Bonsai Wire: Recent Episodes
Bonsai Wire
Plants, art, and experience wired to perfection. Join bonsai artists Jonas Dupuich, John Eads, Michael Hagedorn, Andrew Robson, and Carmen Leskoviansky for roundtable debates on hot button topics and interviews with bonsai luminaries. Connect with us at talk@bonsaiwirepodcast.com; learn more about our exemplary sponsors.
Host Eric talks with Mike Pistello about his bonsai history, growing bonsai in the Bay Area, and showing bonsai in exhibits.
Host Eric Schrader chats with Bonsai Society of San Francisco members Bernard Marque and David Scheltema about growing bonsai in a mild climate and the learning opportunities they've experienced working with their club.
Just about everyone in the Bay Area bonsai scene knows about bonsai bros Jay and Greg McDonald, two of the most enthusiastic bonsai spokespeople in Northern California. Join Eric in a wide ranging conversation with Jay and Greg about their adventures in bonsai.
Join host Eric Schrader in conversation with Sam Tan about Coast redwood and Monterey cypress.
Eric and Jonas talk about their early experiences at bonsai shows and provide an update about the Pacific Bonsai Expo.
Which trees would you keep if you had to narrow your collection down to three trees? What would you look to acquire if you lost all of your trees?
South African bonsai grower Richard Wright has faced these and similar questions more than once since he started working with small trees, and he's found that the experience has given him great focus in life and in bonsai.
Learn more about Rich:
Bonsai Rich on IG
I am Richard Wright (personal website)
Eric and Jonas chat about what jury members are looking for in the trees selected for the Pacific Bonsai Expo.
Jonas and Eric talk about common mistakes juniper growers make and what you can do instead.
- Juniper eCourse
The submission period for the 2024 Expo has closed and Eric and Jonas discuss next steps with a focus on the Expo's goals for the jury and judging processes.
Host Jonas talks with Eric Schrader about what's been going on behind the scenes in preparation for this year's Pacific Bonsai Expo.
Pacific Bonsai Expo images on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificbonsaiexpo/
John and Michael sit down over some tea and discuss some of the benefits of empowering hobbyists to grow and develop trees from scratch in their back yards with the oversight of the professional community.
Happy Holidays from all of us a the Bonsai Wire!
Jonas talks with Nathan Bill, Jesse Gilbertson, and Tim Hutson about next year's Bonsai Central, an ambitious bonsai convention hosted by the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis.
Links:
- Convention website
- Registration
- Submit a tree to the exhibit
Jonas speaks with UK bonsai artist Corin Tomlinson of Greenwood Bonsai Studio about growing up with bonsai, the UK bonsai scene, and building a life and business around bonsai.
Corin was in the US as a headliner for the 8th US National Bonsai Exhibition. The two caught up in Bill Valavanis' backyard on a beautiful day following the exhibition.
Visit Corin's YouTube channel and website.
Image courtesy Greenwood Bonsai Studio
In this episode, Jonas catches up with Dylan Ferreira. Dylan runs Cedar Rose Bonsai & Specialty Nursery in Placerville, California where he grows pre-bonsai and material for accent plants.
Contact Dylan about plant availability at 707-217-8314 or ferreira.dylan2@gmail.com.
Hosts Carmen Leskoviansky and Michael Hagedorn talk about the benefits of shade cloth - the number one ally for keeping trees healthy in warm weather.
In this episode, Jonas chats with Martin Walters about the New Zealand bonsai scene, working with New Zealand native species, and his club, Kenzo Bonsai.
New Zealand natives mentioned in this episode:
Kauri
Totara
Pohutukawa
IG: @nz_bonsai_martin
FB: Martin Walters Bonsai
Having spent years making bonsai pots, host Michael Hagedorn shares his perspective on the containers in which we grow our trees.
Enthusiasm for bonsai is what shines through when host Jonas Dupuich talks with Cesar Ordoñez of CenCal Bonsai. Cesar talks about keeping trees alive in the Central California Valley and shares his story of getting started with bonsai by learning from different teachers across the state.
Note: this episode contains spicy language.
Follow Cesar at:
https://www.instagram.com/cencalbonsai/
https://www.youtube.com/@cencalbonsai6429
Host Jonas Dupuich talks with Bob Pressler of Kimura Bonsai Nursery and Michael Roberts, president of the Golden State Bonsai Federation, about bonsai in California, bringing in teachers from around the world, the need for developing bonsai teachers, and the upcoming GSBF Bonsai Rendezvous.
