Arthur Joura is documenting the bonsai collection at North Carolina Botanic Garden, which he established about twenty years ago. Link below— https://curatorsjournal.net/arthur-joura-journal/winter-solstice-

Those of you who have visited the bonsai nursery May have seen my winter “corrals” built of two by six lumber arranged in a square and filled with leaves. Under the big Dawn Redwood—Metasequoia glyptostroboides to be exact— the surface roots keep the soil about ten...

I’ve had fun setting up a collection of tabletop bonsai at the lovely shop of Gary Stamps, new owner of the Lake Oswego staple Artistic Flowers. Gary has commissioned a selection of affordable and well established plants to showcase in his gallery space, where he...

Sometimes a new direction emerges because you are asked a simple question. This happened a few months ago when a caller enquired if I could do a presentation on “Natives for Bonsai”. This idea intrigued her, and it came from reading my website. A novice to bonsai, she...

My lovely maple, Acer palmatum “Mikawa Yatsubusa”, remains on display at Lake Oswego Flowers, where she is happily emerging from winter’s slumbers with new foliage buds— so thrilling to see! If you are in the area, stop in and say hello to proprietor and wedding...

Our work is never done when we care for the miniature trees— for weather is a variant we cannot control. However, in these quiet winter months, if the trees are tucked into their safe place, we can contemplate them in dormancy and consider how we might grow them in...

Thank you, Gary, for including my selection of bonsai for your soft opening of the new shop! The trees are very happy under the lights indoors out of the wet, doing their color changes and strutting their stuff for all the walk-in customers. A new floral design studio...

Bonsai Akira nursery and studio was formed ten years ago. To celebrate this milestone I am offering a discount on several of the trees that have been growing out here awhile. Please inquire for details. The sale prices are reflected on the individual products in the...

I’ve mentioned before that I’m launching a new business— “For Love of Maples…”. Taking new clients for landscape pruning of your precious specimen Japanese maples, conifers and shrubs. This is my eighth year and having a new apprentice enables me to expand my...

BONSAI (for Ryan Neil— creator of The Artisan Cup) The way they dance, even while standing still This is what moves me. The way they dance and move. The way they sing, even without words, Even with their silence. They sing their praises. They know who they are— the...

When I began bonsai styling I little imagined it would become a career— rather it was a series of experiments I felt compelled to undertake with the trees themselves  as my guides. After a few years I began to see the pruning of landscape garden trees as a natural...

There are whole seasons where keeping a bonsai garden is simply work with little reward. The uncertainties of weather, stresses on the trees that were unforeseen, waiting for maturity and full development— many times we are tempted to say it’s not worth the time and...

And so we move into the inevitable drizzle and grey skies that typify our Pacific Northwest marine winter months— graced by surprising moments of clear skies and sunshine midst the haze of fog and low clouds of our rainforest climate. For nurseries like ours, the...

I’ve been thinking for a long time about why bonsai are so compelling to the viewer—both as art form and living object needing care. This month the term I’m playing with is “icon.” As you may know, an icon is a window— or better, a doorway— into the Divine Presence....

Now is the perfect time to get a Bonsai Tree of your own.  

An artist’s dream is for the artistic gift to be fully realized— the resulting creation to be seen and loved into newness by the eyes of someone for whom the presence of the artwork brings ongoing delight. This is not easily achieved— the road from the artist’s hand...

A lesson learned is worth repeating. Once upon a time I could not resolve a design issue, and moved into new territory by choosing a pot that seemed entirely too small for the tree. Voila! The tree was suddenly in perfect balance, and began to dance— by which I mean...