sale with the yellow labels. Only the white identification labels remained.

During the sales period, Peter Warren from England, Minoru Akiyama from Japan as well as Suthin were there to assist people with their purchases and answer questions.

Later on Friday afternoon it was announced that because of the lack of remaining bonsai the sale would close on Saturday at 1pm and would not open on Sunday as scheduled. You can’t sell trees if you don’t have them.

It was warming to me to see so many smiling happy people adding quality bonsai to their collection because of the generosity of Doug Paul. Hopefully the bonsai will be well cared for and shaped and perhaps displayed in a future US National Bonsai Exhibition.

Although my wife Diane and I were in the 8^th entry group we were able to purchase 4 of my client’s top choices (3 yellow labels for me and 1 for Diane) for his personal bonsai collection. But, unfortunately none of the bonsai on our affordable list for resale purposes remained, except for one small Japanese five-needle pine nursery stock.

Bonsai we purchased for our client:

My purchase…….

Mr. Paul needs to be thanked for making the trees available to the public for sale and also for the extremely well organized sales procedure and rules which were fair as well for everyone.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Dr. David L. Andrews for over 40 years when we were both directors of the Bonsai Society of Greater New York. Dr. Andrews, retired prominent New York City orthopedic surgeon, was an early student of Yuji Yoshimura for over 40 years. He loved bonsai studied intensively and soon became skilled and knowledgeable in many aspects of bonsai. Rock plantings and pines interested him and he became an expert in their creation and propagation. Dr. Andrews freely shares his knowledge and artistry and has often presented programs with Mr. Yoshimura. When visiting nurseries he always selected the largest specimens for training into spectacular large size bonsai. As a past president of the Bonsai Society of Greater New York, Dr. Andrews frequently presented programs at meetings and conventions around the country because he loved the art and wanted to share with others. I believe he was the first non-Californian to be invited to demonstrate at a Golden State Bonsai Convention, several decades ago.

Dr. Andrews has not been actively involved with the bonsai community recently and planted all his bonsai into his large garden landscape. A few weeks ago Dr. Andrews told me he was going to move to New Hampshire and wanted to give all his bonsai containers to Chase Rosade and me. What a surprise and generous offer! Chase, Dr. Andrews and I coordinated our schedules and on Tuesday we met at his home in New Jersey, near the George Washington Bridge.

Blanket pads from U-Haul were used to carefully pack the containers

My son Chris drove six hours each way to New Jersey from Rochester to pick up the containers in my suburban and trailer. Bob Pfromm and Alan Adair joined us to help carefully load the heavy containers. The day before the trip I went to U-Haul and rented 24 packing blankets to protect the containers. These heavy blanket pads are excellent and a great deal too. They come six blankets in a bag for only $5 a day. Using the blankets we were able to carefully pack all the containers and stones and all arrived in Rochester unbroken or chipped.

Dr. Andrews neatly stacked over 400 empty bonsai in small piles for Chase and me to select from. They ranged from two inches to over three feet in size. We quickly took turns picking out piles of containers and flipped a coin for a few choice large or unusual containers. Most of the containers were old and showed great patina from the decades of use.

After cleaning two of the containers they look to be antique Chinese and photos are being identified in Japan as well as in the United States. There were two unusually long narrow containers and Chase and I each selected one. I have an idea for a different design group planting and am searching for the right plant material. Some of the containers had huge drainage holes while one small container had many small holes in a rosette pattern rather than the common size holes. Drainage screen is not necessary for this type of container. Most of the containers were old Japanese from famous Tokoname kilns. Some of the containers even had old price tags from California nurseries which have gone out of business 30 years ago. Some were originally priced at $3.

Since Dr. Andrews loves large rock planting bonsai he frequently traveled to Colorado to collect flat and curved granite slabs. Behind his home, near a gardening shed he had several piles of stones. I selected several of the smaller stones and Chase will pick up the larger rocks at a later date. We needed a shovel to unearth the flat stones which were still frozen to the ground. When selecting flat stones for bonsai it is best to make certain they are not broken, solid and thin. Ideally irregular interesting edges are preferred to create rock-planting bonsai. Avoid stones which have straight edges, or position them in the back of the planting where they will not be easily noticed. Sometimes flat edges can be carefully chipped to create a more irregular edge. The best stones are not completely flat, but rather are curved to hold the soil and tree. Of course size and weight is a consideration, that’s why Chase got the largest stones.

Next to the piles of flat planting stones Dr. Andrews showed us two Trident maples and a few European hornbeam bonsai he planted in the garden a few decades ago. They were large bonsai all pruned and trimmed, ready for huge containers. I selected the smallest Trident maple and since Chase lives closer to Dr. Andrews than I do, he will return at a later date when the ground is not frozen to dig the remaining trees.

The small Trident maple I chose was started from a cutting Dr. Andrews obtained from another long time student of Yuji Yoshimura over 45 years ago. In order to develop a heavy trunk he allowed an escape branch to grow to a long length. Once the desired trunk size was developed, he pruned the escape branch. The basic structure of the bonsai has been developed and now needs to be refined. Next week I might use the Trident maple for my new three day Classical Bonsai MasterClass.

When training bonsai in the ground for trunk development it is also important to think about the final desired size. Remember, the container and soil will also add weight to the bonsai which must be moved into a winter protection area in cold climates.

Included with the containers, Dr. Andrews had 12 boxes of old Japanese and English bonsai and suiseki magazines. Additionally there were boxes of historical notes and archives of the Bonsai Society of Greater New York and the American Bonsai Society. They will be cataloged and added to my bonsai reference library.

While Chris and my buddies were loading the containers and stones, Dr. Andrews asked me to walk through his garden of rare and unusual trees to identify some of the Japanese five-needle pines he had grafted decades ago and planted into the ground. I’ve never seen large sizes of the dwarf cultivars before. There were several four foot tall Nishiki black pines in addition to other rare pines. During our walk I noticed a large ten foot wide Birds nest spruce in his garden and he quickly pointed out that originally it was a 23 tree bonsai forest he planted in the ground. We walked through an orchard of large size apple trees, each pruned to look like a bonsai by Dr. Andrews. I found it interesting that he has transplanted most of the large apple orchard trees to better aesthetic locations. The orchard actually looked like a large forest bonsai, only the trees were approximately ten feet tall and growing in the ground.

This 10 foot Birds nest spruce was a 23 tree bonsai forest years ago

It was very generous of Dr. Andrews to give over 400 quality containers to Chase and me so others can appreciate and make use of the containers he collected and used for nearly five decades. It’s wonderful that Dr. Andrews continues to think about the future of the art and wanting to share his love with others. This gesture is typical of Dr. Andrews who often traveled during the night to bonsai gatherings bringing large demonstration material, teaching and returning to his busy medical practice in New York City. I hope he enjoys his retirement in his new home knowing that the love he has for his bonsai will be shared with others through the use of his containers.

