The first in a series of Black Pine DVDs titled Japanese Black Pine ~ The First 10 years: From Seed to Bonsai Pot, is nearing completion, and will be available shortly.

Hiro has now placed some of his Suiseki and Raku on the site for very reasonable prices. You can check them out here.

Hiroshi Matsuda, in addition to teaching his current students in the classroom he has built at the nursery, teaching college classes on Bonsai, giving workshops at local Bonsai clubs, taking care of the thousand plus tress that make up Matsuda Bonsai Nursery, has several instructional DVD projects that he is currently working on. These are in various stages of completion, and will be released to the public once they meet Hiro's exacting standards, and can be sent to the duplicator. The current projects include:

• a Beginners Bonsai series that will teach, in great detail, all of the skills required by the student to successfully design, create, and maintain a Bonsai; and prepare them for advanced studies at the intermediate ~ advanced level. This series will consist of 5 to 7 in depth DVDs.

• an Intermediate ~ Advanced Bonsai series that will build upon the knowledge and skills taught in the Beginners Bonsai series.

• a DVD on the Bonniwa style of Bonsai landscape developed by Hiro. This series covers all aspects of creating a Bonsai landscape, including making the tray, designing the landscape, selecting the plants and other materials.

• a series of DVDs dealing with all aspects of the Japanese Black Pine - the most revered of the Bonsai, and one of the most difficult to turn into a successful Bonsai.

• a DVD covering all the various Seasonal Aspects of Bonsai Care - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each season presents the student of Bonsai with a different set of challenges that have to be addressed in properly caring for a Bonsai.