Bonsai News & Articles

Brand-new logo description

The calligraphy rounded stroke unifies the bonsai community around the Asia Pacific Region. Embraced by an award-winning Taiwan bonsai that starts with the base of truly cultivated bonsai material.  To mark ABFF's endorsement by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation, its logo now includes its founding year.

Visit the show

Free visitor attendance to the Houghton Bonsai and Succulent Show.

Join us for a weekend filled with all things green and colourful. View displays, join our workshops and demonstrations and purchase bonsais and succulents directly from suppliers. See you at the Houghton Bonsai and Succulent show from 10 - 12 November 2023 at Killarney Mall!

​Show times: 09:00-16:00
Parking: At Killarney Mall
Visitor entrance is free

​In addition to hosting a World Bonsai Convention (WBC) every four years, WBFF now also encourage and support WBFF-branded mid-term Regional World Bonsai Conventions” (“WBFF Regional WBCs”).  Given the existing interest in the Regions to have the first of these WBFF Regional WBCs next year in 2024.​

Respectful regional Bonsai organizations are required to contact their respective regional director for the bid proposal, procedure and details. WBFF is now accepting bids for the 2024 regional event, with a deadline submission  of 30th December 2023.

 Kawaguchi’s municipal administration and the 100th anniversary of the former Tanaka family residence, we are pleased to present the exhibition ‘Bonsai: The Four Centuries of Bonsai in Kawaguchi and Angyo.’ This exhibition will be held in two venues.
At the first venue, the Art Gallery ATLIA, you will witness a collaboration between bonsai and contemporary art. At the second venue, the former Tanaka family residence, you can immerse yourself in the beauty of bonsai through traditional bonsai displays.
We invite you to visit and enjoy this special event.”

The president Saveena Gadhoke of Indian bonsai association participated in the FLO festival ‘Shades of the Soul’ celebrating forty years of FLO.

Our senior members Saveena Gadhoke, Renu Vaish, Rekha Modi and Jyoti Shankar also made a beautiful Zen Garden on this occasion which has been retained at the venue

click the buttom for more info in facebook.

Click the buttom for more info in facebook.

The Chinese people love Plum blossom, love her with both form and spirit, good color and fragrance, and lead the world in spring; love her iron-boned and ice-hearted, holy and elegant, and pretty and not fighting for spring; I love her even more for her spirit of not being afraid of the cold, tenacious and tenacious, and striving for the spring of the world.

The China Ding - China Bonsai National Exhibition brought together 102 top bonsai exhibits from all over the country, after 2 supervisors: Rui Xinhua, Zhou Shifeng's strict supervision and 9 judges: Xu Hao, Fan Shunli, Xie Keying, Zeng Wenan, Luo Chuanzhong, Zhang Xuming, Chen Yougui, Wang Rusheng, Du Yaodong, fair and impartial evaluation, a total of 35 award-winning works were selected, including 2023 1 "China Ding", 2023 "9 China Ding-China Bonsai Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance Award" (including 1 2023 "China Ding"), 6 Gold Awards, 8 Silver Awards, and 12 Bronze Awards.

The 3rd China Ding - China Bonsai National Exhibition has been successfully concluded in Rugao, Jiangsu! The exhibition gathered a total of 102 high-quality bonsai exhibitors from all over the country, including 201 Chinese tripod exhibits and <> member exhibits, showing the unique charm of bonsai art in various provinces and cities in China, and presenting a feast of bonsai art.

Click the link for further details.

A walk through of the South African Bonsai Association's 2023 National Convention, held at the Durban Botanical Gardens, and hosted by the Durban Bonsai Society. Multiple demonstrations were had over the two day convention with various vendors selling anything and everything associated to the bonsai art form.

November 24, 2023 (gold) - November 27 (month)

Start time: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (last day is 4:00 pm)

Venue: Kyoto City Business Hall "みやこめっせ"

Inside Okazaki Park, Sakyo-ku 075(762)2630

Tickets: 1,000 yen, no tickets for elementary school students and below, 900 yen for groups (more than 20 people)

一年一度台灣全國華風盆栽展。National Bonsai Exhibition Hua Fung 

11/25/2023～3/12/2023 

Big tree in a small pot

Not only does it reveal the effort that has been put in over the years and the significance of maintenance, but it also gives the impression that something is off.
Truth and beauty are often inseparable.
The piece makes a strong and confident creative statement.

