This sturdy Japanese fine tooth holly (Ilex serrata) originally appeared on our 2010 Bonsai calendar.

Here’s another knockout photo from one of past year’s Japanese bonsai calendars (2017 in this case). The tree is a Satsuki azalea.

The Japanese name for this sweet little tree is "Mayumi," which is a common Japanese girl's name that translates as truth or beauty. The artist and owner is Katsumi Komiya.

The Japanese have two names for this type planting. It's a shitakusa if you use it as a companion in a bonsai display, and it's a kusamono if you display it by itself or as the focal point in a display. Katsui Komina's caption says "Chrysanthemum, yabukouji."  Translation: Spear flower (Ardisia japonica).

There's something about Quince flowers... Here's Bill Valavanis' caption from his Welcome to My Bonsai World blog...  "A small size Toyo Nishiki Japanese flowering quince, Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Toyo Nishiki’ with multiple colored flowers. Although red, pink and white blossoms are common for this great cultivar, I’ve often seen red branches grafted onto specimens to improve color distribution." Bill took this photo at the 2015 Kokufu Exhibition.

This powerful old Satsuki azalea belongs to Boon Manakitivipart. The shot was taken just before spring pruning.

Another of Boon's Satsuki azaleas. I borrowed it from our archives. Here's our original caption... "This Satsuki azalea’s trunk reminds me of some of Antoni Gaudi’s sculptural architecture that graces the great city of Barcelona. Though in truth, the tree resides in Boon Manakitivipart’s impressive bonsai collection in the great city of Alameda, California" (Boon has since moved to the Sierra foothills).

Four of Michael Hagedorn’s Chojubai in flower (December, 2018). With Micheal it’s always best to let him speak for himself… “A couple weeks back we photographed all the Dwarf Flowering Quince ‘Chojubai’ that were looking fancy, as they all decided to bloom at the same time this year. Which is not textbook Chojubai, but it happened.”