The Grove Bonsai

The Grove Bonsai Miami based bonsai artist šŸŒ“
Teaching you how to source, style, and care for your bonsai tree. Garden open by appt
(1)

06/02/2026

Hey hey hey look at my cool literati buttonwood bonsai! The new pot I put it in reminds me of a sunset on the beach. Thats allā€¦carry on šŸļøšŸŒ…āœŒšŸ¼

Pot by

06/02/2026

This buttonwood has been teaching me patience.

What first caught my eye was the powerful base and weathered deadwood, but the design you see today didnā€™t exist when I brought it home. I like trees that challenge me but to be honest, this one scared me a little bit.

Much of the living structure was grown and developed over the last two years.

There were countless possible paths for this tree. Different fronts, different planting angles, different stories. In the end, I was drawn to a design that feels shaped by the forces of nature rather than by my own hand.

One of the things I love most about bonsai is that weā€™re not creating something from nothing. Weā€™re stepping into a story thatā€™s already been unfolding for decades, sometimes centuries.

ā€œBonsai is sculpture in slow motion.ā€

This tree feels like a reminder of that.

bonsaidesign floridabonsai grovebonsai

05/22/2026

Here is my 2026 bonsai display for the show. I really wanted to honor the traditional Japanese approach to displaying bonsai while still leaving my own artistic fingerprint on it. I wanted the composition to feel architectural and light, but still grounded and calm.

These Blue Bell flowers famously smell like grape soda so the word ā€œeffervescentā€ kept popping up in my head.

The whole display became a study in contrast and color, the soft purple flowers of the blue bell (Desmodium) against the yellow tones of the Dahlberg daisy accent. I used a custom travertine stand along with a handmade jita carved from Purple Heart wood for the accent piece.

I love the old traditions of bonsai display because they create a framework, but within that framework thereā€™s still room to experiment, interpret, and make something personal.

If youā€™re in the Orlando area this weekend come check it out at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center.

04/21/2026

Humble beginnings.

This one came from overlooked nursery stock, but the structure was already there.

Inspired by the banyans here in Miami, I used the Ficus Microcarpa to bring out that sense of age and weight.

Now itā€™s time to let it grow.
Aerial roots, ramificationā€¦ all of it.

04/11/2026

I LOVE this time of year. The bald cypress are pushing fresh, delicate green leaves and it just feels alive.

This is a mother daughter composition.

In this style, you have a dominant tree and a smaller one that tells the story alongside it. The mother is taller, stronger, more established. The daughter is more delicate, still developing.

The placement is everything. The daughter sits slightly behind the mother, almost tucked in by her base, like sheā€™s peeking out. It creates this feeling of protection, like the mother is shielding her from storms and harsh conditions.

They move together too, flowing in the same direction like theyā€™ve been shaped by the same environment. Even the canopy plays a role, with the mother slightly overhanging to create that sense of shelter.

I love this style. I like to call it father daughter though. šŸ˜‰

The last bald cypress repot of the season.Thereā€™s something so elegant about this tree. I try not to over-manicure it, l...
02/08/2026

The last bald cypress repot of the season.
Thereā€™s something so elegant about this tree. I try not to over-manicure it, letting it keep a bit of its wildness.
Itā€™s gone through a few iterations over the years ā€” you can see the earlier versions in the slides, with the last one dating back to 2020.
A constant friend, year after year.

01/15/2026

I grew this tree from a seedling.

A few days ago, during repotting, I found a gnarly root crossing the front of the trunk. I tried every mental trick to justify keeping itā€¦ but eventually realized it had to go. So I removed it and carved a small hollow in its place.

Iā€™m really happy with how it turned out. Iā€™ll deepen and refine it over time, but the story is already there.

01/04/2026

This bald cypress was collected one year ago and left completely free to grow as it recovered. Just letting it regain strength and do its thing.

I found it growing in a boggy area where the soil stayed wet even during the dry season. That constant moisture meant shallow roots and made it a surprisingly easy dig.

Repot thoughts
Iā€™ve had great results growing bald cypress in regular potting soil when the goal is vigor. The tradeoff is long coarse roots. Once a tree starts transitioning into bonsai, I prefer a standard bonsai mix. This one is now in pumice, lava, and akadama.

Styling
I went back and forth between a more traditional design and a flat top. The long tapering trunk ultimately made the decision for me. A flat top felt like the best way to highlight that line. My Dremel broke recently so the top wound was carved entirely by hand. I was intimidated at first, but slowing down actually made me like the result more.

Inspiration
Iā€™ve always drawn inspiration for bald cypress from . Tall trees, slender silhouettes, lots of presence without bulk. That was the starting point for this design.

This one should explode with growth next season, and Iā€™ll keep directing it from there, removing unwanted growth and increasing ramification. Still very early, but Iā€™m excited about where itā€™s headed.

01/01/2026

This started as a simple bougainvillea cutting.
No fancy material. No big budget. Just time, patience, and learning whatā€™s worth growing.

When I first got into bonsai, I let ā€œI donā€™t have the moneyā€ or ā€œI canā€™t grow that hereā€ slow me down. What changed everything was learning how to source material and where to put my energy. This tree is a reminder that some of the best bonsai start as almost nothing.

If youā€™re early in your bonsai journey and feeling stuck, I put together a free PDF that breaks down 4 places to source bonsai materialā€”what works, what doesnā€™t, and what to look for.
Linkā€™s in my bio šŸŒ±

Address

Coconut Grove, FL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Grove Bonsai posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category