Feb 8 2015

Busy Saturday

I had a busy but very enjoyable day yesterday here at my home as I hosted the first Club Bonsai School of 2015. We have been doing this for 4 years with Willowbog Bonsai but this year we are on our own. We are taking this as a challenge to shake things up and take a different approach. We will now be taking every opportunity to push on the learning of our keener members by setting them presentation tasks within each school. This combined with outside artists and our own in house talent will help us progress bonsai in Ireland.

Members have given us great support and we had a fantastic first Bonsai school of the year.

Here’s a few photos but for a full run down see the club blog HERE.

Feb 8 2015

2015 89th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition– Part 1

Valavanis Bonsai Blog

The 89th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition is being held in two parts this year in order to display more bonsai in an area which is slightly smaller than in previous years. Part 1, February 5-8, 2015 and Part 2, February 10-13 2015.

On February 9th all 181 bonsai displays will be switched in Part 1. Although there are 181 displays, there are perhaps 250 individual bonsai displayed as there are generally six trees in each shohin bonsai display and two or three trees in the medium exhibits. There are only five shohin bonsai exhibits in Part 1. There are six bonsai displayed by foreigners including three Americans. More on those and the shohin bonsai displays later.

Needle juniper, Juniperus rigida

Japanese flowering quince, Chaenomeles speciosa

Japanese five-needle pine, Pinus parviflora

Sinuous style, all root connected

Part 1 of the exhibition is excellent, lots of good trees. Even for me, a bit of…

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Feb 7 2015

USNBE demo by Peter Warren

Nebari Bonsai

This white cedar has a long history, from it’s collection in Northern Ontario, to becoming a Marc Nolanders demo in 1997, and beyond. It passed from there to Rainer Gobel, to Chase Rosade, to Bill Valavanis, and today it was the object of Peter Warren’s entertaining, if not lightning-fast demo, assisted by Marc Arpag.

As always, Peter adds nuggets of wisdom; here discussing the importance of leaving growing tips rather than “mowing” off all growing tips.

Thinning the dense tree, keeping this philosophy of trimming back, and not pinching, as evidenced by the size of each shoot removed and laying on the stage:

From on high, to achieve a broader crown present in old trees:

Nearly through trimming back:

And somewhere between thinning out and finishing the wiring, the resident auctioneer runs up to a “sold” to a lucky Michael L. with a big van and northern climate: