Bonsai tree: Satsuki bonsai blooms

The Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai’s 16th annual exhibit included evidence that good satsuki azalea bonsai stock is available if you look in the right place. In this case, the right place is Japan. A number of the club’s members visit Japan regularly to study bonsai with Suisho Nakayama. The trees below were purchased at his nursery and shipped, recently, to California, after completing a 2-year quarantine in Japan.

Satsuki azalea at a fun stage of development

Satsuki azalea – a bit further along

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Bonsai tree: Case study: balance – follow-up

The tree from Tuesday’s Case study was shown this past January at Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th annual exhibit.

Japanese black pine as shown at BIB’s 11th annual exhibit

I hope Boon will share the tree’s story some day – it’s a good one. The tree has been in development for a long time from nursery stock and is looking really good. Here’s a close-up showing the spring candles. Note how well the tree’s strength is balanced from top to bottom.

Spring candles on Japanese black pine – the tree is in great health

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Bonsai tree: juniper, ezo spruce

The hollowed out trunk caught my eye. I have seen very few trunks that have been so completely hollowed. It looks like it might be a Ezo spruce though I could be mistaken. If it is an Ezo, it must be quite old to attain such size as Ezos are very slow growing. I like the first branch, it almost serves as a second trunk and is not a bad little bonsai in itself. Overall, I think that this is a excellent tree with great balance, and would be noteworthy even without the distinctive hollow trunk.

Here is another tree from the same gallery that caught my eye. Though it’s a juniper, the reddish bark and the deadwood remind me of the Manzanitas in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Read more!

Bonsai contest

This is a Cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis), by Ken T. I like the knob on the right that makes the tree unique and tells a little story. I can still see a few things that might improve it.

1. The soil line could be just a little higher so the base of the tree would have more anchored feel. Generally saying this is just to lower the tree in the pot.

2. Perhaps letting the crown grow up higher in the center and then rounding it off some would balance the tree a little better.

3. The roots from the surface should be more covered with soil.

4. If turning the tree counterclockwise, it the view could be better.

This is a flowering serissa by Brian and Jill. It is healthy, the flowers are great and the strong little trunk is a good start. A too large pot can work for growing on and encouraing development, so maybe that is their intention.

This is a little ficus by Susan Richards. I like the way the trunk is wired. It promises a good future for this sparse little tree. Right now the sparse leaves are way too big for the tree, as is the pot; at least for show purposes Read more!