Dec 15 2012

What a great concept! Makes you want to visit for a weekend!!

Ta-da! The unveiling of the Portland Bonsai Village logo! And since we now have a logo (designed by Jane Pellicciotto)—and there is some vague reality to this wild idea—the time is ripe to tell you a bit more about what is planned for the Village…

For those new to the idea of the Village, it’s a group of bonsai professionals in the Portland, Oregon area who rather like it here and want to share it with others. Most particularly, we’d like to share our backyards, our bonsai art, our teaching, and our love of community with you. And we have several ways to share that with you, all linked together by our Village Tours.

On a Tour you’ll be off on a grand leafy adventure—sort of like a winery tour but with great bonsai. The Tours link one professionals’ nursery to another. You’ll get to choose which studios or nurseries you’ll…

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Dec 14 2012

Great trees, well worth a reblog 🙂

Sam & KJ's Suiseki Blog (水石)

Since I seem to have come down with bronchitis and don’t feel very well, I thought I would look through old photos today and review some of our favorite bonsai trees that we have seen over the years. All of these trees in this post are from Japan. There are a number of trees in America that we love as well but I don’t have enough energy to sort through those today!

Stay healthy!

Japanese Bonsai Trees

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Dec 13 2012

Where The Mountains Of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea

Photo-shopped panoramic photo showing the Mourne Mountains from Dundrum, County Down.

I realise that it’s a bit small here, so click on the image to see a bigger version.

I was working down that way on Monday and stopped not long after sunrise to take a few snaps.

Dec 12 2012

Winter Protection

I held off as long as I could, but over the last few days have popped most of my trees into cover for the Winter.

Empty Display Benches

This is where everything is hiding.

Dec 11 2012

Merry Christmas Belfast…. NOT

A few weeks ago I was walking around the fantastic Christmas Market in the grounds of Belfast City Hall soaking up the festive spirit and stuffing my face with all sorts of good food. I took this photo of the sign that captured the moment.

Sadly this has come to a end. How this country can self destruct so quickly is beyond me. I hate politics, racism, sectarianism.

What am I talking about? This sign pictured above overlooked a riot at the weekend. The market was closed after being wrecked. This Fact File from the BBC will fill you in.

I grew up on one side of the religious divide in Northern Ireland and my best friend as a child was from the other side. I know who I am, I don’t need help with my identity, I never really understood the need for this tribalism. Some people need to step back and think about what really matters in life. This photo says it all, the two opposing flags side by side in Afghanistan were soldiers from both sides in Northern Ireland fight together. It’s who got your back that matters, not what flag they fly.

Dec 10 2012

The Kyoto Network

Interesting new site The Kyoto Network. Here’s the video offerings so far.

A man of many talents is Bjorn 🙂

Dec 10 2012

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

Some tree styling done this weekend. My son caught me in the act of my usual Christmas task. Anything in my my house to do with trees is my job 🙂

Dec 9 2012

Last Year’s Noelanders Trophy

Mr Snart posted a few past trees from the Noelanders Trophy on his blog yesterday and I again found myself drooling and wishing I was able to attend in 2013. Sadly, that’s not an option for me.

Last year Harry, my reliable Dutch photographer, sent me his photos from the Trophy, I thought it would be nice to share these again as a taster of what we can expect to see in January. Hopefully Harry is going again 🙂

Dec 8 2012

Great article by Owen via Tony.

Bonsai & Yamadori from Tony Tickle

I have been sent this article to publish from my friend Owen Reich who is studying at Kouka-en in Osaka, Japan. It’s an in depth study of Mizu Goke and the benefits to bonsai.

Upon my arrival to study in Japan, one of the first things I noticed about the bonsai here was that the surface of many of the trees were covered with chopped sphagnum moss. My broken Japanese questions were answered with a smile, as mizu goke is an integral part of bonsai care here at Kouka-en and other nurseries in Japan. Proper watering is the most important cultural practice for bonsai and any edge you can get should be considered for use.

Mizu goke means water moss, referring to the environment sphagnum moss naturally grows in. To avoid confusion, mizu goke will be referred to as “moss” and green, living moss as “live moss”. You should never…

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Dec 8 2012

Tiny Snails!!

A few of you who have been following my tree exploits for a while will know I had issues with pest attack on some of my maples last year over the Winter months. A strange time for this to happen. I was surprised as I always spray before I tuck trees away for the Winter.

While inspecting my maples this year at this stage I found that many of them have a little cone shaped Snail tucked away under loose bark or in tight spots on the trunk.