Explore every episode of the podcast Bonsai Wire

Tyler, Nathan, and Jonas talk about the upcoming Bonsai Central, a regional event in St. Louis, Missouri, to be held on May 14-16, 2027.

Learn more at the Bonsai Central website.

Suzanne Muller, Director of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, talks about her role at the garden, her team, and her goals for making the garden a great place to learn and to enjoy bonsai.

https://bonsailakemerritt.com

Angelica Ramirez, curator of the burgeoning bonsai garden at Waterfront Botanical Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky, chats with Jonas about her new role and her love of bonsai ceramics.

Links:

• Waterfront Botanical Gardens
• SPIRIT: The Great American Tree
• North American Bonsai Pottery Competition
• ARBonsai

Eric, Andrew, and Jonas offer takes on how they'd rebuild their collections from scratch.

Eric, Andrew, and Jonas review all that's new for the 3rd Pacific Bonsai Expo. 

The event will be held February 6-7, 2027, at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. 

https://pacificbonsaiexpo.org

If you follow bonsai on Instagram you've likely seen Zane's garden and helpful how-to clips. Host Jonas chats with Zane about learning and teaching bonsai and how to build a following online.

@zanestrees

Ever been curious what it's like to take intensive classes with different professionals? Hear the first-hand experience from Gianne Souza, an enthusiast with several years of experience working with a mix of teachers on the West Coast.

Jonas sits down with Michael James, curator of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, to talk about managing legacy collections, working with different styles, and planning for the Museum's 50th anniversary later this year.

Jonas sits down with Aarin Packard, curator of the Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way, Washington, to talk about the museum's current exhibit, Bonsai United. The exhibit explores how landscape, native flora, and cultural practices shape bonsai expression.

Learn more the exhibit at the Pacific Bonsai Museum website.

Jonas sits down with Kevin Bielicki, curator of the Bonsai Collection at Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Kevin and the gardens will be hosting a Bonsai Festival on June 24-29, 2026. Learn more at the Longwood Gardens website.

Michael and Patch chat about Michael's visit to the Kokufu-ten exhibition in Tokyo, his return to Mr Suzuki's garden in Obuse, and birding in the cloud forests of Okinawa. 

Patch and Michael reflect upon happenings at Crataegus and what's ahead in the new year.

John Eads and Michael Hagedorn compare their experiences in growing Japanese Black Pine from seedling all the way to exhibition trees.

Learn more about John's field growing work at https://leftcoastbonsai.com/

Host Jonas Dupuich talks with Canadian bonsai enthusiast Jean-Dominic Côté from Quebec. JD, as he is known to English-speaking friends, has worked with Junichiro Tanaka at Aichi-en in Nagoya, Japan, and is a graduate student studying soil science and fertilizer. 

JD had suggested we talk about why we do bonsai and the conversation went in many directions from there. 

Learn more about Jean-Dominic at https://www.instagram.com/jd.bonsai/

Host Jonas Dupuich catches up with bonsai professional Tyler Sherrod. Tyler completed his apprenticeship with Shinji Suzuki in Obuse, Japan, and is proprietor of Dogwood Studios in North Carolina.

Learn more Tyler at https://www.dogwoodstudiosnc.com

Host Jonas Dupuich is off to Germany to interview world-renown bonsai professional Walter Pall. Jonas and Walter talk about Walter's extensive writing on bonsai, the role of the artist, and the Murano effect, among many other topics. 

See the Bonsai Wire Podcast on YouTube for a video version of this episode.

Part 2 of host Jonas Dupuich's interview with Walter Pall in Germany plus bonus questions from Jennifer Price.

See the Bonsai Wire Podcast on YouTube for a video version of this episode.

Michael Hagedorn and apprentice Patch Clark talk about the past year, including the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo and garden anxieties while Michael was in Australia.

Host Michael Hagedorn talks with bonsai luminary Chase Rosade and Kevin Faris (of the Bonsai Time podcast) about the early days of bonsai in the US and some of the adventures that followed.

Hosts and Expo Board members Eric, Andrew, and Jonas share highlights from the 2nd Pacific Bonsai Expo.

Links:
- Expo videos
- Photos of award winning trees
- Scans of Expo trees from 3D Bonsai
- How we created the Expo backdrops

Andrew Robson and Maciej Adwent address the question of how we can "get better at bonsai."

This is the first episode of the Deciduous Bonsai Podcast featuring Andrew and Maciej.

(Following a brief discussion about custom car sound systems - and the music that played on them), hosts Eric and Jonas chat with Cesar Ordoñez about collecting and growing a hardy species that thrives in the heat - the olive. 

Host Eric talks with Mike Pistello about his bonsai history, growing bonsai in the Bay Area, and showing bonsai in exhibits.

Host Eric Schrader chats with Bonsai Society of San Francisco members Bernard Marque and David Scheltema about growing bonsai in a mild climate and the learning opportunities they've experienced working with their club.

Just about everyone in the Bay Area bonsai scene knows about bonsai bros Jay and Greg McDonald, two of the most enthusiastic bonsai spokespeople in Northern California. Join Eric in a wide ranging conversation with Jay and Greg about their adventures in bonsai.

