Best book or blog?

JudyB

JudyB

Queen of the Nuts
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I finally succumbed to the satsuki siren call, it's been after me for awhile now. I got a small one to learn on, so am looking for a good book and/or blog that I can reference, as I know these have their own ways. The tree that I'm getting is trunk done, with rough branching.
 
Here are a few sites. Peter Warren does a good job with them, but I can’t find anything recent.
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/azalea
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/blog/shaping-japanese-azaleas
http://kuromatsubonsai.com/azalea-bonsai/

Some of the Japanese blogs show pictorially even if you can’t read the text. You just have to scroll through them:
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html/?m=lc&p=383
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html?m=lc&p=1

Probably the best resource is the old Bonsai Today magazines:
2CB5F965-BCEE-496E-9E46-EC7DF1B31D80.jpeg
Email me if you want any snapshots of some of these articles; I have them all.
 
Thanks @Brian Van Fleet .
Right now I'm just looking for basic care and development information. I'll take a look thru the links, a couple of those articles seem like they might be good too.
 
Uh oh, I found a site called satsukimania. I can see how addictive these can be. I got a single color variety, the Kozan, as it seems like they are a bit less tricky and more hardy, good to learn on. I knew there were a ton of combinations but oh my!
 
Does anybody know how to find out if the guy doing the blog BVF posted ever got moved to another site since yahoo blogs shutdown?
 
Callahans book is out of print, but that book is my go to guide. If you can find it for less than $75, it is worth it. It is not worth hundreds I've seen it going for on ebay. I paid about 25 or so for my copy.

One of the better blogs is the series of threads by @Mellow Mullet - John has a trove of information in his posts on BNut and on his Heart of Dixie blog.
Also, I learned a lot about Satsuki from Ted Matson. Ted is currently curator of the bonsai collection at the Huntington Gardens. He will be in Milwaukee June 25 to 28th, 2020, for the MABA & 50th Anniversary Bonsai Show of Milwaukee Bonsai Society. If you come to MABA you can pick his brain, he is very easy going and easy to talk to. Ted Trained under Gondo, who was Japanese trained in Satsuki, a separate system than the bonsai system. Peter Tea is also good with Satsuki. I'm sure Owen Reich has some experience too.
 
Last edited:
Soooo funny to see this old thread pop up, I guess I really took the road to azalea land after this first one I got, I have 7 of them now! Addiction came on quick. I learned a lot just from working with them, and also from talking to people more than the literature out there. But I'll take a look at this list and the suggestions again, and see if there is something I could use now. My current favorite is a green flowering one called Senbazuru that I picked up from Bill V. just cause it's so different in flower color.
 
JudyB said:
Soooo funny to see this old thread pop up, I guess I really took the road to azalea land after this first one I got, I have 7 of them now! Addiction came on quick. I learned a lot just from working with them, and also from talking to people more than the literature out there. But I'll take a look at this list and the suggestions again, and see if there is something I could use now. My current favorite is a green flowering one called Senbazuru that I picked up from Bill V. just cause it's so different in flower color.
Click to expand...
Judy, I was going to buy that tree from Bill until you said you were interested, so I let you have it. I’m glad it’s in your hands!
 
This is a revitalized thread. I’ve been working with one azalea bonsai and have 6 in pre bonsai shape, 4 of which are Satsuki. I use a book recommended on a previous blog post “Bonsai Techniques for Satsuki” by John Naka, Richard Ota, and Kenko Rokaku. It’s great if you can get it, has a lot of in depth techniques, shows planning, propagation, pruning, wiring techniques, stying and has multiple step by step examples of making different bonsai styles with lots of photos, figures and sketches. With the onl
btw: I‘ve heard Callahan was better, but couldn’t get it for less than 150.00 at that time, but keep an eye out, you might get lucky!
Thanks for hunting up some new resources!
DSD
 
Hey Brian,
How can I please get an email copy of the Azalea articles in BT issues 36, 42, 46, 53, 60, and 66? Couldn’t find an email here or on your blog. (Not on FB). John DSD sends.

