The MidAtlantic Bonsai Societies held their annual spring festival on April 19-21, 2024, at the Holiday Inn in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The group is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the art of bonsai through its annual regional spring festival, which moves locations close to its members societies. It is comprised by the Bergen Bonsai Society, Bonsai Society of Greater Hartford, Bonsai Society of the Lehigh Valley, Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society, Brandywine Bonsai Society, Deep Cut Bonsai Society, Great Swamp Bonsai Society, Mohawk-Hudson Bonsai Socie ..read more

I’ve been training this Japanese larch, Larix kaempferi, from a two- year bare root seedling for about six years. It has been trained in the two-line cascade style in a small square white glazed container. This preferred front is shown here but the back view of this bonsai is acceptable and might be used in a shohin bonsai composition if a different direction is required for eve movement Generally, I do not prefer tall cascade containers, primarily because I can’t figure out how to effectively display them… Before potting-front The original container is Japanese and did service wel ..read more

My Monday Senior Crew and I organized a special celebration to commemorate the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. Rochester, New York, was in the direct path of totality for the solar eclipse as it stretched across 15 states. Schools closed as well as many businesses, including Wegmans for about an hour. As usual the Monday Senior Crew began arriving at 8:30 am to assist me. We prepared the plants, containers, soil, wire, and display for the Introductory Bonsai Course which began at 7:00 pm. The group organized an eclipse picnic luncheon, as we often do on special occasions. Of cou ..read more

During the past 60 plus years I’ve seen and used a multitude of watering wands, nozzles and watering cans. These have ranged from expensive copper Japanese watering cans to very inexpensive Chinese green plastic watering nozzles once imported and distributed by Brussel Martin. In a hurry, I’ve even used my thumb over an open-end hose. The green Chinese plastic watering nozzles were great, but unfortunately, did not hold up through daily use in my bonsai garden, as the plastic ring holding the rose (nozzle) kept breaking and Superglue would not work. ALL of these, and others will surely get t ..read more

The February meeting of the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York, based in Rochester, had an interesting and full meeting last evening. About 35-40 members from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, as well as a couple of new visitors gathered to learn all about cascade style bonsai. President Mark Arpag was joined by past presidents Harvey Carapella and Bill Valavanis who presented an unusual program drawing from their 150 combined years of bonsai study. We had three formal displays, one by each artist representing a different form of cascade style, and all different species. For this special ..read more

The 61st Exhibition Of Suiseki Masterpieces was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, on February 14-17, 2024. This is the same venue as the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, but in a different gallery on the 2nd floor. Kunio Kobayashi and Seiji Morimae head up the Nippon Suiseki Association. Displayed by Ronald C. Maggio This is the main suiseki exhibition of the Nippon Suiseki Association. It has replaced the ten previous exhibition held in the past times. Data; 28 Special Entries 20 Alcove Displays 74  General Exhibits 18 Foreign Entries    ..read more

Adams Jones, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was teaching English in several Southeastern Asia countries. In 2011 his teaching led him to Japan and his boss suggested that he visit the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Omiya, Japan. Having heard of bonsai he decided to visit and instantly fell in love with bonsai. In the United States he earned his Master’s Degree in art from the Alfred State University in New York state. Evergreen bonsai are grown in a location with more sun than deciduous species His quest to learn bonsai led him to the Mansei-en Bonsai Garden in the Omiya Bonsai Villa ..read more

The 2024 98th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is being held in two parts this year (Part 1 February 9-12, 2024 and Part 2 February 14-17, 2024.) Again, (like most years) held the exhibition in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan.   These are my personal thoughts; coming from a serious 62 year intense bonsai study. As a bonsai scholar I have probably attended more Kokufu Bonsai Exhibitions than any other foreigner. Although I was not present (or even born yet) at the first exhibition held in 1934, I have visited when the original museum was the venue. It was a gra ..read more

! Happy New Year to all. Many thanks for your past purchases and I hope your new trees are healthy and you are starting to shape them. Although its cold (25F) and snowy (only 2” but still coming down) Its beginning to think about springtime. Now is the time to order your young plants and seedlings while everything is still available.  Order now to avoid disappointment, last season we sold out of many select species. Just let us know when to want to ship them. We can safely keep them dormant until the end of March You can easily order on line at: www.internationalbonsai.com/page&n ..read more

The 11th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo took place on December  2-3, 2023. As promised in my last blog, below are a few of the 66 photos Joe Noga took to commemorate the Expo. A big thank you goes to Steve Zeisel who organized the event with the assistance of The Triangle Bonsai Society and Tyler Sherrod.Thank you to all the exhibitors who shared the beauty of their bonsai with others. Some traveled far to bring them to the North Carolina Research Center who hosted this important special National Exhibition ..read more