Creation of bonsai emphasises
Take advantage of aptitude
A strange stack of timber/wood/shari 
Sometimes artists conceive and design differently.
It will showcase beauty differently.

This exhibition will bring together representative classic works from various historical periods since the Ming Dynasty, aiming to explore the evolution and development of purple sand pots over time as part of traditional Chinese culture and one of the main carriers of bonsai art. process.

Zhejiang Province Shohin Exhibition No.1

Guozhuang Small Bonsai Exhibition in conjunction with the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. Due to traffic limitations, many Jiaxing and Suzhou displays are difficult to organize early in the exhibition. The exhibition personnel overcame challenges to produce this concurrent event on time. An exquisite display of nature and culture. Visit Guozhuang to experience Xiaowei bonsai in the fall, when the sweet-scented osmanthus is aromatic.

The first China Bonsai Trade Development Conference will be presented in Xinyi from November 5-9.  This exhibition is the first comprehensive bonsai event with rural revitalization as the background, promoting the development of China's bonsai trade as the theme, and promoting the healthy development of local characteristic industries.

Life should be simple at its best.

The famous monk Guangxiu, the abbot of Haizhuang Temple in Guangzhou, the ancestral court of Surenge bonsai art, visited Pinsongqiu, Shunde to see the 2023 Nong Wenwansu themed bonsai exhibition on October 1.

This is the first joint display of exceptional works selected by each member unit and several observer associations since the Southwest Bonsai Art Federation was founded. 260 exquisite bonsais are on display. Thirteen works were awarded gold, 22 silver, and 40 bronze medals after strict evaluation by Chinese bonsai art masters Liu Chuangang, Xu Hao, Wei Jiquan, Xing Jinke, Wang Yuankang, BCI China bonsai art master Lu Xinyi, Chongqing bonsai art master Zheng Jiahua, Chengdu Wuhou Temple Garden Landscape Department Director Li Xianglin, and other supervisory committees.

The autumnal equinox in Hefei is joyous and energetic as green leaves fall and gold shines. The "14th China (Hefei) International Garden Expo Bonsai Exhibition" organised by the China Landscape Architecture Society and its Flower Bonsai and Stone Appreciation Branch opened at the Hefei Garden Expo on September 26. Chen Chang, Yang Zhongquan, Bian Dongyu, Wang Yong, Zhang Qunfang, Wang Hengliang, Liu Chuangang, Wu Chengfa, Tang Qin, Li Zhengyin, and others attended the event.

The Bonsai Clubs International Bonsai (BCI), formed in the US over 50 years ago, includes members in many nations and regions. BCI headquarters will host bonsai-related events in cities with strong bonsai industry foundations, deep cultural heritage, and strong artistic atmosphere to promote bonsai art and industry. The annual Bonsai convention and the exhibition is the most important, with the highest standards, and the most influential.

Mr. Kim Sae Won, Chairman of the WBFF, has been appointed International Consultant for the Penjing Branch of the China Flower Association 中国花卉协会盆景分会 from August 2022 to December 2025.

The appointments were presented by Penjing Branch of the China Flower Association  President 施勇如先生， conducted at the annual BCI International Bonsai Exhibition in Shu Yang, China.

World Bonsai Day (WBD) was established 13 years ago to celebrate and honor the contributions of our founder, Mr. Saburo Kato and to help promote bonsai worldwide.  Today many WBFF Cooperation Centers and other Bonsai Organizations celebrate WBD.  In the beginning many of these organizations designed their own WBD T-shirts which resulted in several different designs and logos being used.  In an effort to unify the WBFF brand, a new “official” logo was designed by WBFF with WBFF’s rights to this logo protected by trademark law.  

Photographing cultural objects and symbols requires a level of respect from the photographer itself. The respect for the culture and the object itself, as well as respect for the story behind it. Thus, knowing its philosophy and relevance is crucial to portraying nature's beauty. The key is accurate in representation in the photo. Bonsai implies control, beauty, and perfection, so capturing it without distractions is good for illuminating the bonsai and suiseki in a perfect presentation.