Yesterday we had the inaugural session of my new three day Classical Bonsai MasterClass which was limited to four students. The detailed instruction and individual help with the student’s bonsai will reinforce the principles and techniques learned from the program.

We begin each day with an explanation of the display alcove with the main bonsai, accessory and scroll discussing how they relate to each other and the season of the year. After questions are answered a PowerPoint program is presented on the topic to be studied. The first program discussed aspects of Classical Bonsai design.

Next came a critique where each student brought a bonsai for discussion and a bit of work. Diego Denair from Brazil did not bring actual trees, however brought many photos of his bonsai for advice. The Trident maple which Kip Neal brought needed an thread graft to place a branch in a needed area. So, out came the drill, tools and we proceeded to discuss and demonstrate how to thread graft using Kip’s bonsai.

Joe Moore from Rochester, New York worked on a Japanese maple

Dr. Diego Denari took a six hour bus ride from his home to the San Paulo, Brazil airport then spent the next day and a half traveling to Rochester. He worked on a Sargent juniper

John Wiessinger, who writes the interesting column “Right Before Your Eyes” for International BONSAI magazine came from Ithaca, New York. He worked on a collected Engelman spruce

During the workshop which followed, each student worked on their own bonsai with my assistance. Great bonsai were brought in for advice and work, some for structural design, others for refinement.

After a short lunch break another PowerPoint presentation was made on pruning theory and techniques, which was followed by another workshop. Some of the bonsai from the morning session needed additional work, while other new trees were worked on. Each student brought several trees to the Classical Bonsai MasterClass which are protected in the garage and only brought into the studio at the right time. This way the studio was not crowded and everyone had ample room to work with the many tools.

Kip Neal from Main continued to work on his Trident maple bonsai we thread grafted earlier and also on a huge Forsythia he has been training

At the conclusion of the first day the group went to a nearby Chinese buffet for dinner and we next all proceeded to the March meeting of the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York. At the meeting I presented a PowerPoint presentation on the history, care and appreciation of Shohin Bonsai. This was followed by a short demo on a Little Gem dwarf spruce and explanation of the many shohin bonsai members brought in to share with others. We had over 50 members and two guests (from Brazil and Maine) at this meeting. Next I conduced a workshop for 11 students and Harvey Carapella and Marc Arpag assisted me.

It was quite a long day for me, but the four students and 50 some members of our bonsai society enjoyed and more importantly had the opportunity to learn from my five decades of bonsai study. We still have two more intense days to study Classical Bonsai art, and I’m all ready and prepared to assist the four students.

The second session of the Classical Bonsai MasterClass began with discussing a different alcove display featuring a cascade style Kiyo Hime Japanese maple, just leafing out and ready for bud pinching and trimming. After discussing the formal display tradition and principles we went over how to correctly control the new growth of both developed and undeveloped deciduous bonsai. Since this bonsai was not bud pinched last season, most of the terminal buds will be shortened to maintain a compact form, yet presenting a light elegant feeling.

Wiring techniques were the main topic of the morning PowerPoint presentation. After a brief explanation of basic wiring, we quickly changed the topic to more specific applications for bonsai shaping and refinement. John Wiessinger brought in an old collected American larch from a bog in Maine. Relocating a lower heavy branch would improve the design. A sharp trunk splitter was first used to dislocate the desired branch from the trunk to create more branching in empty areas. John watched the process and did not cringe as the branch was popped out of the trunk, bent and relocated. The newly positioned branch was held in place with wire and a guy wire. Cut paste was used to fill in the open would to promote a quick callus covering. Small pieces of flakey American larch bark were pressed into the moist cut paste to disguise the open bark wound.

Each student worked on their own bonsai, and when an interesting technique was used, everyone came to watch, discuss and learn. Kip Neal brought a huge Forsythia for additional training which he dug from a landscape a few years ago. In the first session he began to carve the massive lower trunk and completed the process during the second session.

Then we all moved into the garage where there was more room to use the reciprocating saw to easily and quickly remove the old heavy roots. I guided my assistant, Alan Adair, with the cutting process while the students intensely watched as we sawed through the heavy woody root system to allow the tree to sit lower in the large training pot.

Coarse soil with horticultural charcoal was used for most of the potting mix to promote fast growth of new branches from the old trunk. As the new adventitious buds grow each new shoot will be wired into the new desired positions.

After a full day of studying classical bonsai art training techniques we went for a quick dinner then everyone retired to rest for tomorrow’s final session.

Today the final session of my Classical Bonsai MasterClass began with a discussion of the alcove display. In addition to exposing and teaching bonsai shaping techniques as well as horticultural tips to grow healthy beautiful bonsai, I feel it’s important to appreciate bonsai in a formal setting. It is not necessary to have a Japanese alcove, only an area in your home with a plain background so the tree is isolated so one can truly enjoy the beauty of the bonsai which are created and refined during workshops and grown outdoors.

As mentioned in during the previous sessions, seasonality is an important aspect of bonsai display and appreciation. The bonsai, scroll/painting or companion usually indicates the season. During the first two sessions of the Classical Bonsai MasterClass, a bonsai in flower and a deciduous tree just leafing out clearly indicated springtime, even though it was snowing outdoors. The scrolls which were displayed with the flowering and leaf emerging bonsai also featured flowers fading and cherries blossoming.

Today’s display was different however. An evergreen species bonsai was the main element on display and was combined with a scroll painting of the rising sun. Neither of these two objects indicated seasonality. So, the companion planting was used to convey the season. It was a bit difficult to first notice, but a small planting of Acorus sweet flag was combined with an overly large figurine of a Canadian goose. But, upon careful examination a young gosling was under the mother’s wing, thus suggesting spring time.

After we discussed the formally presented display we spent a few minutes on the importance of suiseki when combined with bonsai. My well-known natural double hut stone from Puerto Rico was compared to a contemporary commercially produced hut stone from Japan, which was “enhanced” to appear natural.

The group was offered several different options for the topic of the PowerPoint program. Everyone wanted to learn a bit more on the refinement of bonsai, so I showed my Refinement of Maple Bonsai program which covered trimming, shaping, container, soil mix and growing conditions for refining a bonsai which is the next step after developing a bonsai.

The four students spent the remaining of the last day completing the shaping of their bonsai, starting the shaping of future bonsai and critiquing established trees. As interesting shaping techniques were used everyone gathered around to learn from the other trees.

Before wiring and shaping collected Engelman spruce by John Wiessinger

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After shaping by John Wiessinger

To conclude the first series of the successful Classical Bonsai MasterClass sessions wine connoisseur, Joe Moore, brought a bottle of fine French champagne, complete with crystal glasses. Everyone partook of the liquid treat, including me, although I personally thought McDonald’s sweet tea tasted better.

I look forward to a new group of students in my next Classical Bonsai MasterClass.