Image: Japanese black pine at the Kimura Bonsai Nursery
In this mini episode recorded last fall, hosts Jonas and Andrew discuss the pros and cons of grafting exotic foliage on native conifers.
Host Jonas Dupuich chats with Eric Schrader about the best ways to teach how to grow pines from scratch.
Eric's new course about growing shohin black pine from seed is available at Bonsaify.com.
At long last - we're back! Our publishing schedule isn't fully back to normal yet but we'd like to share a few episodes we recorded last fall while we gear up for what's next.
In this episode, Sam and Addison talk tell us how they progressed so rapidly in bonsai both in their studies and in the organizations that they help run, respectively, the Bonsai Society of San Francisco and East Bay Bonsai Society.
(Photo: Coast redwood by Sam Tan as exhibited at the Pacific Bonsai Expo; image by Aki Yamakawa)
Andrew Robson discusses the Pacific Bonsai Expo with organizers Jonas Dupuich and Eric Schrader.
Co-hosts Andrew and Jonas chat about one of their favorite pastimes - visiting bonsai exhibitions.
Why put on the Pacific Bonsai Expo? How's the planning going? What can we do to help? Andrew Robson chats with Eric Schrader and Jonas Dupuich to find out.
Pacific Bonsai Expo Website
Carmen and Michael discuss accent plants and Kusamono - the Japanese botanical art of creating potted arrangements of grasses and flowers to express season and place.
In this episode, hosts Andrew Robson and Jonas Dupuich admit to a growing fascination with shohin bonsai.
Hosts Andrew and Jonas reflect on their experiences at "Farm to Table," an event hosted by the Bonsai Society of Portland that celebrated the legacy of Telperion farms and provided participants with concrete steps for developing field-grown material.
In this episode, noted shohin authority John Romano talks with host Andrew Robson about growing and appreciating small bonsai.
Co-hosts Andrew and Jonas give an overview of the Bonsai Society of Portland's upcoming seminar, Farm to Table, and discuss all things related to long-term development of quality bonsai.
Learn more about Farm to Table at: https://www.portlandbonsai.org
Andrew and Jonas critique the 62nd American Bonsai Association Sacramento exhibit held April 9-10 in Sacramento, California.
See Bonsai Tonight for photos of the trees mentioned in this episode:
https://bonsaitonight.com/2022/04/15/highlights-from-the-abass-62nd-annual-exhibit/
Carmen Leskoviansky chats with Samantha Holm about her article "Gender Disparity in American Bonsai" which was published this past summer in Vol. 55 of Bonsai: The Journal of the American Bonsai Society, and the creation the The Purple Pot Society, a national bonsai society focused on uplifting women in bonsai.
Links
- Gender Disparity in American Bonsai
- The Purple Pot Society
- Women in Bonsai: Part 1
- Women in Bonsai: Part 2
- Women in Bonsai: Part 3
Happy New Year! (And apologies for the delay.) In this episode, Andrew and Jonas review lessons from 2021 and highlights they're looking forward to in 2022.
In this episode, Jonas talks with Eric Schrader about next year's Pacific Bonsai Expo to be held in Oakland, CA, on November 12-13.
For a video version of this episode, see the Bonsaify channel on YouTube.
Andrew Robson and Jonas Dupuich catch up with Portland ceramicist Nao Tokutake and learn about how great bonsai pots are made.
Hosts Andrew Robson and Jonas Dupuich catch up with friends at the 7th US National Exhibition in Rochester, New York.
Find a complete list of guests from this episode along with photos of the exhibition at Bonsai Tonight.
Hosts Andrew Robson and Jonas Dupuich, joined by special guest Nao Tokutake, share their thoughts about ten special trees at the 2021 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition.
See photos of the trees discussed at: https://bonsaitonight.com/2021/09/24/u-s-national-exhibition-critique/
Michael sits down with Carmen to talk about the first months of her apprenticeship. Carmen shares her experience surviving the “heat dome,” describes early summer work, and outlines goals for what she wants to accomplish and explore over the next three years.
Hosts Andrew Robson and Jonas Dupuich would like to see more diverse species developed as bonsai. Tune in to find out their top three recommendations.
In this episode, host Andrew Robson talks with noted deciduous expert Sergio Cuan about one of their favorite topics: deciduous bonsai.
How do we recognize excellence at bonsai exhibitions? In this episode, Jonas and Andrew discuss different approaches to evaluating bonsai as they prepare for the inaugural Pacific Bonsai Exposition in November, 2022.
Oaks are a fantastic genus for training as bonsai, and John "JT" Thompson is an expert when it comes to oaks. In this episode, JT shares with Jonas the story of how he was introduced to bonsai in Japan, how he developed a love for oaks, and practical tips for how he trains oaks in his Northern California garden.
