Last week our bonsai society had a special meeting on spruce bonsai. Harvey Carapella, Marc Arpag and I presented simultaneous  demonstrations, in addition to a formal display of one of our personal spruce bonsai.  

Harvey worked on refining an old Ezo spruce bonsai. Marc showed how to make the initial design selection on a large spruce. While I worked on redesigning and wiring a neglected spruce bonsai from a workshop over 25 years ago.

My spruce was a phoenix graft of a young Black hills spruce attached to a piece of old dead wood. The spruce seedling was finger sized when nailed to the dead wood. It grew! However, the dead wood did not change size, it only added more patina to the dead wood. The workshop tree sat in the back of the garden and was only watered and fertilized for 25 years. It was repotted once. None of the top growth was touched, except for light pinching, now and then.

Before demo

I selected this tree because the thin Black hills spruce trunk grew so heavy. Actually, I want to sell it, but the beauty was not apparent. It did have “inner beauty” in my eyes, AND I knew how to ‘fix’ it. The two hour  club demo provided me an opportunity to refine the bonsai.

Brian Whitcomb helped me use the heavy wire and Dave Steele provided the muscle for moving drastic branches. It took us two hours to create the shape of this tree, while Harvey and Marc were explaining their demos. I also participated in the group discussion.

Then the three of us adventured to the attic where a few containers are kept in a crowded mess. And, I only fell two times and Dave picked me up, dusted me off and I proceeded. After some time we selected seven “possible” new containers. Most were the right size, one was too small and one was too large. This process, selecting, discussing and trying each container and photographing the various combinations took us about one hour and thirty minutes. 

Final shape before potting and selecting container

We finally agreed on the perfect container and yesterday Brian and Dave repotted the tree, then another 30 minutes we spent adjusting the branches and trunk position.

We were lucky I had many containers to select from to narrow it down to only seven. (Not really lucky, as most of the containers are in my personal taste and preferred sizes, shapes and colors.) 

Before demo After demo, adjust

Before demo After demo, adjustments & potting

Take a look at each combination and let us know your personal selection and why. Best to answer on Facebook for easy posting.

We all enjoyed this exercise and the final composition came out just how I had expected. Now a new owner must care and refine this spruce bonsai.

The Toronto Bonsai Society will soon be celebrating their 60^th Anniversary Exhibition and Sale on October 11-13, 2024, at the Toronto Botanical Garden in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Achieving 60 years is a significant milestone that few other bonsai organizations have established a bonsai community yet.

The members and leadership of the Toronto Bonsai Society have successfully promoted bonsai for six decades, through exhibitions, displays, workshops, online zoom sessions, meetings and newsletters. 

The 60^th Anniversary Celebration will feature some of the premier developed bonsai in Ontario, Canada. From the small shohin bonsai which fit in the palm of your hand to developed trees older than your grandparents will be displayed. The incredible variety of native Canadian trees collected, trained and cultivated for bonsai by members will be shown to the public as well as bonsai hobbyists in the region. Additionally, trees just starting their bonsai journey will be shown.

Other educational activities of the 60^th Anniversary Celebration will include demonstrations, workshops, guided tours and a sales area where quality items for the training and enjoyment can be purchased.

Special guests include William N. Valavanis, (International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, New York, and Eric Auger and Marianne Duhammel, curators of the famed Bonsai & Penjing Collection at the Montreal Botanical Garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Everyone is invited to join me at the 60^th Anniversary Exhibition as we celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Photos by Joe Noga of a few of the Toronto Bonsai members’ fine masterpiece bonsai.

Check out this YouTube video of their Spring 2024 Exhibition and sale:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7raj2xVky4

We all love bonsai, to many of us it is a way of life, as we care for the trees and shape them into bonsai. Many require decades of timeless hard work which we find pleasurable as we create living art.

For some time now, there have been numerous bonsai masterpieces stolen in Japan, moved to an Asian country then sold to westerners, especially in the United Sates, through the internet. The thieves are disrespecting the years of time, often through multiple generations, Japanese bonsai artists take to create their art. Several bonsai artists are using video cameras to guard their treasurers. Others have closed their gardens to foreigners.

To many, bonsai are more than small trees in pots, having spent years of development. To some thief’s it is an illegal business just make money.

