Orlando Bonsai » Tokonoma https://www.orlandobonsai.com The purpose of this site is to share and enjoy the art, history and horticulture of bonsai and to provide current bonsai news and information. Sun, 19 Sep 2021 06:47:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 Artsy Bonsai https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=982 https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=982#comments Sat, 30 May 2009 13:06:15 +0000 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=982 My trees rarely, if ever are brought into my house.  Only on very cold nights in the winter will I bring them in for a few hours.  However last night my wife made a great dinner and I thought that the trees would set the mood.  It never fails to amaze me just how big my trees are.  On their benches they look so much smaller, but on a counter top or shelf they look huge.
Hallway Nitch

Hallway Nitch

The Bunjin cypress really needs a good trimming, however the light green against the dark brown gives a really nice Zen feel.

Living room accent

Living room accent

I really wish I could keep this tree in doors all the time.  It just fits so well and looks great in that corner.

TV Stand Bonsai

TV Stand Bonsai

Probably the worst place to place a tree because the heat dries out the bonsai so quickly.  However it looked good for the night.

Upshot of Cypress

Upshot of Cypress

Bonsai at sunset

Bonsai at sunset

The other night it had just finished raining at sunset.  The color off the wet screen behind it set this beautiful picture up.


]]> https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=982 0 Speaking with an accent https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=867 https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=867#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:05:13 +0000 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=867 At the KAWA Bonsai, Joy of Bonsai I noticed the accent plants that were displayed along with the bonsai. Many times they are over looked, but they add so much to a great display.  The are normally only a few inches tall.  Here are a few examples.


]]> https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=867 0 Tokonama Display https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=858 https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=858#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:56:09 +0000 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=858 Over the past weekend I entered my miniature tokonama at the Joy of Bonsai, sponsored by the KAWA Bonsai club.  If you haven’t been to it or even heard of it, you are missing out.  This small club puts on a world class bonsai convention, display, and demonstration every year, and it just keeps getting better.

Miniature Tokonama

Miniature Tokonama

I am really happy with the way it turned out, and I think my composition was simple and balanced.  However there was good competition.

Tokonama Contest Entries

Tokonama Contest Entries

  When you see close ups of these little tokonama it is hard to judge how small they are. I hope this photo gives a good idea of just how miniature everything is.

Tokonama Competition 3rd place

Tokonama Competition 3rd place

Although I didn’t win the competition, I did still manage to take home 3rd place.  Not bad I guess.  I just need to start working on small trees so that next time I will hopefully do better.  All in all I really enjoyed the experience


]]> https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=858 1 I don’t do small trees https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=850 https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=850#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:39:01 +0000 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=850 If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you probably realize I don’t do small trees.  So I found myself with a bit of a problem as the Tokonama competition draws near.  This means that I better do a small tree, and I better do it fast.  I found that small pre-bonsai material is CHEAP.  I picked up a small Procumbens Nana today at Home Depot (of all places) foronly $4.oo.  It was so dense I couldn’t see the trunk, but I knew I only needed a small tree.  So no matter what trunk I had in there it would be fine.

what a mess

what a mess

Just look how dense that foliage is.  It took me a few minutes just to figure out where to start. 

I was surprized to see such a large trunk when I started to remove the branches. I had really wanted something a little smaller, and I was hoping to do a cascade.  There were many options in there, but I needed to find something that looks like an established tree.

This is how it turned out.  Not the cascade I was hoping for, but I’m pretty happy with it.  The picture was taken right after I watered it, so it has a shine to it.  I’m going to hold off on the pictures of the tree in the Tokonama until after the competition.  However the funny thing about it is that this tree, even though it is very small, looks big in the Tokonama.  Fun stuff.  I may get used to doing little trees after all.  Who knows?


]]> https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=850 1 Tokonoma Competition https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=790 https://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=790#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:35:28 +0000 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=790 The Kawa Bonsai Club’s, Joy of Bonsai will be held in January and they are lining up a competition for those that participated in the Tokonoma building class last year. All of those that took the class can bring back their Tokonoma with a display set up to compete against each other. Sounds like fun.


Here’s the group from last year in a Photoshop project I did. If you haven’t seen these little displays, you really need to. They are really something special.


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