What are the best ways to grow, style, and propagate the dwarf flowering Japanese quince known as "chojubai"? In this episode, Andrew and Michael talk through their approach to the popular species.
This week the full team, John, Michael, Andrew, and Jonas chat about the tasks after repotting including maple and spruce pinching, pine decandling, choosing shade cloth, and that unending bonsai topic, fertilizing.
In this episode, Jonas and Cheryl McAlister, a painter and beginning bonsai student, talk about art, bonsai, and approaches to learning when we don't know what we don't know. Learn more about Cheryl at https://www.cherylmcalister.com.
Andrew chats with Jonas about building his bonsai garden, Rakuyo. Named for falling leaves or deciduous trees, Rakuyo will be a site for the development of and appreciation for deciduous bonsai.
Andrew interviews Eric and Jonas about their plans to host a regional bonsai exhibit, the Pacific Bonsai Expo, in fall of 2022.
This week the team talks about all things repotting - soil media, timing, clues telling us when to repot, and aftercare.
Opening our series about women curators of public bonsai gardens, Michael and Jonas chat with Carmen Leskoviansky about the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Michigan, upcoming apprenticeship with Michael, and her desire to open the bonsai door wider to women.
Apprentice life has its ups and downs. Kaya Mooney, an apprentice with Keiichi Fujikawa at Kouka-en near Osaka, Japan, shares highlights with John and Jonas and explains what can make the sky purple for apprentices. Learn more about Kaya at https://www.instagram.com/moonlightbonsai
This week Jonas sits down to chat with John about his apprenticeship with Michael at Crataegus Bonsai. Check out Crataegus at https://crataegus.com/.
This week Michael sits down with Jonas to discuss everything that goes into writing and publishing a bonsai book aimed at helping people start off on the right foot. 2D vs. 3D teaching, tips for bonsai photography, and long lines at Kokufu make appearances along the way.
This week Jonas sits down with Michael to discuss the science, tradition, and fantasy that inform his new book, Bonsai Heresy. It is a deep dive into the thought process, anguish, and joy of writing a book that undoes bonsai myths.
You can purchase Bonsai Heresy at: https://stonelantern.com/
Ever wonder what it's like to be a bonsai apprentice in Japan? This week Jonas speaks with Adam Toth, an apprentice with Taiga Urushibata at the Taisho-en bonsai garden in Shizuoka to learn about the experience. Join Adam as he shares anecdotes that convey the joys and challenges of apprentice life.
Learn more about Adam at: https://www.instagram.com/adam.jp.bon
In this episode Jonas and John catch up with Eric Schrader and talk about growing trees, working with local natives and much more.
This weekend would have been the US National Bonsai Exhibition, so to honor that event Michael and Jonas sit down with Bill Valavanis and talk about his years of experience.
The 7th US National Bonsai Exhibition has been rescheduled for September 11-12, 2021.
Please check their website for more details: https://www.usnationalbonsai.com
In this week's bonus episode, Andrew Robson calls Jonas Dupuich about using colanders for pre-bonsai. Enjoy their conversation and please forgive the poor audio quality.We are still working on the watering/fertilizing episode. Please send any questions you have on the topic to
talk@bonsaiwirepodcast.com by September 30th, 2020
This week John hosts a question and answer session with questions that were submitted to us via talk@bonsaiwirepodcast.com. Michael and Andrew join in with expert answers and a bit of banter. We are requesting questions for an upcoming episode about watering, fertilizing and pH adjustment. Send your questions to talk@bonsaiwirepodcast.com.
Michael Hagedorn's apprentice, John Eads, shares tidbits from his apprenticeship in a new bonus series. This episode is all about watering, especially in the summer.
We are soliciting questions for an upcoming round-table discussion on watering, pH and fertilizing. Please submit related questions to talk@bonsaiwirepodcast.com.
Jonas, John, Michael, and Andrew share how they got into bonsai, heckle one another with mispronounced names, state goals for the podcast, and offer an ad from our esteemed sponsor, ‘Patina Buster.’
British bonsai icon Colin Lewis shares his move across the water with Jonas and Michael, including his dislike of demonstrations, how to toss your worst tree, the best way to nab a Japanese beetle, and a few really cool observations about bonsai, the community, and how things ‘are a changin’.
A roundtable debate among the four hosts about the nuanced decision making that goes into selecting trees for one’s backyard including the power of the single decision, the appropriate number of trees, and how choice of species affects both daily and yearly time commitment.