Beech are highly prized for bonsai because of their characteristic white bark, beautiful foliage, winter hardiness and easy training. There are several beech species native to Japan. The Japanese beech, Fagus crenata is the most commonly trained species for bonsai in Japan. Specimens near Mt. Fuji are especially valued because of their small thick foliage. The American beech, Fagus grandifolia, has rather large thin foliage and often collected specimens are grown for bonsai. The European beech, Fagus sylvatica, is trained for bonsai in Europe and spectacular bonsai are created from thick trunked collected trees.

In the United States European beech, and its numerous cultivars are commonly used in the landscape for different colored foliage or unusual growth patterns. These cultivars are usually grafted onto seedlings of European beech, so they are a widely grown nursery stock.

The normal leaf size of European beech is a bit larger than Japanese beech. Although individual seedlings vary in leaf size and character, European beech mostly have thick leathery foliage, which quickly reduce in size. Whitish bark quickly develops in approximately six to ten years.

A few weeks ago I received a nursery offering for one to two foot European beech seedling transplants with low branching for hedges. European beech are often used for hedges in Europe and old estates in the United States. The offering sounded great and 150 sample trees were ordered. They were intended for single tree workshops for my next year’s Introductory Bonsai Course. Upon arrival, after inspection, the branching was not ideal for single tree bonsai, but excellent for forests.

I was quite excited about the shapes of the new plants and immediately created five European beech forests of different designs. Only a few of the seedling transplants were selected for single trunk bonsai. Since I was working alone I did not take the time to photograph the process of creating a forest bonsai. The five forests came out great and have the possibility of developing into future fine bonsai, so I ordered another 100 seedling transplants to make another forest with a friend photographing the creative process.

The seedlings arrived last week, but I did not have an opportunity to create the forest because I was preparing for my new Classical Bonsai MasterClass. Three of the four students arrived a day early to drop off their bonsai and since my preparations were complete I seized the opportunity to create the European beech forest while presenting a private demonstration lesson for the early arrival three students.

The first step in creating a forest, rock planting or any bonsai is to prepare all the material ahead of time: trees, container, wire, soil, tools and moss. I like oval containers for forest plantings because they do not have difficult corners to aesthetically use. Shallow containers are best without prominent feet. A flat foot is better than cloud feet to provide a solid visual anchor. Beech is a deciduous species and I personally prefer an outer lip because of the flat foliage. Although unglazed containers can be displayed year around, I selected an old Japanese Tokoname-ware container from the Suishoen Heikisui Kiln. This container has been used for several bonsai from my garden during the past 30 years and has history. When selecting the container I was thinking about respect and came up with another interesting article on the topic. Rather than take up the time and space here the topic will be in a forthcoming blog entry, or magazine article.

After selecting the container, notice that it has been cleaned inside, but shows antiquity, drainage screen is placed over the holes. Although nearly everyone who grows bonsai takes the time to secure the drainage screen over the holes to prevent movement when potting with pieces of short copper wire, I do not. I have learned through decades of experience that it takes time to make and insert the wire and it’s easier and cheaper for me to simply use a larger piece of drainage screen over the holes. When potting my bonsai, usually most of the holes have copper wire to tie the tree into the pot. If carefully positioned, they will hold the drainage screen from moving. However, for this forest bonsai (mostly for demonstration purposes) in addition to using a larger piece of drainage screen, I added small copper wire clips.

Copper wire for holding the trees into the container were used, lots of them. It’s better to have too many wires than not enough, although extra wire can be always added to secure stubborn trees that want to move around. A small layer of coarse bottom soil was placed into the container, which was set aside until later.

The shipping box of the seedling transplants was then opened outside where the sunlight was bright, a rarity in Rochester this year. Each bundle of ten trees was cut open and every tree was studied. Again a few more specimens had suitable shapes for individual bonsai, while the others were graded into large, medium and small sizes. They were graded by trunk diameters, not heights, because they can easily be trimmed down or grown tall, but the trunks thicknesses are more difficult to change.

The graded seedlings were brought into the studio and root pruned. Long and heavy roots were immediately pruned short. Sometimes seedlings will develop two root systems and the lower one is often removed. But, it’s important to study all the roots, sometimes the upper roots are removed because the lower level root system has better distribution or finer roots. These are young deciduous seedlings that are vigorous, especially at this time of the year. They do not need a large number of roots at this stage. Most of the top growth will be shortened after positioning. One of the advantages of using young deciduous seedlings is that they can be positioned closer together than potted specimens with a larger root system. Again, after root pruning, the trees were graded and placed into three groups: large, medium and small.

The basic design of a forest bonsai is actually created by the position of the main larger trees. If a larger tree is not available, two trees can be planted close together to appear as one large specimen or the tree can be planted a bit higher in the container. After carefully placing the trees into the container, soil was added around the roots to keep the trunks from falling over, remember, they do not have many roots. A small amount of water from a hand sprayer will add weight to the soil to help stabilize the trees. Also, often times two or more trees are tied together at the base of the trunks. And temporary wire is usually used in the upper sections of the trees to keep the trees from moving.

Additional medium size trees are then used around the larger specimens working toward the container rim. First position the trees for similar trunk movement, keeping in mind any small branching the trunks might have. Ideally the branches should be positioned so they grow towards the outside of the forest, not inside. I do not usually prune the heights or remove inner branching until after the forest is completed. Please note that the trunks were not wired at this time. If necessary, they can be wired or refined during the summer or even best next year. I have learned, the hard way, that if you only wire one or two trees, they will look so good that you continue on and eventually wire all the trunks. So, either wire all or none of the trunks at this time.

A distant view design will be used for this forest bonsai because of all the lovely similar seedlings. The main tree is positioned towards the center of the composition and the beauty of the bonsai lies with the delicate branching the trees will develop.

Finally the smaller trees are added to the group. I also looked through a few of the European beech seedling bundles we mail order for even smaller trees. This forest actually had four different sizes of seedlings to present a wider range of trunk calibers and heights.

After enough trees were added to present a pleasing forest they were secured using the copper wires inserted through the drainage holes. I never counted the number of individual trees in this forest. The actual number is not important because the normal human eye can’t easily count more than eight trees at a time in a forest planting. Basically, what I was aiming for is to have most of the larger trunks around the main tree on the right and positioning them closer together than the other trees near the smaller trunk trees on the left.

The wires run through the planting and are tied with a wire pliers making certain that both ends of the wire are twisted together at the same time. The ends are not trimmed until the end, because they are often handy for tying to each other for additional support. Soil is then added and carefully placed around the roots.

Next moist green moss is applied in small pieces first around each trunk base. It is gently pressed into the dry soil to secure the trunk positioning. While doing this, each trunk is again adjusted and can even be rotated for better viewing from the front. All the moss is placed next to each other without gaps to hold the trees in position.

