24th Succulent Plants Symposium Sept. 1, Sat.,8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Desert Garden at The Huntington, this year’s symposium will take a look back at the garden’s history, its diverse plant life, and the remarkable people who have made it one of the greatest succulent collections in the world. Registration $75. (Optional dinner program $25.) 626-405-3504. Friends’ Hall.

Garden Talk & Plant Sale: Texture in the Garden Sept. 13, Thurs., 2:30 p.m.

Garden designer Steve Gerischer will discuss how plants with varied textures—fuzzy, feathery, bristly, bumpy, spiny—can lend visual interest, and often tactile appeal, to the home landscape throughout the seasons. A plant sale follows the talk. Free. Friends’ Hall.

Garden Talk & Plant Sale: Designing with Succulents June 14, Thurs., 2:30 p.m. Learn how to use colorful succulents to dramatic effect in the landscape in this slide lecture by Debra Lee Baldwin, author of Designing with Succulents (Timber Press, $29.95). A book signing and a plant sale will follow the program. Free. Friends’ Hall

Cactus and Succulent Show & Sale June 30 - July 1, Sat. - Sun., 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Preview sale Fri., 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Hundreds of award-winning plants will be on view as the Cactus and Succulent Society of America presents its annual show and sale. Many rare plants from around the world will be showcased, including specimens native to Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Botswana, Madagascar, and the Middle East. Free. Friends’ Hall

At West Coast Bonsai, when it comes to our display plants we tend to get a little fussy. We have discussions about which pot to use, its placement on the bench, feeding schedule, even watering times are an issue. So when it comes time to re-pot plants, well, we get darn right picky about the soil we use. After all it is where half the tree lives and the soil you use effects the growth of the roots which feed the tree. Lousy soil, ugly tree!

Prior to 2003, West Coast Bonsai spent countless months and dollars experimenting with commercial soils, special additives, secret ancient recipes, industry standards, you name it. Finally we decided to give up and design our own soil mix from scratch. Now after 2 years of extensive testing on our own plants we are proud to announce “Perfect Drain Professional” bonsai soil. (more…)

What is Shohin Bonsai That is a good question. In Japanese Shohin means “tiny thing” OK, but how small is a tiny thing?

To answer that question I searched the web to find an “authority” on Shohin bonsai and I think I found one. Morten Albek of the Shohin Europe website. He says of Shohin bonsai “The basic rules are demanding that the Shohin-bonsai may not be higher than 25cm (that’s 10 inches) when measured from rim of the pot, to the top of the tree.”

The Japanese white Pine in the picture to the left is 9″ tall. It was grafted on black pine root stock in 1999. it was re-potted to the smaller pot in 2005.

Now I have seen bonsai that are even smaller that are a delight to view. Morten talks about those also. I have written a short article about shohin bonsai and included a few links to resources I found useful. I am sure you will enjoy the read and If you currently have a shohin bonsai collection we would love to hear about it. Feel free to post on the shohin bonsai forum.

Keep your tools sharp and don’t forget to water twice on these hot (102 degrees today) summer days.

So you went to bonsai show with a friend and on the way home you visited a couple bonsai nurseries. You’ve been thinking about it for a while and now you have decided that working with bonsai plants might be a rewarding hobby, now what?

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Bonsai Care Weblog. Today we are going to look at the cost of getting started in bonsai. We are going to pay particular attention to the cost of our tools. As in any other hobby there is a beginning cost and as hobbies go the beginning cost of bonsai is on the low to med side. Your “must have” novice grade tools are going to cost you about $150 give or take a couple dollars, maybe a little less with the help from your new bonsai friends via used or hand me downs. (more…)

Bonsai care, now that’s a big subject for such a small tree! OK, so I won’t make a ton of money telling jokes. The point is, caring for your bonsai is a big responsibility. If you have a few dozen trees it is a big job, a few hundred and it becomes a huge, daily chore.

Welcome to the Bonsai Care Weblog, the newest section in the ever growing, ever changing west coast bonsai website. As you can see we have a new site layout and lots of plans. I hope to get the new pages finished and loaded a few times each week. If you have any suggestions please feel free to post them on the Bonsai Artist forum.

Coming Bonsai Attractions

This weekend, July 4th, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Jardinico a Boston transplant to the SoCal area. When I caught up with Bob he was busy with a Shimpaku juniper re-styling which he was gracious enough to let me take a few pictures of. I will try to finish the article and get the pictures together this week.

I have also taken pictures of what I hope will be the start of a Shohin bonsai collection. What is Shohin bonsai? Shohin is the Japanese word for “a little thing” and we are talking very small. Here is a link to a shohin bonsai article by Morten Albek of the Shohin Bonsai Europe website that I think might explain it. I look forward to working with these tiny delights.

Anyway, please take a look around the west coast bonsai website and if I can be of assistance just drop me an e-mail. Keep your tools sharp and don’t forget to water twice tomorrow, it’s going to be over 100 degrees in Riverside.