It has been too long since we visited Bill Valavanis' bonsai blog. And, I believe we missed posting about the 2023 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (the Grandaddy of them all). So, let's do both right now!

This Juniper from this year's Kokufu Exhibition belongs to Doug Paul, owner of the Kennett Collection in Kennett, PA. Doug often has trees accepted by Kokufu. 

The photo is by Bill Valavanis, who, no matter what, keeps showing up at all the major Japanese (and other) exhibitions. 

Here's Doug's whole display. 

This powerful maple (looks Trident from here) with its rather impressive nebari is owned by Mark Cooper, another Westerner (UK). 

Had to show this one. The boundaries of what is acceptable in major exhibits and elsewhere have expanded over the years. In my fifteen years of bonsai blogging, the movement beyond conventional styling seems to have accelerated. Especially in Japan of all places. Or maybe Bill just has an eye for the unusual. 

Here's another one that strikes me as a tad out of the mainstream. 

No caption with this one. 

None with this pine either. 

It wouldn't be a bonsai exhibition without some Shohin displays. 

Gallery Sources:

Bill Valavanis Bonsai blog

Bill's International Bonsai site

8th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

I’ve always liked photos of hand held bonsai. The hand immediately provides a way to determine the size of a tree and it adds a personal touch, without the distracting photos of the proud artist posing with the tree.* 

All the bonsai photos shown below were posted by Javi Campos Juan.

*I'm not opposed to showing the artist and tree together as long as we can see at least one photo of just the tree so we can appreciate it on its own merits.

No variety is given with any of the photos featured here and we won't bother to guess. They all belong to (or belonged to back in 2016 when they were taken) Javi Campos Juan.

Great tree with a powerful base and excellent taper, but what about that distracting shoot on the left? Well, eventually it will be shortened, but for now it's there to draw energy into the branch and hasten its development. It will be removed once its purpose is accomplished. It's called a sacrificial branch and sometimes they are allowed to grow very long before they are removed. 

You may have noticed by now that these are exceptional bonsai. The skilled work of an accomplished bonsai artist over many years. 

This gnarly little tree with its gnarly little pot also shows a sacrificial shoot.

A closer look without the hand and pot.

And one more. The more I look at these photos, the more impressed I am. 

Today we've one of our favorites, Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan. Scroll down and enjoy a magnificent bonsai feast. 

You don't see many trees that are as distinctive and altogether outstanding as this one. Unless you're somewhere like the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, which is where this photo was taken. It wasn't identified, but at a glance and with a nebari like that, I'd say maple. Except for how white it is (could it be a Japanese beech?). Anyway, the profusion of so many flowing branches with such fine ramification all the way out to the tips, along with that nebari, make for a tree that's designed to stop minds. 

We've shown this one before, but the photo shows it in a different light (literally). I don't know what kind of pine it is, though it looks like it could be a Japanese white, nor do I know if the rock is natural or manmade. But I do know that that together the result is just right. 

Without the leaves you might confuse Japanese maples with Trident maples. Both can feature dominant nebari. However, Japanese maples tend to be more delicate than Tridents and this one has that delicate feel. 

Nice raft (perhaps sinuous root) style Japanese white pine. 

Here's a powerful tree for you. I can't see the foliage clearly enough to guess (perhaps yew or shimpaku juniper?)

Nice shot. Looks like a shimpaku juniper in winter color. 

This one looks like a shimpaku in summer color. 

We've shown various photos of this tree four or five times over the years, but I think this shot with such lovely sunset (sunrise?) light is perhaps the best of all. 

Gnarly works for this one. Or Gnarled too. How about very old?

A piece of the Museum, bird's eye view.

We've got some exquisite teeny trees for your enjoyment today.

Four powerful shohin trees by Miyazato Rintaro. Two junipers and two pines.

Miyazato Rintaro posted these four small trees in 2019. Here's a strange machine translation for you... "For Sale. I'm going to give it to the net in the afternoon. This time, from mini bonsai to small pieces, We have a tree with sights. Please contact us"

Machine translations have gotten steadily better over that last few years. By now you might expect something a little more sensible. 

Bill Valavanis took these two photos at the 45th Gafu Ten Shohin Bonsai Exhibition in Japan. Both are Shohin and both are in strikingly brilliant yellow pots that are so strong that only extraordinarily strong trees could hold their own. And, as you can see, both trees do just that. 

This tiny Shimpaku juniper belongs to Yoshiyuki Kawada. As do the next three trees below.

Teeny pyracantha (firethorn). 

No ID given, but it looks like it might be a Crape myrtle. 

Another Shimpaku juniper. 

Whoa! Just found this photo on FB. Looks like Yoshiyuki knows something about making pots too. 

The local bonsai man we're referring to lives in the Rochester NY area. 

We'll start with this famous Seigen Japanese maple. If you've been around a while, you've seen it...

... but have you ever seen it like this?
And by the way, that's Bill Valavanis our 'local bonsai man' just in case you haven't figured it out (and if 'local' is Rochester, NY).

Here's what Bill wrote about this maple. "This afternoon I thinned out my large Seigen Japanese maple, well almost defoliated it. The fine twigs must now be checked and thinned out."

Moving along. 

Almost there. This may be that moment where he said... "The fine twigs must now be checked and thinned out."

So much of success is about making good choices. Here's what Bill wrote about this pot and the choice he made... "Yesterday I finally figured out what to plant in the wild commemorative container from the Omiya Bonsai Cooperative. Made from the Koyo Kiln. So today I plated it with large Horsetail."

