Accents
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Mar 10 2007
I have an small assortment of accent plants growing next to my bonsai. Here are a few of them.
This first one is a Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium). I bought it a few years ago now I can find it all over my yard 
The pot is a free form cone shape I made and glazed with several glazes. A close up of the flower. As an accent it is a bit leggy but looks ok with larger bonsai.
I found this accent plant while golfing in March. I took a piece and it has been flowering every since although lately it seems to have slowed down in the summer heat. I put it in a cheap bonsai pot so please excuse that. I believe its Ohio Spiderworth or Blue Jacket, Tradescantia ohiensis. It’s a day flower as the blooms appear in the morning. By night time they turn to a blackish gelatinous mush (same thing happens if you touch them.)
These are some succulent accents. I don’t know the species nor names. The first is in a Chinese pot. The second in is a pot by Dale Cochoy.
This is Ledebouria socialis (used to be called Squill). Its a free form pot I made.
Dwarf Lirope, varigated. Another free form pot made by me.
This is Star Grass,Dichromena colorata, also called Star Rush or White Topped Sedge. The white portion is actually a bract. It grows wild in my yard. The pot is by Jim Barret.
This is a dwarf rush, probably some sort of Juncus but I’m not sure of the variety. The pot has a small dragon on the side. I don’t recall where i got this pot.
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August 25th, 2009 at 8:04 am
I got your book (Introduction to Bonsai) several months ago, and, to be honest, like so many, put on the “to read” stack,” with many other stacks of material. Nothing like getting ordered off your feet for a day or two to catch up on reading.
To my delight, I found your book a “tour de force” of the art of bonsai. You didn’t miss anything that I could see. A rank amateur could read that book and talk and work like an old bonsai nut.
I think the thing about the book that fooled me was, the remarkable photos both in quantity and quality that portrayed to me “one more coffee table” bonsai book. It may work well as such, but it has so much detail in it–it should be on every bonsai enthusiast’s reference shelf as well. This is a “must read.”
Clearly, you spend countless hours and travel to accumulate that much material. Knowing your inclination for perfection, it is clear that the material is authentic and represents–accurately, the best of bonsai and bonsai techniques around the world.
As publisher/editor of the Gulfstream Journal of Tropical Bonsai I know good work when I see it, and the cost of doing it. As curator of the Morikami Museum–Gulfstream Collection bonsai exhibit–for over 12 years, I know the horticulture is sound as well as the design details.
Congratulations on a remarkable piece of work. I hope people find this jewel and take advantage of what you present to them.