Kokufu Part 2

Again, for my non-bonsai followers, feel free to skip or skim this blog as it is extremely tree-heavy. Though David, Ira and I all felt that the second half was better than the first. 

Acer buergerianum or Trident Maple

This maple over rock above was one of the prize winners. David jokingly said he was going to ask Bjorn to see if he could buy this one. 

Carpinus turczaninovii or Korean hornbeam

The hornbeam is incredible, but I also like the companion waterfall suiseki.

Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii or Chinese juniper or shinpaku

The juniper above is another award winner and also has the distinction of being a "National Treasure" as indicated by the black plaque with gold lettering. Our friend Taka explained to us.

Acer palmatum "Shishigashira" or Lion's Head Japanese Maple

Look at the plating on this one. Imagine trying to water it. You'd have to tilt the pot and let the water run to be able to soak the soil underneath the nebari or the surface roots of the bonsai.

Pinus parviflora or Japanese white pine

I'm not normally a fan of cascading bonsai, but this one was hard to ignore.

Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii or Chinese juniper or shinpaku

I know, another juniper with twisting deadwood, but geez louise!

Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii or Chinese juniper or shinpaku

I like this juniper on the slab. There weren't many slabs in the competition, so this one stood out, despite the apex being slightly heavy.

Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii or Chinese juniper or shinpaku

This one caught my eye because unlike most Japanese style junipers, the foliage is sparse, making the deadwood more pronounced.

Chamaecyparis obtusa or hinoki cypress

This one stood out because it was the exact opposite of twisty. Look how poker straight the trunk is. Of course it is a cypress, so I suppose it's not so unusual to see a straight up cypress.

Pinus parviflora or Japanese white pine

This pine is so refined, so many little branchlets, the needle length is tiny. I do love the five-needle pines.

Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii or Chinese juniper or shinpaku

Our friend Taka wasn't able to join us today as he was taking his clients through the show, but this was one of the trees he worked on. He said we could find his trees by spotting the same accent plants he used from Part 1 LOL

Acer palmatum var. Matsumurae or Japanese maple

This maple just doesn't even look real.

David and I both noticed this accent plant, to me it looked like a little hedgehog.

I normally don't get overly excited about shohin displays, likely because in the U.S. there aren't really very many shohin displays to get excited about. But that was not the case in Japan, this one above is crazy good. Every tree in the display could stand on its own.

Below are the accent pieces for the shohin display above, which weren't too shabby either.

Without the fruit, we would probably have walked right by this tree, but the fruit made it super interesting.

Diospyros rhombifolia or princess persimmon

I include this photo mostly for the pot. Ira really loves this pot below.

And with that, all that was left of our tour was the farewell dinner that night. Bjorn and his wife Nanxi bought out the entire restaurant for two hours. Since we had eaten many different types of Japanese cuisine for our lunches, it came as a surprise that our final dinner was Belgian, Oerbier Man. That came right out of left field.

We enjoyed family style Belgian Frites, meat and sausage plate, mussels and cream puffs for dessert. He also hired a magician for entertainment. It was a nice ending to a great tour. It definitely delivered what it promised. We got access to all the major gardens which we would never have been able to do on our own.

Though we were thinking this would be a one and done trip to the Kokufu, David, Ira and I thought that if we came again, we could skip the tour and manage another visit to the Kokufu on our own. I think David just wants to come back to buy more rocks with boxes, LOL.

A dopo!