Quoting Bill Valavanis again... "Today we transplanted my Scots pine I've been training for 50 years.  Needs repotting! Last time 2012."

It's already transformed some over the years. Now to see what Bill does with it. 

Looks like the roots are trying to push the tree out of the pot. 

Aha! Transformation complete (for now at least). 

The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum stands at or near the top of Japanese and world bonsai. There are other great bonsai collections for sure, but when it comes to pure quality and quantify, I think Omiya might be number one.

Three merging crowns with soft shades of pink. From the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum.

Here's one you could show without its flowers. Muscular and highly defined trunks like this are not uncommon with Satsuki.  

There's a lot going on here. Especially with the tree on the right; twin straight elegant trunks, horizontal lines contrasting with the vertical trunks, and an abundance of brilliant flowers with lovely mixed hues and shades. And lest we forget, a very impressive nebari which lends of feeling of stability to the whole tree. 

If it wasn't peeking out at the top, you might not know that part of the trunk is rock.

Not only does the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum feature stunning bonsai, but their display areas are perhaps as good as it gets. 

I love the size, spread and shape of this tree. A fitting bookend with the first tree (way up at the top).

We've got some great photos from Bonsai Mirai for your enjoyment today. If you don't know Mirai, a bright spot for North American bonsai beauty, now is a good time for your introduction.

All of today's photos were borrowed from Ryan Neil's Bonsai Mirai on FB. However what you see here is merely the tip, and I strongly encourage you to visit Mirai and avail yourself to the wealth of valuable bonsai insights and endless supply of great photos you'll find there (scroll down for links). 

At the risk of stating the obvious, the attention to detail and particularly the integration of bonsai and architecture is as good as you'll find anywhere. 

This year has been amazingly good for irises here in northern Vermont, and it looks like perhaps the same is true of northwestern Oregon. 

This photo and next are from a Mirai feature on refining larches. 

The following is a quote from Ryan Neil. For the whole story visit Bonsai Mirai (links below). "Watering is the most fundamental and crucial technique to master in cultivating bonsai. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most elusive and misunderstood, with a copious amount of confounding advice out there about when and why we water. At Mirai, we always seek to ask ourselves the ‘Why’ behind every interaction we have with our trees to ensure we address their individual needs rather than the hearsay of commonly accepted practices."

Mirai specializes in yamadori* and yamadori specializes in deadwood. 
*Yamadori are bonsai collected in the wild. 

All of today's photos were borrowed from Ryan Neil's Bonsai Mirai on Facebook. Some were posted with captions and others were not. Because of their simple beauty (and time considerations), we are not including most of the captions. However, I strongly encourage you to visit Mirai and avail yourself to the wealth of valuable bonsai insights, not to mention the endless supply of great photos you'll find there. 

A couple months ago bonsai artist, teacher and author David De Groot took a trip to New Zealand where he had been invited to do bonsai demos and teaching. Fortunately he also took some photos.

Before shot of one of Dave De Groot's demo trees in New Zealand. It's a Thuja (Arborvitae), often called Cedar here in the states, even though it's in the Cypress family. Dave says it's an urban yamadori (tree collected from a landscape). No matter how we label it, we can all agree that it's a monster. 

Four hours and four hands later (Dave had an assistant). Looks like a promising direction and to my eyes has the mark of Dave written all over it.

Before. This pine was getting ready for another Dave De Groot demo somewhere in New Zealand.

After. Windblown, nice touch!

Trident maple in what looks like late fall color. This and the other photos shown here were taken by Dave De Groot on his recent NZ trip. It might have been spring here, but it was autumn down there.

This unusual pine was also shot by Dave. 

More tree from Dave's trip. 

Seduction! Courtesy of Dave. 

We've got some great wild ones for your enjoyment. They make their home at the Denver Botanical Gardens. We found them at the American Bonsai Society (ABS) on Facebook. 

Thought we'd lead with this one. Even though the tree is a little lost against the background, still its shape is quite distinctive like so many yamadori (bonsai collected in the wild) and you can see what it is (barely). 

Feel free to guess or simply enjoy without knowing (no captions, so some of today's trees will remain unidentified). 

Another yamadori (I think they all are, with possible exception). Based on the bark and foliage, you might guess spruce for this one. Or, maybe if your eyes are young enough...

Aha, another Ponderosa. Endowed with an excellent nebari and of course well-aged bark. I wonder if it was close to this near-perfect informal upright shape when it was dug. 

Nice tree. 

Would this one surprise you if it turned out to be a Rocky mountain juniper?

Twisted! Could it be another Ponderosa?

Limber pine. The foliage and the bark are a little different the Ponderosas. 

Needles are smaller on this pine. Still even with a magnifying glass I can't make out the name.

I think this one says Carpinus coreana (Korean hornbeam). Most definitely not a native. 

Haruyosi, master of tiny trees is back. We love what he does and are sure you will too.

Here's a small, richly complex flowering quince by Haruyosi.

And here's a tiny quince also by Haruyosi (as are all of today trees).

Haruyosi has presented an abundance of magnificent mini Shimpaku junipers over the years. These three are all excellent examples of his mastery.

Twisted Japanese black pine. 

Tiny Trident. 

Haruyosi also makes his own bonsai pots.

More flowering quince. Haruyosi will remove the flowers before potting.

Ditto!

Last but not least, a Flowering cherry.

Gallery Sources:

Haruyosi on FB

盆栽鉢　春嘉

Haruyosi Bonsai Bark archives