Once the moss has been completely planted the trees are trimmed. First the height of the forest bonsai is established as well as the sides. Then all the other trees are trimmed to different heights, keeping in mind the heavier trunks ideally should be taller than the skinny trunks. As adjusting the tree heights inner growing branches are removed. Trees can still be slightly positioned at this stage of development. It’s important to remember that when the planting is completely planted it is only the beginning of its development for a future forest bonsai.

After completing the planting the wire on the bottom of the container is twisted to lock the plants into final positioning. They must not move around. Additional small pieces of thin wire might be added to the tops of the trees to keep them from moving. The planting is watered from the top with water and Superthrive until it runs clear through the bottom drainage holes. Then it is placed in a sunny area, out of the wind until new buds grow.

These are the identical techniques and theory I teach when presenting educational programs around the world. My next Group Planting Seminar will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2014 in Rochester, New York.

On Friday morning a few distant students from my Classical Bonsai MasterClass remained. So, as my custom, I put them to work. Nobody stands around here…

The migrant workers, Diego from Brazil and John from Ithaca volunteered to help move some of the dormant bonsai outside with Alan Adair my assistant. Only evergreens and deciduous bonsai with tight buds were moved. A few other friends came later on and my garden began to look more like a bonsai garden than a grey winter scene.

Saturday morning my Saturday Crew came and moved all of the large and two-man, bonsai outside into the display and sales area. As they know, just put the trees outside, I’ll move them all later and even if I tell them exactly where I want them, I’ll still move them around. So when you look at the trees on the tables, note many are not straight and parallel with the table edge, however, I guarantee they will be straightened out at a later date.

As the Saturday Crew was moving trees someone mentioned that we were in a winter storm warning. It’s a good thing they only moved trees, which were still in deep dormancy. Other trees, which had enlarged, and opening buds remained inside the poly houses. The low temperatures were only forecast to be about 29-31F. which is fine. Remember, my trees have been acclimated to 27F. However, IF the temperature forecast drops to about 20F. we will be a bit busy around here moving some trees into the garage or under the tables.

Harvey spent most of the day refining and cleaning the roots of his Japanese maple.

Bob Pfromm worked on a Japanese five-needle pine.

Fran Mahoney wired two Nishiki Japanese-black pines.

Jim Dolce worked on a Chinese quince.

Bob Blankfield worked on a Japanese yew.

It took both of us pushing hard to compact the top section of the bonsai using three guy wires, but we did it!

Rick Marriott likes small size bonsai and always brings a load of tree and selection of containers.

My two Open Workshops finished at 4pm on Saturday. After cleaning a bit and checking my e-mails I was so exhausted from teaching 11 classes in five days I simply went to bed at 6pm. I woke up at 9pm (don’t need much sleep) to find freezing rain and snow coming down quite hard. Got dressed, took my camera and went outside into to check the trees and to take a few photos. Then I went to bed, again after having a quick bowl of Sapporo Ichiban noodles.

Saturday evening:

Sunday morning I woke up to a “Winter Wonderland” and took a few more photos. I agree the trees look beautiful in a fresh snow covering, but I hate snow and really only like it on Xmas cards. We had at least 9″ of HEAVY wet snow and deeper drifts. Wet snow is about three times as heavy as common snow.

People often ask why I live in Rochester with the “interesting” weather. Well, I have made many close friends here during the past 46 years, and I’ve trained numerous students as well. It would be impossible for me to promote bonsai, in my style, without their dedicated support. Also, if one purchases a bonsai from me, you are pretty sure it will be winter hardy in your area, if you live south of the North Pole.

A “snow hat” keeps Yuji Yoshimura warm, or did he really want to be a “cone head?”

I am anxiously awaiting better weather, hopefully, this week. There are many bonsai to be trimmed and repotted and I have a couple of special new creations in the works, especially one in an unusually long container.

Although the temperature is still cold and snow piles remain, some deciduous bonsai need repotting because the buds are now beginning to open. These bonsai have been overwintered in the garage. My son Chris has been working on several cars and turned the kerosene heaters up a little to make it more comfortable than the 27F temperature I’ve been maintaining. So… many deciduous bonsai woke up a bit early this year.

Usually we transplant the deciduous species first, followed by the narrow leaf evergreens and finally the broadleaf evergreens. Additionally, I “try” to repot bonsai which are pot bound and difficult to water during the summer. Some of those bonsai have strong roots and the root pressure splits containers. Also the roots of pot bound trees often raise the soil level up higher than normal. All I need to do is to remember which trees drained slowly. I do not repot bonsai on a regular schedule, but rather when the trees tell me to. Transplanting too often disturbs growth and I’d rather wait a year (or two) before repotting. Some of my pines have not been transplanted in ten years. They grow slowly, have short needles and still drain well.

Bob preparing containers and soil mixes

The containers are prepared before the roots are worked

On Wednesday Bob Pfromm and Alan Adair helped me transplant. At one time we were working on five bonsai at the same time. I was trimming a bonsai; Bob was preparing the soil and containers for other bonsai, while Alan worked the roots of another. Most of the containers were matched ahead of time, while sometimes we prepared the roots and fit them into the containers to see how they looked. Usually we selected the right container first. And, it’s not unusual for us to have five or six excellent containers lined up for final selection. I made the final trunk positioning in the container and Bob and Alan finished up and mossed the soil surface.

This bonsai needed to but cut out of the container because of the slight incurving rim 

As we were transplanting I thought of a few topics, which might help others while repotting. Students often ask why I use the large size long handle wire pliers. They say that they don’t have large trees so smaller size tools are better. However, in addition to providing additional leverage, the long handles allow hands to stay free from damaging tender branches.

Long handle pliers provide leverage and allow hands to stay clear of the delicate branching

Euonymus, November 2011

My large Euonymus bonsai with rough bark is an unusual bonsai that is colorful in autumn with the coral colored fruit. It has been growing in a contemporary oval Chinese container for many years. Last spring it was transplanted into a smaller, much finer quality, rare, old Japanese container to make the trunk look more powerful for displaying in the 2013 Artisan’s Cup of Portland Bonsai Exhibition. The event was delayed until 2015 and the announcement came out after I transplanted the tree into the smaller container. It needed watering more often because of the smaller container. The container is quite special and originally came from Yuji Yoshimura’s father. It was broken over 30 years ago and I received it from a friend who had patched it up. He patched well, because it held together until last year. The root pressure pushed out and the container split apart.

Alan removing the tree from the old container

After trimming the tree Alan repotted it while the container fell into two pieces. We immediately wrapped the roots to prevent dehydration while the container was repaired. Alan used a two part epoxy cement with drainage screen as patches. The plant roots cannot detect colors (I think) so we used purple screening over the drainage holes to provide a festive mood.

