Review of “Bonsai Hawaiian Style: An Illustrated Guide” by Richard Jeffery Wagner

Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)

You know, there's a reason why the main character in Candide by Voltaire—despite his wild, exciting, and turbulent life—became a gardener near the end of his life... there's just something about gardening that's so fulfilling, relaxing, and strangely encouraging. It's something to work on and to strive toward, comparable to something like golf or knitting. However, while with golf you're working to improve your game, and with knitting you're making stuff like scarves, gardening has the added benefit of the practitioner interacting with another LIFE: a plant, a flower, a tree, etc.

You can work on that other LIFE, enhancing it, beautifying it, protecting it, helping it to grow and thrive. It's almost like raising a pet, in a sense.

It's with that in mind that we come to Bonsai Hawaiian Style: An Illustrated Guide by Richard Jeffery Wagner. You wouldn't expect a book about bonsai trees and how to grow them to be THIS interesting or captivating, but –again—there's just something about it. Furthermore, Wagner (the author), approaches the subject with so much pizzazz and passion that it's infectious! It impossible to ignore!

It helps a little bit that our founder is from Hawaii and has experience with bonsai and many of the different varieties. However, there's a lot that we didn't know.

We learned a lot from this book.

We didn't know that Hau wood was used for outrigger canoe floats. In effect, this would make these integral to the movement of the original Polynesians to the Hawaiian Islands. We didn't know Kukui was useful for making candles and medicine. We didn't know that macadamia isn't Hawaiian but actually from Australia! In fact, that was quite a surprise!

We didn't know about the concept of Jin as it relates to bonsai.

We didn't know about Kamani wood being good for making bowls or that the first Polynesians brought seeds of it along for that very purpose. What foresight! We don't give these ancient travelers and navigators enough credit.

We didn't know that certain kinds of plants/trees could be grown in bonsai form including lychee, mountain apple, plumeria, and sandalwood. For some reason, we usually associate bonsai arrangements only with small bamboos, like the ones they sell at some stores here in the continental United States.

Apparently, you can grow a lot more in bonsai form.

Also, apparently, bonsai is so much more than just growing silly little trees. It's actually quite elaborate! In fact, there are even shows and contests/competition for bonsai and bonsai arrangements. So, reading this was almost like reading how to get your daughter ready for their first beauty pageant (or how to get your son ready for his first bodybuilding show)! It really does read that way!

If you're into farm fairs, there's a bit of those vibes too.

It's about aesthetics, challenge, precision, and sometimes even experimentation. It's about knowing what works and doesn't work. It's about knowing what's possible, impossible, or highly improbable.

Speaking of impossible (or highly improbable), there are certain challenging breeds of trees that either can't or most likely won't grow in a bonsai arrangement including coconut, banana, avocado, and papaya. For one reason or another, they just won't grow in this scenario.

However, we can't help but feel like the author is still daring or challenging ambitious bonsai people to try it out for themselves. That's where experimentation plays a part in this. In fact, the author even admits that they've tried to grow some of these, sometimes multiple times despite the odds. We're guessing it's kinda like discovering Excalibur, finding the Loch Ness Monster, running a 4.2 40-yard-dash, or solving the country's debt problem—the fact that it seems impossible just makes it more tantalizing.

This book also went into some of the nuances of bonsai like the different kinds of things you can fill the pot or box with like basalt, sand, potting soil, and even this things called “super soil.”

The pots themselves have their own nuances. There's this variety called a terracotta pot with wooden legs glued to it that can make your presentation extra fancy. There are ways to decorate the pots with rocks and stuff. There are glazed and unglazed pots that have different advantages and disadvantages.

Boxes can be fun and cool, but the author is quick to remind the reader that boxes also rot faster.

The author includes warnings about following the “small leaf rule.” Pruning is a huge part of bonsai.

Another warning that the author gives is about planning both your pruning and wiring—especially your cross-wiring. If you don't plan out your wiring, you're going to leave marks and bruising on your trees. They're not going to grow to the best of their abilities.

Another great thing that this book does is how to construct your own bonsai growing bench, all the way down to the brass screws.

We really, really, really wish that the author had gone more in depth with the actual bonsai plants, arrangements, and ornamentation like they did with the growing bench. A lot of the time, it seems like the author is just touching on topics. This isn't an unabridged or encyclopedic book about bonsai, and it really could've been!

We've said in the past: if you're going to write about one thing, go ALL IN with that one thing.

One of the worst phrases used in this book is “beyond the scope of this book.” Yes, this phrase is only used once, but it points out how we kinda felt like the author was dangling a carrot in front of us and not letting us eat it. They would start talking about a type of bonsai, then go on to the next one. Wait, how can I have my own lychee tree? Can we go back to that? Why stop short? This is especially the case if you're going to charge textbook-level prices for a book. 

As an aside, we would recommend that the author consider a black-and-white version of the book that would be more cost-effective. 

But we digress. We understand that this is kinda a book that's supposed to get you interested and engaged with the subject. You're constantly invited to go do your own research and check out one of the author's many recommended sources (books). A part of us just kinda wishes it was all here.

The author reminds us that “Few things in life improve with age, but bonsai are one of them.”

Lastly, we have to give credit where credit is due with regard to the pictures and illustrations. They lose a little bit of quality from their conversion to book format, but they really enhance this book.

So, maybe we can make like Candide and get into growing some trees!

Check it out on Amazon!