Catalpa Bonsai Early Updates - Seedling and Yamadori Examples

Source material: June 2025

            The catalpa says good morning! If you see any trees in the southern or eastern US this time of year (late spring) with large white and purple flowers followed by string bean-looking seed pods, you've found a native catalpa! Below I share some additional notes on working with this species for bonsai which I have started to learn over the past few years.

Sections:

1. Notes on Catalpa Seeds and Seedlings
2. Notes on Catalpa Yamadori and Wild Digging

In Vivo Bonsai Announcements/Upcoming Events in Columbus

• June 18, 6-9pm. Clip and Grow Styling for Succulent Bonsai - Lecture and Workshop with Central Ohio Cactus and Succulent Society.
• This is my next lecture/workshop here in Columbus. Since the Central Ohio Cactus and Succulent Society are already knowledgeable on succulent growing, for this educational day I will focus first on discussing styling via clip and grow. I will share some examples from Brucera (Frankincense), Jade, Dwarf Jade, and others so you can see the technique in action over time. Then you will get the opportunity to plant and style your own succulent bonsai. Species available include jade, gollum jade, dwarf jade, and others. Facebook event is here.
• July 3, 6-9pm. I will be presenting/demonstrating for the Akron-Canton Bonsai Society on the topic of deadwood! Bring a tree that you could use some advice on improving its deadwood if you happen to be in the Cleveland, Ohio area. I will have several stylistic examples of deadwood and potentially some manual carving tools available. Full info will be posted here.
• July 19-20. Columbus Bonsai Society Annual Show!
• Details coming soon but there will be vendors, workshops, and great trees! Facebook event here.

A catalpa flower. After a late spring rain, the flowers can often be found on the ground.

Announcing the CBS INVASIVE Alliance / Yamadori Study Group

 Integrating Native Vegetation And Stopping Invasive VExations

aka the Columbus Bonsai Society INVASIVE Alliance. The next evolution of our CBS Yamadori (Wild bonsai) Study Group. 

Read on for the origins and goals of this idea.

In Vivo / Central Ohio Bonsai Announcements:

1. CBS Japanese Brush Painting/Scroll-Making Workshop on 3/17! Sign up here. You do not need to be a member to sign up.
2. CBS Club Dig Days for 2024 are out! - See the list and RSVP here to be sent the addresses of the events. Options include 4/6, 4/13, and 4/14/2024. All are welcome. Contact me with any questions.
3. I now sell pots! I received a special shipment to sell on behalf of Blue Nose Trading. See the pieces of her work I have available here or schedule an appointment to visit my nursery in Columbus, OH via the contact form here. These are mainly for local pickup/delivery only.
4. I now sell pure pumice and pumice-pine bark pre-mixed bonsai soil in central Ohio. Check out here for more information and prices. This is the mix I make and use for myself to good results with my trees!

My educational display from the CBS 2023 Annual show featuring invasive Tree of Heaven and Spotted Lanternfly. I will do a more detailed write up on these one day for the blog...

Todd Schlafer Finds the Trunkline - Columbus Bonsai Society Full Demo

Source material: 10/17/2021

        Hello all! Just wanted to share quickly one of my recent online bonsai projects. Similar to what I did during my time with the Puget Sound Bonsai Association's DVD archive, as part of my role as the librarian for the Columbus Bonsai Society, I'm starting a CBS Youtube channel and uploading their meetings for all to see! Please enjoy the first video on their channel featuring a demonstration by Todd Schlafer of First Branch Bonsai. Based out of Denver, Todd is now one of the most in-demand traveling bonsai artists due in part to his training with Ryan Neil and extensive experience with collecting and styling native species from the Rocky Mountains.

        The before and after photos can be seen in the first 20 seconds of the video. I found myself amazed by the tree that Todd found inside that challenging raw stock. There's a good lesson in there on how to simplify a complicated piece of raw stock, but Todd also discussed many other topics at length during this demonstration such as fungicide use, how he got into bonsai, how he decided to become a bonsai professional, and next steps for this tree such as how to care for a tree styled in late fall as the growing season is ending.

Crazy for Catalpa! Bonsai prospects for an unusual North American native

         If you're familiar with the northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa, then you know it's a pretty strange tree and certainly not one which you would expect to be used for bonsai. Maybe it's a fool's errand for me to attempt to tame a tree with 12" leaves and 20" seed pods, however something about that staccato, memorable name has got me captivated. I've been observing specimen of it everywhere I go around Columbus as it is one of the more easily identifiable naive trees around - so much so, I've even got my girlfriend shouting "Catalpa!" every time we pass one. From this foundation, basic identification skills had led me to observe the species more intimately. As with any unknown species, the more scenarios you observe a specimen, the more you can observe its potential for bonsai. In the case of the catalpa, observations of a full-sized specimen, the seeding frequency of seeded, the fast growth of those volunteers, and the discovery of one naturally stunted catalpa all inform my plans to experiment with this species for bonsai.

 Sections

1. Catalpa Characteristics (General)

2. Catalpa Assessment for Bonsai

    2A. Catalpa seeds prolifically and grows quickly

    2B. Catalpa can dramatically reduce leaf size... in the right condition!

    2C. Catalpa respond to pruning with reliable backbudding

    2D. Catalpa deadwood is durable

3. Potential Disadvantages

    3A. Brittle branches

    3B. Possible poor ramification

4. Closing Thoughts

5. Blog Announcements

Catalpa is capable of producing a variety of leaf sizes. The left-most leaf is typical for a healthy catalpa, while the right leaves are from a naturally stunted catalpa.