After the container was repaired we began cleaning the trunk. For the past five decades I’ve used old toothbrushes to clean the bark of dirty trees. Most of my deciduous bonsai are cleaned yearly, especially before exhibits. In addition to removing algae, moss and other dirty things, the water cleans the trunk, which often permits dormant adventitious buds to freely grow through the old bark. In the past I used water with liquid dish soap and a few drops of Superthrive to clean the bark. Narrow leaf and broad leaf evergreens are washed more carefully than deciduous species. This year after trying out a friend’s new Japanese pressure sprayer made specifically for bonsai, actually satsuki azaleas, I splurged and purchased one from Japan. It works GREAT, but I can’t add dish soap or Superthrive because it might clog up the fine spay nozzle.

After experimenting a bit, I instructed Alan how to use the pressure sprayer. He spent over 35 minutes cleaning the bark of the old Euonymus bonsai. Afterwards he said he could have spent more time cleaning the bark. We finished, but will clean it well again next spring in preparation for display in the September 2015 Artisan’s Cup of Portland Bonsai Exhibition.

Bark before washing

Bark after washing

The transplanted Euonymus bonsai 

On Thursday Paul Eschmann joined Alan Adair and me to continue repotting. The large Trident maple from Dr. Andrews was pruned and potted using many tools including a power reciprocating Sawzall. This tools comes in quite handy when making a flat cut across the bottom of a root ball or for sawing through heavy roots.

Alan sawing roots while Paul carefully holds the tree to prevent damaging the branches

Combing the roots before trimming

Oto Hime Japanese maple bonsai, March 2011. This bonsai has two fronts.

In March 2011 I got an Oto Hime Japanese maple grown by Julian Adams during my annual spring southern lecture tour. By the time I got home the tree had leafed out and I did not feel comfortable potting it into a shallow container because I found several large heavy roots. Having grown in a deeper than normal bonsai container for three years the tree produced many fibrous feeder roots and we proceeded to repot it into a shallow container. This was a lot of work and required a couple of hours to completely repot the bonsai.

Trunk base before washing and pruning crossing roots

Heavy roots in the center of the root ball were hard

A chisel was used to hollow out heavy roots

Before washing

Washing root base

Crossing roots were revealed

A Masakuni chisel was used to simply remove the crossing root with one tap of a mallet

The remaining roots were washed with a forceful spray of a garden hose

After I trimmed the branches of the Oto Hime Japanese maple bonsai Paul removed it from the container. Then Alan, Paul and I worked on the roots. Making a flat cut through the 2.5 inch root ball was a chore! The heavy roots in the center were old, hard and we needed to change the new Sawzall blade we started with. After we got through the root ball the tree would not sit properly in the new container. It rocked because a heavy root remained. I did not feel comfortable reducing the entire root ball any more so got out my handy Masakuni bonsai chisel and proceed to carve the heavy root. We reduced it quite a bit, but the tree still rocked, so we needed to chisel out a few more heavy roots before we got it to sit correctly at the proper depth. Over 12 different tools were used to repot this bonsai.

The newly repotted Oto Hime Japanese maple showing the “other” front

All of the newly repotted bonsai were thoroughly watered and place outside because the temperature was in the low 40sF. However the forecast was for lower temperatures so we put them into the garage for the evening. The low temperature for Wednesday evening was 25F. Although they would have been fine, it is better to be cautious and provide maximum aftercare. They will again go outside in the morning and probably go back inside for the evening. Thus the “Bonsai Dance” season begins. More on that activity later.

It was a busy two days transplanting several bonsai. After my friends left I still had the energy, drive and creativity to design four additional European beech forests for sale.

Although bonsai is a visual art, there is more to this art than meets the eye. Of course the beauty of bonsai is of paramount importance and is commonly determined by the trunk, branches, silhouette, container, season, antiquity of youthfulness and the total aesthetic impact. However, it is important to consider other factors, which are not immediately visible to those with limited experience and exposure to the art. Most bonsai hobbyists, and professionals as well, do not have the background to fully understand the hidden beauty that lies within the bonsai and only consider what their eyes first see when viewing a bonsai.

Japanese flowering apricot in full bloom delights the eye and the old rugged trunk is matched and is respected by the careful selection of the antique chinese container

Although this antique Chinese container is not planted with a bonsai, it was displayed in the 2013 Taikan ten Bonsai Exhibition on an excellent and valuable display table.

It is important to have respect for the tree, container and history of the bonsai. Respect is not usually considered when first viewing a bonsai, but comes later on when the tree is really studied and contemplated. This adds immensely to the appreciation of bonsai art. In Japan the history of the bonsai is important and is deeply respected. Aspects of the history of a bonsai include: the origin of the tree, who grew it, how it was grown, where it was grown, who designed it, who matched the container, who displayed the tree and current and past owners. These factors are not quickly evident when viewing a bonsai to those with a limited exposure and knowledge. Unfortunately, like training a bonsai, time is also significant to fully appreciate and respect a tree.

This Japanese zelkova bonsai is famous because of the unusual shape and the prior owner, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida. It was first dug and drastically pruned in 1937 and was displayed in the 1955 30th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition as well as the 1968 42nd Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition.

Prime Minister Yoshida was a bonsai lover who appreciated fine bonsai. His Japanese zelkova has been under the care the proprietors of Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden in Omiya Bonsai Village Japan, Kyuzo Murata, Isamu Murata and Yukio Murata. The late Kyuzo Murata characterized this bonsai as follows: Despite the fact that it has a very unusual style as a Japanese zelkova which normally conforms to natural styles, it is seen  as a large natural tree and deeply moves people. It is a large tree which seems even more natural than a natural tree. This is something like the male kabuki actors who portray women who seem to be even more feminine than the real women. It is preeminent masterpiece which has both the power of nature as well as the artistry of bonsai creation. Surely the reason that Prime Minister Yoshida particularly like it and made much of it was probably because he saw this.

Additional information and photos of this bonsai can be located in the 2007/NO. 4 issue of International BONSAI. Photos courtesy of Kyuka-en Bonsai Garden.

The more bonsai, exhibitions and gardens one sees helps to understand the all embracing true beauty and value of a tree. Additionally, meeting people behind the scene and actually working and growing bonsai are also important key elements to bonsai appreciation.

This Sargent juniper was collected from a high rocky area and was not grafted. It has been displayed in a Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition before World War II as well as the 2011 85th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition. It is well matched with the antique Chinese container.

I have encountered numerous hobbyists, and professionals as well, who quickly determine that they do not like a specific bonsai because of some defect in their determination beauty. But, when I thoroughly explain the background of the tree, container and suggest that they respect the past and also importantly to consider the future development, they suddenly see the light and have a different opinion of the tree. Yes, there are those who completely disregard the past and only “see” what they want. But that is fine, everyone has different levels of bonsai appreciation, which is developed over time and depends on their background, personality, taste, environment and how serious they are.