Join host Eric Schrader in conversation with Sam Tan about Coast redwood and Monterey cypress.

Eric and Jonas talk about their early experiences at bonsai shows and provide an update about the Pacific Bonsai Expo.

Which trees would you keep if you had to narrow your collection down to three trees? What would you look to acquire if you lost all of your trees?

South African bonsai grower Richard Wright has faced these and similar questions more than once since he started working with small trees, and he's found that the experience has given him great focus in life and in bonsai.

Learn more about Rich:
Bonsai Rich on IG
I am Richard Wright (personal website)

Eric and Jonas chat about what jury members are looking for in the trees selected for the Pacific Bonsai Expo.

Jonas and Eric talk about common mistakes juniper growers make and what you can do instead.

• Juniper eCourse

The submission period for the 2024 Expo has closed and Eric and Jonas discuss next steps with a focus on the Expo's goals for the jury and judging processes.

Host Jonas talks with Eric Schrader about what's been going on behind the scenes in preparation for this year's Pacific Bonsai Expo.

Pacific Bonsai Expo images on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificbonsaiexpo/

John and Michael sit down over some tea and discuss some of the benefits of empowering hobbyists to grow and develop trees from scratch in their back yards with the oversight of the professional community.  

Happy Holidays from all of us a the Bonsai Wire!

Jonas talks with Nathan Bill, Jesse Gilbertson, and Tim Hutson about next year's Bonsai Central, an ambitious bonsai convention hosted by the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis.

Links:
- Convention website
- Registration
- Submit a tree to the exhibit

Jonas speaks with UK bonsai artist Corin Tomlinson of Greenwood Bonsai Studio about growing up with bonsai, the UK bonsai scene, and building a life and business around bonsai.

Corin was in the US as a headliner for the 8th US National Bonsai Exhibition. The two caught up in Bill Valavanis' backyard on a beautiful day following the exhibition.

Visit Corin's YouTube channel and website.
Image courtesy Greenwood Bonsai Studio

Jonas interviews attendees at the 8th US National Bonsai Exhibition.

In this episode, Jonas catches up with Dylan Ferreira. Dylan runs Cedar Rose Bonsai & Specialty Nursery in Placerville, California where he grows pre-bonsai and material for accent plants.

Contact Dylan about plant availability at 707-217-8314 or ferreira.dylan2@gmail.com.

Hosts Carmen Leskoviansky and Michael Hagedorn talk about the benefits of shade cloth - the number one ally for keeping trees healthy in warm weather.

In this episode, Jonas chats with Martin Walters about the New Zealand bonsai scene, working with New Zealand native species, and his club, Kenzo Bonsai.

New Zealand natives mentioned in this episode:
Kauri
Totara
Pohutukawa

IG: @nz_bonsai_martin
FB: Martin Walters Bonsai

Having spent years making bonsai pots, host Michael Hagedorn shares his perspective on the containers in which we grow our trees. 

Enthusiasm for bonsai is what shines through when host Jonas Dupuich talks with Cesar Ordoñez of CenCal Bonsai. Cesar talks about keeping trees alive in the Central California Valley and shares his story of getting started with bonsai by learning from different teachers across the state.

Note: this episode contains spicy language.

Follow Cesar at:
https://www.instagram.com/cencalbonsai/
https://www.youtube.com/@cencalbonsai6429

Host Jonas Dupuich talks with Bob Pressler of Kimura Bonsai Nursery and Michael Roberts, president of the Golden State Bonsai Federation, about bonsai in California, bringing in teachers from around the world, the need for developing bonsai teachers, and the upcoming GSBF Bonsai Rendezvous.

Image: Japanese black pine at the Kimura Bonsai Nursery

In this mini episode recorded last fall, hosts Jonas and Andrew discuss the pros and cons of grafting exotic foliage on native conifers.

Host Jonas Dupuich chats with Eric Schrader about the best ways to teach how to grow pines from scratch.

Eric's new course about growing shohin black pine from seed is available at Bonsaify.com.

At long last - we're back! Our publishing schedule isn't fully back to normal yet but we'd like to share a few episodes we recorded last fall while we gear up for what's next.

In this episode, Sam and Addison talk tell us how they progressed so rapidly in bonsai both in their studies and in the organizations that they help run, respectively, the Bonsai Society of San Francisco and East Bay Bonsai Society.

(Photo: Coast redwood by Sam Tan as exhibited at the Pacific Bonsai Expo; image by Aki Yamakawa)

Andrew Robson discusses the Pacific Bonsai Expo with organizers Jonas Dupuich and Eric Schrader.

Co-hosts Andrew and Jonas review their top 7 tips for preparing trees for exhibit.

Co-hosts Andrew and Jonas chat about one of their favorite pastimes - visiting bonsai exhibitions.

Andrew and Jonas chat about keeping bonsai happy during heat spells.

Why put on the Pacific Bonsai Expo? How's the planning going? What can we do to help? Andrew Robson chats with Eric Schrader and Jonas Dupuich to find out.

Pacific Bonsai Expo Website