Menu
tropical
A powerhouse
Mike Lane gives an in-depth look at the venerable Sea Hibiscus An unassuming bonsai subject at first glance, the sea hibiscus appears to lack any of the desirable traits we pursue when looking for good bonsai candidates. I had overlooked this abundant material myself, during my initial years in bonsai…....
Conocarpus
Mike Lane’s story of a buttonwood and his best ever decision. Sixty Seconds. This was all the time I needed to make what would be the most important decision of my life. I had been working for several years in finance, pursuing a career in the stock market, when during…...
Seas of Green
An exploration of Premna, one of bonsai’s biggest tropical stars Premna is a genus of tropical and sub-tropical species native to southeast Asia, Africa, and some islands of the Pacific Basin. It is extremely popular for bonsai in countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Offering many fine qualities…...
Adenium
Jerome Kellerhals’ bonsai garden is in sunny Florida, where he mainly works on semi-tropicals. The Ademium, or desert rose, is one of his favourites and, surprisingly, has much to offer as material for bonsai. I am going to talk about the styling and caring of Adenium. It contains about 12…...
Vitex rotundifolia
Jerome Kellerhals has his bonsai garden in sunny Florida, where he mainly works on semi-tropicals. This time he explains the virtues of the Vitex rotundifolia, which has many varieties. The Vitex rotundifolia contains about 60 species, tropical and subtropical. The Vitex featured in this article is the Rotundifolia, the round…...
Pithecellobium
Styling and caring a Brazilian raintree Jerome Kellerhals has his bonsai garden in sunny Florida, where he mainly works on semi-tropicals. Here he talks about a special tree he grew from scratch, the Brazilian raintree. The Chloroleucon tortum, is often referred to as Pithecellobium tortum, commonly known as the Brazilian…...
A ‘root over statue’
Angkor Wat inspired Jerome Kellerhals to create a ‘root over statue’. Jerome guides you through the techniques of wiring, defoliating, pruning, repotting and maintenance to achieve denser foliage and smaller leaves on a Ficus. This green mound Ficus (Ficus microphylla var. crassifolia ‘Green Mound’ ) has been in training for…...
Ficus
Figs are keystone species in many tropical forest ecosystems. Figs have figured prominently in some human cultures, such as Buddhism, objects of worship and many practical uses. For bonsai they are a great source of material with many style options Majestic appearance Ficus are exceptionally interesting trees. Their appearance grabs…...
Podocarpus
The challenge is to create a finished tree starting from scratch In this series we look at creating bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods with interesting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations we will see how to take a piece of material through to completion Years 1…...
Carmona
Fukien tea Ehretia Buxifolia is a very common ‘supermarket’ bonsai also known in the bonsai world as Carmona microphylla. It is a nice shrub from the South China province of Fuijan. It’s an evergreen tropical tree, with a grey trunk, shiny, oval dark green leaves and, if you look closely,…...