Little remains of this 1,000 year old Japanese flowering cherry tree in a Shizuoka Prefecture park. A sign near the ancient tree shows a photo of it as it appeared in 1908. Old trees, especially with character are deeply revered in Japan.

In Japan, as in many cultures, age is highly honored. People, buildings, containers, objects, as well as trees, and stones are respected in Japan. Although most bonsai present an appearance of agedness or antiquity, some present a youthful appearance. In the Japanese bonsai community the word “mochikomi” is the customary term to refer to the years of love and training a bonsai in a container. An aged bonsai usually presents an elegant feeling and expresses a different type of beauty than a bonsai which has not been trained and containerized as long. From my understanding of the term the actual age is not as important as the establishment and careful loving care the bonsai has received.

Youthful beauty can be appreciated, Chelsey Jill Taylor

Mature beauty is also appreciated, Irene T. Valavanis

This famous antique Chinese container has a long and interesting history. Here it is on sale for US $1,000,000. It was sold for a bit under that amount and is now back in China.

Damaged antique Chinese containers are respected and not discarded. This container has the missing sections remade with gold.

Although greatly damaged, this antique Chinese container has been repaired with gold so it can be matched to an equally old masterpiece bonsai.

For example, there are numerous large recently collected bonsai, which are quite aged, mostly with large dead wood often displayed. However, in spite of their great age lack mochikomi which the bonsai does not display. On the other hand, one can have a small tree, started and trained from seed or cutting for 20 years and it might exhibit mochikomi because of how it has been established and carefully tended for in a container. The bark will begin to show the aged appearance. A complete mossing of the soil surface also indicates the aged establishment, and recently applied moss looks fresh if not planted correctly.

This beautiful Sargent juniper masterpiece bonsai has been well matched with an antique Chinese container. However the bonsai does not show an aged appearance or dignity. It has not been container grown for many years.

This famous Ezo spruce bonsai has been cultivated in a container for many decades and displays age. It is growing in an antique Chinese container.

Old bark and weathered wood are indicators that the bonsai has been carefully and lovingly cultivated in a container

The old flaky bark on this bonsai is valued as part of the aged beauty. Note the small nails holding bark to the trunk. It is important to remember that bonsai are living objects and considerations must be made to maintain their health and beauty.

There is more to bonsai appreciation than simply, pruning, wiring and shaping a tree. And this level of appreciation varies greatly from person to person, depending on their background, involvement in the art and personality.

This old and elegant Sargent juniper bonsai shows age and is well established in the well matched antique Chinese container

Text and photos Copyright 2014, William N. Valavanis

Everyone, near and far, is invited to visit our 41st Upstate New York Bonsai Exhibition on Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18, 2014 in Rochester, New York. The event will be hels at the Monroe Community Hospital at the corner of Westfall and E. Henrietta Roads. Rochester’s famous Lilac Festival will also be taking place down the road. The recent warm weather has enhanced the flowers to bloom.

Over 100 bonsai from society members will be on display, with a large number of shohin bonsai. Ikebana International will have an exhibit from some of their members as well. Additionally we have a good size sales area with about 8 vendors. There will be a bonsai demonstration on Saturday at 2pm by Marc Arpag and an ikebana demonstration on Sunday at 2pm by members of Ikebana International.

Admission is only $5, seniors $3.

Also, during the same weekend, the International Bonsai Arboretum is having it’s Spring Open House And Sale about 15 minutes away. Most items will be 20% off.

Details on request, in the meantime, enjoy some photos from last year’s exhibition. I look forward to welcoming you to the Upstate New York Bonsai Exhibition and the International Bonsai Spring Open House & Sale

Bill

Dwarf Hinoki cypress from the Maggio (RJB) Collection received the Yoshimura Award for the Members’ Choice Award.

One of our club members, Roy Wixson, from Buffalo, NY, surprised us with a short Youtube video of the exhibition!

Enjoy the video and thanks Roy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbYyFazwahc

In order to share the beauty of Satsuki azaleas with friends and introduce a bit of rarely seen areas of Japan, Kora Dalager and I introduced a new tour to Japan this week– The Satsuki Festival Tour. Our group includes 14 people from across the United States as well as Australia who want to see colorful Satsuki azalea bonsai as well as some of the finest bonsai Japan has to offer.

We arrived on Sunday evening to visit the private bonsai garden of Shinji Suzuki who lives north of Nagano on Monday. After a two hour bullet train ride we took a local train for 30 minutes. Upon arrival in Obuse, the town where the Suzuki garden is, we walked around and had a wood fired lunch in an old sake factory. Obuse is a quaint town where many wanted to simply walk around to absorb the sights and culture. There was a Hokusai Museum as well as the largest Dawn redwood I’ve ever seen.

Mr. Suzuki is a younger award winning bonsai artist who has traveled the world teaching his shaping techniques and sharing his bonsai philosophy. I was fortunate to introduce him to the foreign bonsai community when he made his first foreign appearance at a past International Bonsai Symposium years ago. At that time he brought buddy, Isao Omachi who was unknown, as an assistant.

Mr. Suzuki’s garden complex is unbelievable, not only for his distinct bonsai creations and those he maintains for clients, but the layout is unique, unlike other I’ve seen in Japan, as well as the world. Also, it’s the most immaculately kept, you could actually eat off the floors. All the bonsai are maintained in green houses or poly houses with shade cloth. Even the repotting room is in a greenhouse with heavy shade, and you could eat off that floor as well. All the tools were nearly hung up, all facing the same way, which is habit I particularity admire and love to observe.

Perhaps one reason of the unique garden layout is because Mr. Suzuki lives two hours north of Tokyo in a cold snowy part of Japan. The fist time I had the unexpected opportunity to visit his garden in February, there was 10 inches of snow on the ground. Check out my blog entry from February to see the snowy photos. The garden and trees look much better without snow. Everything looks better without snow other than Christmas cards and Christmas trees….

One of Shinji Suzuki’s apprentices is American Tyler Sherrod from North Carolina who has been studying with him for three years. He showed us around and answered all of our questions, and there were loads from our group.

It was most interesting to see Mr. Suzuki go around, looking and studying the bonsai as he went. Suddenly he told his two younger apprentices to water some pines. Now, the weather was not warm and sunny as I like, it was cloudy and looked like rain, but he still wanted his trees watered. So, out came the copper watering cans and spot watering began on the pines which were outside in the display garden. As luck would have it, it began sprinkling. Still they watered and good thing because it stopped for a while, but still not sun.

I noticed there were several short plastic collars around the soil surface which served to hold water for specimens which needed extra water or time to penetrate the soil. There were even some small drainage holes in the bottom area as well.

Looking around, and I do look around and try to study everything, I noticed an apprentice using Super glue on a tree. That was strange to me so I watched for a while and then asked why. The specimen was an old Japanese flowering apricot which had borer damage with a lot of dead wood areas. The application of Super glue strengthens the dead wood and keeps it from moving and breaking off. Also I was told that the Super glue acts as a wood hardener rather than using other commercially available products commonly used for preventing rot.