In 1994 the Takagi Bonsai Museum in Tokyo, Japan, held the first in what would become an annual bonsai pot competition.  The objective of the competitions was to stimulate interest among ceramic artists and to create new and even radical containers for the display of bonsai.  In doing so, they hoped to expand the number of ceramic artists making bonsai pots and to take the standard of bonsai pot making to a higher level. 

The early years, Mansei-en may well be known as the most respected bonsai nursery in the world. It was first established in Tokyo in the middle of Meiji Era but later moved to Omiya just north of Tokyo. This nursery has been in the Kato family since it began and is now operated by the fourth generation of Katos. The fifth generation is in training and will, one day assume responsibility for continuing the family business.

The aim in writing this book is to pass a lifetime of bonsai experience on to anyone who enjoys bonsai and wishes to make use of it. There is information here that has been gained over many years from a range of sources and if you want to make use of it to improve your collection of bonsai, please do so by any means you like. Just please accept it as our contribution to the world of bonsai that has provided us with so much pleasure over the years.

website: http://www.bonsaiforeveryone.com/

It is astonishing to realize that the Shimpaku juniper so beloved for bonsai culture was first found only a little more than a century ago in Japan. But in that short time, due to over collecting, the Shimpaku growing in the wild have vanished!
​more info : https://shimpaku.geo-itoigawa.com/en/

From the Northern Song Dynasty to the 1960s, "Penjing" and "bonsai" were used interchangeably in China, according to Liu Shaohong. Since 1979's "Penjing Art Exhibition" in Beijing by China's State Administration, only "Penjing" has been used in Chinese formal occasions. In Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, "Penjing" and "bonsai" are interchangeable. In contemporary Chinese, "bonsai" is seen as another art form because plants are planted in pots without modeling, turning them into simple plant stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. rather than natural scenery with artistic conception.

Judging bonsai is always controversial and a highly subjective subject. Just how do we actually do it? We all agree that some bonsai are better, or much better, than others. In this three-part series, we will explore the various aspects of judging a bonsai, and try to design a judging system that can be used objectively to determine the quality of one bonsai, compared with another.
3 PARTS of articles to explore click below to our share files.

This is the book to display on your coffee table. With 288 color pages it is one of the best books ever written on the subject of bonsai and includes a breathtaking photo gallery of bonsai, basic styles, group plantings, plant physiology, cultivation, propagation, transplanting and repotting and training and dwarfing -- in other words, everything the bonsai grower needs to know"

The centuries-old craft is thriving as both a hobby and an art form, with contemporary practitioners around the world asking what lessons it can impart today.

The Larz Anderson Collection of Japanese Dwarfed Trees at the Arnold Arboretum was originally imported into the United States by the Honorable Larz Anderson in 1913, upon his return from serving as ambassador to Japan. The core of the collection consists of seven large specimens of compact hinoki
cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Chabo-hiba’)—between 270 and 145 years old—that Anderson had purchased from the Yokohama Nursery Company.

The Qin and Han dynasties were of paramount importance in the establishment and consolidation of a unified, multi-ethnic China, and an equally significant time in history in the formation and development of a national Chinese style of art.  As an integral part of Chinese art and culture, the formation and advancement of the art of Penjing was certainly in tandem with the developmental characteristics and convention of Chinese cultural elements.

Diospyros armata, Diospyros cathayensis Steward, The stems of the species are strong and straight, naturally curved and iron-like in color, making them suitable for making bonsai trees. Thanks to its unique variety of advantages, it is suitable for planting in the north and south of the Yangtze River. The species bloom light yellow flowers in April. The flowers are shaped like a vase and have an orchid-like fragrance, so they are also called "vase orchids". Fruits will appear in May after flowering. In autumn, the green fruit turns orange-red or orange-yellow and looks like a bullet, so it is called "golden marble". Its fruits will not fall until the following spring; its leaves are dark green and leathery, making it an ornamental plant with beautiful fruits, flowers and leaves.

Forest-style bonsai is suitable for expressing the wild beauty of mountains and forests. It is a form of tree bonsai, which refers to multi-stem bonsai with three or more stems, including multi-stem and combined planting.

Apples are one of the favorite fruits in Chinese families. During the New Year and holidays, every household buys apples and puts them on the plate as a means of enhancing the celebratory ambiance.  The word "ping" in Apple has the same pronunciation as "ping", which means peace, harmony, and happiness in the family.