I’d been hoping to add to my International Bonsai Library, as my mind has been full of people who’ve influenced me but I hadn’t yet had the patience to pen to the blog. Matt Reel is one of those guys. I alluded to Matt earlier this month in the Taikan-ten post (he had some amazing photos from the show on his blog). I was incredibly fortunate and Matt was very gracious to agree to a brief interview via e-mail over the past month. Please enjoy our conversation below and stop by Matt’s blog to say thanks!

Me: How did you get started with bonsai?

Matt: Bonsai found me when I was walking around the mall in my Portland neighborhood on a typical afternoon, nothing out of the ordinary, until my eyes were drawn to a peculiar looking kiosk.  I was 13 and didn’t really know what to think about the…

Shimapku, The Unexpected Surprise

It was just another work day at Mr. Moriyama’s garden in early December and the weather was starting to get cold. Mr. Tanaka and I spent most of the first half installing thick plastic over the hoop house in the back of the yard. With us was Mr. Tohru Suzuki and his apprentice Mr. Takuya Suzuki of Daiju-en. After finishing the grunt work, we started to do some maintenance work on a couple of trees which consisted mainly of cleaning since we were only there for the morning. As I was working, I could hear Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Tohru Suzuki talking to Mr. Moriyama about something in Japanese. I picked up words here and there but didn’t much pay attention and kept my focus on the tree in front of me.

After we finished our work that morning, I wondered around the garden admiring many of…

What is a yamadori bonsai? What is a pot-grown bonsai? Here are a few simple definitions:

• Yamadori: Bonsai made from an older collected tree
• Pot-Grown: Grown as a bonsai its whole life

A yamadori was crafted over a very long time by the elements, by it’s location in nature. These birth marks are what make them so extraordinarily special when we make bonsai from them. A pot-grown tree, on the other hand, has been crafted by hand from its beginning. Old pot grown trees tend to have clear evidence of styling choices that date way back to its beginnings as a young plant, partly obscured by time in a pot.

Why are these distinctions important? Other than being able to tell one from the other, why should we care? It is just a labeling system. Nothing more.

Or is there something more?

If you take a minute, you may notice…

Fagus crenata 1995-2010Zattera di fagus crenata

This is Part II of the trees where I took a few photos back in 2007 and 2008 at the BIB show.  Boon has a fabulous bonsai club and he and his members have a number of very fine bonsai.  I would highly recommend you attend their show this January 19-20, 2013.  You can learn more about the show by visiting this page. And see their exhibit photos here.

We hope you enjoy the trees as much as we did seeing them in person and having the opportunity to photograph them.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Sam and KJ

Our Favorite American Bonsai Trees – Part II

Last week we posted about some of our favorite Japanese bonsai trees, so this week we are going to post a few photos that I took back in 2007 and 2008 at the BIB show.  Boon has a fabulous bonsai club and he and his members have a number of very fine bonsai.  I would highly recommend you attend their show this January 19-20, 2013.  You can learn more about the show by visiting this page.

Some of Our Favorite American Bonsai Trees