A while later the sprinkles began to return and Mr. Suzuki asked if we would like to see Tadashi Iura’s bonsai garden which was a short 10 minute car ride away. Mr. Suzuki drove us in his car and the others in our group in one of his vans.

Mr. Iura is a young award winning bonsai artist who travels around the world. In fact he was one of the headliners at the Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Festival a couple of weeks ago in New Jersey. He specializes in carving, grafting and shaping old Shimpaku juniper bonsai. Well, his garden was over loaded with old grafted Shimpaku junipers, as well as Japanese yews and Needle junipers.

Unfortunately Mr. Iura was not at home, but his parents allowed us to look around his garden and even go in the back areas where there were numerous old trees waiting to be carved and grafted. The rain began to fall harder and we were given umbrellas to keep dry. Our visit would have lasted longer but rain prevented studying and enjoying the bonsai.

There was one huge tree which was all grafted and wired, but the massive trunk was not finished carving nor treated with lime sulfur. It promises to be an award winning tree in the not so distant future. There were trees like this all over the garden. A few Japanese five-needle pines as well as a few deciduous species as well.

Mixed in with the hundreds of bonsai was a large, award winning Shimpaku juniper bonsai which was prominently displayed in a past Asia Pacific Bonsai Convention held in Takamatsu, Japan, a few years ago. There it was displayed with powerful Japanese calligraphy. Mr. Iura studied with Takeo Kawabe, one of Masahiko Kimura’s graduate apprentices from decades ago. Thus Mr. Iura specializes in grafting, carving and shaping old evergreen bonsai which continues and improves through the years and an individual’s creativity. Modern technology helps too with with rooms build for sand blasting.

Every time Kora and I lead tours to Japan we experience unexpected pleasant surprises, that’s one reason our bonsai tours are so popular with participants from around the globe. We have had tour members from Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Russia, England, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South America, Europe as well as the good old U.S.A. Well, the surprise began at the beginning of our Japan Satsuki Festival Tour. Who knows, there may be more. The Japanese bonsai community is unique and you never know what will happen. Just because something was there last time does not mean it will be there again.

MASAHIKO KIMURA

Saitama City

Our first stop today was at the private garden of Masahiko Kimura where we saw magnificent, mostly large size bonsai. Nearly every tree was an evergreen, many with dead wood, but not all. Three were numerous famous masterpieces as well as Important Bonsai Masterpieces and award winning trees from the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition.

Mr. Kimura was a gracious host and all of group were served tea and Japanese cookies. Of interest to most of our members was not a large size tree, nor evergreen, but rather a small tropical tree. A few knew the name was “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” but could not think of the botanical name. So, I took out my iPhone and searched and discovered the name is Brunfelsia pauciflora, a small plant native to Brazil. I’ve seen it in Florida and it’s beautiful with purple, white and pink flowers on the plant at the same time.

As we were studying the bonsai Joe Noga saw something unusual. There were a couple of common looking Shimpaku junipers being grafted at the bottom of a famous, award winning larger Shimpaku juniper. I could not think of the reason because the tree had some roots and lots of dead wood on the bottom of the trunk. So, I found Mr. Kimura and he explained he wants to shorten the tree and grafting new roots so he can successfully remove the lower trunk and original root system.

Throughout the display area, if one looks closely, you can see numerous approach grafts to add branches or change the variety of juniper. There was one tree where the small potted plants were visible so it was photographed. This approach grafting technique to change the variety is quite common in Japan. Most of the collected Champak junipers have coarse foliage and a finer textured cultivar is grafted to completely change the variety of the bonsai. Many of the famous Shimpaku juniper bonsai in Japan have been grafted to improve the foliage which is not widely known.

OMIYA BONSAI ART MUSEUM

Omiya

Hydrangea

Next we visited the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum where we saw excellent educational displays indoors accompanied with beautiful bonsai. The three different styles of alcove display were demonstrated with masterpiece bonsai, all coordinated with the late spring season.

The exhibition gallery building was of most interest to me because of the display on The Story of “Bonsai”– The History of Bonsai from Ancient Times to the Present. Large photos from old historic books were mounted on the walls with English explanations. The different sections included: “Bonsai” comes to Japan, The treasurers of “Bonsan” (not bonsai), Feudal lord’s love for potted plants, Potted plant culture blossoms among the masses, Birth of the “Bonsai”– Origins of the word, “Bonsai” as culture female etiquette in Meiji Period, Sencha tea ceremony and “Bonsai”, Status symbol for persons in politics and business, Bonsai is Art! and finally The Birth of the Omiya Bonsai Village. I saw reproductions of paintings and folding screens I have never seen before. There were some old historic books on display with important pages enlarged to explain the word “bonsai”, all of which I have in my reference library. Most of our tour members briefly looked at this important display, but I studied it in detail. A small booklet describing the exhibit was available.

After our visit we had a delicious and eye appealing lunch at the new Bonsai Restaurant open in February by Yoshiro Nakamizu which is directly across the street from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum.

MANSEI-EN BONSAI GARDEN

Hatsuju & Haruhiko Kato– Omiya Bonsai Village

Mansei-en Bonsai Garden is the only remaining original garden in the Bonsai Village which was established in 1925 by Hatsuji Kato’s grandfather. Again, this garden was filled with many famous and award winning masterpieces. Under most of the benches you could find small, medium and old containers. Several of this year’s award winning bonsai were there, but were recently transplanted into different containers.

Kiyo Hime Japanese maple May 2014

February 2014

A small shade house was filled with shohin bonsai, which is not unusual. However, the entire shade house was inside a larger shade house which is usually covered with poly when we visit in November and February each year.

It is rare for me to see bonsai in Japan during the summer when they are in full leaf. For decades I’ve enjoyed seeing fine twigs on many Trident maple bonsai. Well, this time I had the opportunity to see the trees in leaf, and boy were they tiny! It was too early in the season for leaf cutting, so they could be new. I asked Mr. Kato and he said there were a special unusual cultivar with tiny leaves… the search is on!

SEIKO-EN BONSAI GARDEN

Tomio & Kaori Yamada– Omiya Bonsai Village

This small bonsai garden specializes in fine quality literati and rock planting bonsai. Mr. Yamada’s daughter Kaori Yamada, developed a new style called “Saika Bonsai” which literally means colorful flower bonsai. It looks like a mixture of bonsai with ikebana which especially appeals to ladies. Ms. Yamada has a busy schedule teaching and performing on TV promoting saika bonsai.