This illegal busines of selling stolen bonsai to foreigners must be stopped. I strongly suggest not purchase famous masterpiece bonsai from out of the United States, especially at low prices. How do you determine if you are offered masterpiece bonsai at a ridiculous low price? Simple, if the bonsai sale deal is too good to be true, it probably is.

Last year in July 2023 my son forwarded a bonsai offered for sale and asked if I recognized the tree. The price was US $500, POSTPAID. I told him to buy as many as he can… just kidding, I did nothing. Of course, I recognized the bonsai as having seen it multiple times in Japan. This multiple award-winning masterpiece Japanese black pine is one of the most famous iconic well-known bonsai in Japan named “Kokuryu.” I have often studied it at many exhibitions and have seen it in Masahiko Kimura’s Garden. Kunio Kobayashi, Shunka-en Bonsai Museum, is responsible for saving the bonsai from death and creating a new design a couple of decades ago.

Japanese black pine “Kokuryu” 1977. Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition prize winner

The last time I saw it was at the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai exhibition (it grew!)

Japanese black pine “Kokuryu” 2023. Displayed at the 2023 97th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition.

I strongly suggest and urge people think seriously about buying Japanese bonsai offered on the internet at low prices.

I had a rare surprise invitation to visit the private collections of Thang Dinh before the Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition, held in Chicago, Illinois last weekend.

He won the first place award in the open division at the 2024 Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition. His medium size tree, a magnificent Zuisho Japanese five-needle pine, was displayed on two large tables. After winning the award the society moved his bonsai to an alcove display. This left a large vacant area, so he returned home to bring a collection of his fine quality suiseki to display. It appeared that most of his suiseki were of Japanese origin, with a special love for Chrysanthemum stones.

In addition, he had a sizeable collection of bonsai masterpieces from Japan. They varied in size, and several were in training with long shoots for future design possibilities. 

There was also a sizeable collection of fine quality bonsai containers for future use. In the United States I have never seen such a large collection of containers made by Gyozan, considered to be the finest artist handcrafting bonsai containers in Japan. Most of the other top level container artists from Tokoname, Japan was well represented.

There were many developed and developing American bonsai as well. He is refining his bonsai collection as well as training new specimens.

He also had an outstanding Japanese black pine bonsai which he displayed in the 2023 8^th U.S National Bonsai Exhibition. He likes to share the beauty of his bonsai in exhibitions. It was clear that he enjoyed his collections, and he had a fine taste for bonsai and suiseki.

The 46^th Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition was sponsored by the Midwest Bonsai Society. It was held at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, on August 16-18, 2024 and is one of the largest regional bonsai shows in the nation. I have exhibited and sold bonsai in every one of the 46 shows, and in my opinion the tree quality has significantly improved throughout the decades, but took a giant leap forward this year with many refined developed bonsai displays. 

Approximately 100 bonsai were beautifully displayed by bonsai practioners from many states, they all had including accessories. Jack Sustic was the guest artist and judge for the weekend. Thang Dinh was the top award winner in the open division with a refined Zuisho Japanese five-needle pine. During set up of the show a large prominent display table featured his bonsai.

After judging his award winning tree was moved into the center of the room in an alcove. He did not want to leave the table empty so he returned home to pick up about six fine-quality from his collection to fill the table. Tim Priest won the first place award in the professional division with a large impressive Rocky Mountain juniper bonsai.

Additionally, there were workshops, demonstrations as well as two courtyards filled with over 30 vendors. About 40 world class bonsai from the world-class permanent collection of the Chicago Botanic Garden were displayed in two outdoor courtyards. Curator of the bonsai collection, Chris Baker, has done an excellent job maintaining, refinement and promoting bonsai art in one of the largest prestigious botanical gardens in the United States.

The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York has a couple of study groups. On September 7-8, 2024, a special suiseki exhibition will be held at the Autumn 2024 Open House & Sale at the International Bonsai Arboretum. Over 50 suiseki from members will be displayed. Members will there to answer any questions.

Come see some fancy rocks!

This semi-annual popular event will be held at the International Bonsai Arboretum on September 7-8, 2024.

Come and enjoy bonsai art at its finest in an unusual garden showing bonsai from the propagation bench to the developed classical bonsai piece.

Both indoor and outdoor displays will delight your eyes and deepen your appreciation of the art.

Continuous demonstrations will be held throughout the two day event.