Brian Van Fleet said:
Here are a few sites. Peter Warren does a good job with them, but I can’t find anything recent.
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/azalea
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/blog/shaping-japanese-azaleas
http://kuromatsubonsai.com/azalea-bonsai/

Some of the Japanese blogs show pictorially even if you can’t read the text. You just have to scroll through them:
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html/?m=lc&p=383
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html?m=lc&p=1

Probably the best resource is the old Bonsai Today magazines:
View attachment 161421
Email me if you want any snapshots of some of these articles; I have them all.
Click to expand...
 
Deep Sea Diver said:
This is a revitalized thread. I’ve been working with one azalea bonsai and have 6 in pre bonsai shape, 4 of which are Satsuki. I use a book recommended on a previous blog post “Bonsai Techniques for Satsuki” by John Naka, Richard Ota, and Kenko Rokaku. It’s great if you can get it, has a lot of in depth techniques, shows planning, propagation, pruning, wiring techniques, stying and has multiple step by step examples of making different bonsai styles with lots of photos, figures and sketches. With the onl
btw: I‘ve heard Callahan was better, but couldn’t get it for less than 150.00 at that time, but keep an eye out, you might get lucky!
Thanks for hunting up some new resources!
DSD
Click to expand...
Yeah the callahan is not out there cheap, I’ll keep lookin.
 
Robley6 said:
Sounds beautiful! Would it be possible to see a photo?
Click to expand...
I shall have to go take one in the new pot, obviously I don't have a photo of pot and tree in flower. But here is a photo of the tree as it was flowering in the old pot last year. It looks completely different now...IMG_1682.jpgIMG_1683.jpg
 
I never knew this thread existed! Thnx for the links!
I became a big fan of Satsuki over the past two years and developed quite the addiction for their flowers and collecting them. ☺
So I have quite a lot of different varieties myself, but I'm still learning and can't really distinguish much difference between them as of yet..

So far my collection consist of;
- Aio-no-hikari
- Akemi-no-tsuki
- Benizuru
- Hanabin
- Hibai
- Juko
- Karenko
- Kikuhime
- Kegon
- Kobai
- Nasuno
- Nikko
- Nyohozan
- Momoka
- Osakazuki
- Seccu-no-matsu
- Shinzan
- Suzu-ho-mare
- Wakaebishu

About half of them I bought as 1 or 2 year olds last year and have been repotted into training pots after I saw the flowers, so now they can grow for a couple of years.
And yes I have a few more on my list I'd like to have (Kinsai, Kozan, Matsuri-no-Tsuki, ....)

As for links;

Rhododendron species/ Azalea Bonsai – Bonsai4Me

www.bonsai4me.com www.bonsai4me.com
satsukiazaleabonsai.org

Satsuki Azalea Bonsai Care (Edited by Darren Wong, August 2018)

January • Move all trees into full sun • Rotate trees at least once a month to promote symmetrical growth of roots and canopy • Do not fertilize satsuki azaleas. • Reduce watering because the sun i…
satsukiazaleabonsai.org satsukiazaleabonsai.org
https://satsukibonsai.com/tutorial/ (Found this to be one of the best, although some of the translations from italian to english are a bit weird)

They make for a lovely color palette on the benches around may/june 😊



31648b15cf8825e1326c9034c9f549a5.jpeg 9c77b67f72c2eee149dbecaa7b2f57fe.jpeg 0dd5bce46c64cba68d73706a0b7b92bc.jpeg
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Here are a few sites. Peter Warren does a good job with them, but I can’t find anything recent.
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/azalea
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/blog/shaping-japanese-azaleas
http://kuromatsubonsai.com/azalea-bonsai/

Some of the Japanese blogs show pictorially even if you can’t read the text. You just have to scroll through them:
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html/?m=lc&p=383
https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/fwnt1093/MYBLOG/yblog.html?m=lc&p=1

Probably the best resource is the old Bonsai Today magazines:
View attachment 161421
Email me if you want any snapshots of some of these articles; I have them all.
Click to expand...

@Brian Van Fleet Would it be possible to receive a few of these snaps?
 
Hi all,
Bit of a long shot here, but is there anyone out there with a SPARE copy of the Satsuki book by Callahan? Or the book they don’t want/need and be happy to sell?
I realise this is out of print so a long shot etc.
Charles
 
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