At the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum I saw a Trident maple rock planting which looked familiar. Fortunately it was in the public area where photos are allowed and I was able to shoot it. In 1970 during my first apprenticeship in Omiya Bonsai Village with Kyuzo Murata I remember watching Mr. Yamada create the rock planting. I “had” photos of him bare-rooting the young thin Trident maples before planting them on the end section of the interesting stone. Unfortunately the old photos got destroyed when our home burned down in 2009. But today the rock planting looks great.

KYUKA-EN BONSAI GARDEN

Isamu & Yukio Murata– Omiya Bonsai Village

Founded by Kyuzo Murata, this garden was one of the earliest gardens in Omiya Bonsai Village established in 1926. It originally was one of the largest gardens and was home to numerous bonsai owned by prominent dignitaries. Today the garden specializes in naturalistic bonsai of unusual species and smaller size trees. Mr. Murata continues in his father’s footsteps in caring for the Imperial Bonsai Collection in Tokyo.

A well-known Zelkova bonsai, once owned by former Prime Minister Shigeo Yoshida remains in the garden. The extremely heavy trunk makes this bonsai distinctive and created controversy when first displayed in the 1950s.

Mrs. Murata truly enjoys her bonsai and plants and has fun with them. Today we noticed small smiling faces she drew on Poppy seedpods. We also enjoyed her succulent, cacti and vegetable bonsai as well.

The lovely artist!

FUYO-EN BONSAI GARDEN

Hiroshi Takeyama– Omiya Bonsai Village

Founded over 60 years ago by Fusazo Takeyama, this garden continues today under the skilled direction of his son Hiroshi Takeyama. Although most species can be seen in this garden, Mr. Takeyama specializes in deciduous, unusual species and forest style bonsai. This garden is most beautiful in early spring and autumn with the changing color of the leaves.

Today I noticed most of the Trident maple bonsai were only leaf cut in the upper regions of the bonsai where they are most vigorous. The bonsai did look stage with foliage only on the lower sections of the trees, but they will quickly regrow with many more small twigs and foliage.

S-CUBE

Seiji Morimae– Hanyu City

The S-Cube bonsai complex is, perhaps the largest in Japan. Under the direction of bonsai and art connoisseur Seiji Morimae, one can find bonsai from young inexpensive material up to masterpieces which may cost as much as a small home. We were warmly greeted and allowed to look anywhere throughout the vast facility and photograph too.

Mr. Morimae studied with Uhaku Sudo for many decades learning the art of Keido display. Additionally to thousands of bonsai there are probably the same number of suiseki and other Asian art. There is an entire room which looks more like an art gallery than a sales area where small figurines, antique bonsai containers and display tables can be artistically seen.

The prices are quite reasonable for all items and our members enjoyed adding to their private collections.

We visited the opening of the 2014 Satsuki Festival sponsored by the Japan Satsuki Association in Ueno Park. The location of the exhibition is near the entry way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Gallery where the now annual Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is held. Our group arrived early to avoid crowds and take photos.

Several large open-air structures housed more than two hundred Satsuki bonsai. On the last row vendors set up selling Satsuki pre-bonsai as well as small and large trained masterpieces. Some tools and supplies were also offered. The display area was on a smooth white granite floor, which reflected the intense heat up to the visitors. It’s a good thing there was a Starbuck coffee shop adjacent to the exhibition, where many took a few moments to become refreshed before returning to study the bonsai.

In the sales area I noticed two different Satsuki cultivars with most unusual blossoms, one with dissected pink petals and the other with light yellow, almost green small flowers.

Of particular interest were the beautiful and varied companion plantings, some with common perennials and others with unknown species. The fresh spring green grasses were most impressive and added to the aesthetic appreciation of the colorful Satsuki bonsai.

We had a long and enjoyable today, well, every day is full of beautiful bonsai, highlighting Satsuki azaleas. We took a subway and four taxis from our hotel to the Shunka-En Bonsai Museum of Kunio Kobayashi. He is well known for his award winning Japanese black pines and Satsuki azaleas. In fact, this is the first time we have visited him when he was not at his museum. He was judging a Satsuki exhibition in Yokohama and his senior apprentice Hiroyuki Suzuki was setting up another Satsuki exhibition at the Ueno Green Club– that’s one we will miss. Mrs. Kobayashi did a great job, as always welcoming us and serving us green tea.

Since Peter Warren is teaching in Florida and Hiroyuki is at the Ueno Green Club we had Jin Yasufumi, who speak English, translate for us and give us a grand tour of the tokonoma displays all featuring masterpiece Satsuki. He explained many things about display, and Satsuki as well.

The last few times I’ve visited Shunka-En Bonsai Museum a tremendous amount of  large new bonsai were added. Two long tables are dedicated to Japanese maples which leaf out brilliant red, as well as the common Japanese maple. Many of these trees are still in training boxes and some were inarched grafted as well.

This is the first time I’ve visited here during the summer in many years and the entire atmosphere is different than when we visit in February and November. The trees are full of green leaves! The beauty of the structure is mostly hidden for deciduous species, but a new beauty emerges. With all the new additions, and leafed out as well, the garden seems crowded, but well maintained. The three apprentices sure have a lot of work. The colorful Satsuki bonsai were distributed throughout the garden and looked wonderful with the dark green evergreen foliage and fresh green of the deciduous species.

We took another four taxis to Tokyo Station to board another Bullet train to Shizuoka to visit Taisho-En Bonsai Garden. Although it was cloudy we were able to see Mt. Fuji which means we will return to Japan again. Nobuichi Urushibata is the proprietor who specializes in shohin bonsai. His son Taiga also works with him and is a graduate apprentice of Masahiko Kimura. He speaks fluent English and traveled to one of my symposia in 2009 to teach shohin bonsai in Rochester, New York. Both father and son work on large size trees as well as the tiny mame size trees. Together they are a great team and I wonder how they care for all those small size bonsai with only a couple people. Nobuichi Urushibata was away with a client so Taiga showed us around his wonderful garden.

Japanese dogwood, Cornus kousa

A new house has been added since I last visited and the nursery area rearranged. To me this garden is just as neat as that of Shinji Suzuki. You could eat off the floor, all the containers were parallel to the table edge, no weeds, well a couple. A new quarantine greenhouse has been added as well and its full too.

Taiga welcomed us and introduced us to his student from Holland and apprentice from Spain. As we looked around Taiga freely answered all questions. My friend Joe Noga is traveling with me and had numerous questions on one of our favorite species, Chojubai Japanese flowering quince. Joe propagates this rare cultivar and got some good information from Taiga. We only saw a couple of Satsuki bonsai in this garden but loads of fine quality shoo-in and mame bonsai.

Taiga has a pair of lemurs

Our visit to Taisho-En Bonsai Garden finished when it began to sprinkle, good planning Kora! Taiga and his apprentices gave us all a lift to the train station , but we had to squeeze 14 people into three cars. Brianne Wong and I rode in the back of a nice new car, well it smelled new. We took another Bullet train back to our Tokyo hotel.