My valuable and dedicated Monday Senior Crew has been working hard and watering a lot this past spring and summer.

We have been creating new specimens for future masterpieces, Come and see how are created.

Of course, bonsai, pre-bonsai, containers, tools and more will be available for sale at a discounted price.

It’s been a very busy season this year!

Additionally, The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York will be hosting an exhibit of fine bonsai from the private collections of members. Displayed in the greenhouse, the lighting will be ideal.

Join us for a refreshing day full of bonsai, suiseki and friends!

Want to learn about bonsai?

You will have the opportunity to create four specimens during the Autumn 2024 Introductory Bonsai Course. A complete overview of the art will be presented.

Offered at the International Bonsai Arboretum, this limited course has been popular for over 40 years. Bonsai artist, educator and scholar William N. Valavanis will be conducting the course. Held in the Educational Studio, provides an excellent atmosphere to learn, create and appreciate bonsai.

The next Introductory Bonsai Course will be offered in April, 2025.

Come join us to learn bonsai art!

Last weekend four bonsai societies worked together to present their 2^nd Annual Open Event “The Art of Bonsai” exhibition and sale at the Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey. Members from the Bergen, Deep Cut, Great Swamp and Pennsylvania Bonsai Societies sponsored the exhibition which was a huge success!

Under the leadership of Bob Entrekin, the exhibition was superb and well done with class. Of course, the special black backgrounds with blue tablecloths were perfectly ironed with invisible seams. Members from all the societies made the several hundred visitors welcome and answered questions from the public as well as from bonsai hobbyists. All the labels and signs were professionally produced as well as unusual award plaques. 

The stars of the exhibition were about 45 fine bonsai from the local members as well as others from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. Many of the distinctives bonsai were well refined and would be suitable for display in the National Bonsai Exhibition. This year the organizers emphasized the bonsai display compositions, as well as the individual beauty of each tree. All the bonsai were well spaced, sitting on display tables with accessory plantings. Several hanging scrolls were used to enhance the beauty of the trees and suggest seasonality.

There were 14 vendors offering pre-bonsai, containers, nursery stock, soil and supplies as well as several high-end masterpiece bonsai for sale. The vendors were arranged around the perimeter of the exhibition, so they felt an important part of the event, because they truly are. A great number of members as well as the public travel to exhibitions, just to purchase trees and supplies which are not readily available

A raffle of an aged Japanese black pine was held as well as a silent and live auction to help provide financial support. There was NO entry fee as the societies were more interested in introducing the public to the art as well as to showcase the many masterpiece bonsai. The Gold Sponsors, Silver Sponsors as well as donors added significantly to help pay for the rental of the room and display backgrounds, frames and tablecloths. Several members brought some of their own display tables to share with others to make a more beautiful exhibition.

Bonsai fanciers from around the northeast traveled, through hours of heavy traffic of visitors going to the New Jersey Coast. It took us nine hours to get to the exhibit on Friday afternoon, and five and a half to return home on Sunday evening. It was so nice to see and spend some time with long-time friends as well as making new friendships. Sharing the knowledge and techniques of bonsai is always freely given. The weather was beautiful, and many volunteers helped the vendors and exhibitors set up and take down.

On Saturday afternoon friends Marc Arpag and Brandon Herwick assisted me as we created the beginning design of a Trident maple forest, which might just become an excellent future bonsai with a few years.

On Sunday afternoon I conducted a constructive critique of each bonsai discussing the design, health, training, history and commented on their display compositions. Special effort was made to highlight the appreciation of each tree. There is more to the art of bonsai than growing and training a tree in a pot in your back yard, cleaning it and placing it on display tables. It was quite obvious that each exhibitor took pride in their artistry and took considerable effort and thought on how to best display their beautiful bonsai, both to the public as well as seasoned bonsai artists. One entire row was dedicated to novices just beginning their journey into the art.

Next year the sponsoring societies are thinking of moving the dates of the exhibition to October to avoid crowded roadways and peak accommodation costs. Personally, I have organized over 100 exhibitions, symposia and bonsai conventions. Additionally, I have been to many, many bonsai exhibitions around the world and truly was impressed with the New Jersey Bonsai Exhibition and Sale. Congratulations to all the organizers, society members, exhibitors and vendors who worked together to raise the level of bonsai. I look forward to what the next exhibition brings.