Our big FREE give-away & more to come
A rare sunny weekend is beckoning, so we’ll make this one quick and easy. Stay posted for more powerful Taiwanese bonsai in the next few days. Meanwhile, don’t forget your FREE ITEMS when you order at Stone Lantern (but only if you put FREE ITEMS in the comments when you order).

FREE STUFF when you order at Stone Lantern and you remember to put FREE ITEMS in the comments. For details scroll down to the post below or click here.

You must put ‘FREE ITEMS’ IN THE COMMENTS when you order. If you do not put FREE ITEMS in the comments, then you will not get any. DON’T FORGET!

Shipping costs are not included in determining your order amount.

FREE BONSAI WIRE: With orders from 1.00 to 20.00 (not including shipping), we will throw in one free 100gram 4.5mm roll of bonsai wire (photo is not a 100gram roll).

FREE BONSAI WIRE & MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK: With orders from 20.00 to 40.00 we will throw in a medium cleaning block along with your wire.

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK & ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS: With orders from 40.00 to 60.00 we will throw in one pair of free scissors along with your wire and cleaning block.

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS & 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER: With orders from 60.00 to 100.00 we will throw in a 8oz bag of Green Dream along with you wire, cleaning block & scissors.

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS, 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER & BONSAI PRO FERTILIZER: With orders from 100.00 to 150.00 we will throw in a bottle of Bonsai Pro Fertilizer along with your wire, cleaning block, scissors & Green Dream.

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS, 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER, BONSAI PRO FERTILIZER & JIN SEAL LIME SULFUR: With orders over 150.00 we will throw in a bottle of Jin Seal Lime Sulfur along with your wire, cleaning block, scissors, Green Dream & Bonsai Pro.

Rules of engagement
1. You must put ‘FREE ITEMS‘ in the comments box when you place your order. If you don’t put it in the comments, it won’t happen. No exceptions will be made.

2. Order amounts will be determined by the prices of the items you purchase. Shipping costs are not included in determining order amounts.

3. Free items will not show up on your sales order. Don’t worry. As long as you put ‘FREE ITEMS’ in the comments, you’ll get your rewards.

4. Sale ends at 11:59 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time, Wed May 23rd. No exceptions will be made.

Don’t forget to put FREE ITEMS in the comments box

Now half price. Order this collector’s set from the first two U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions and save 50%

It’s not a bonsai, but it is a sweet photo. It turned up on the New England Bonsai Gardens facebook page a while back.

Restyling a Mugo pine. The Bonsai Journal has an excellent step-by-step photo article by Wolfgang Putz on his award winning Mugo pine. This photo was taken in October 2002 at the Euro Bonsai Gala. The tree was selected among the fifteen best trees of the show by the two special guests from Japan, Mr. Harunobu Tokita and Mr. Yoshihiro Nakamizu.

Paolo Gai sent us this digitally altered version of an ancient looking Ezo spruce that we featured two weeks ago. At the time I wondered what would happen if you removed the shari. Now, thanks to Paolo Gai, we have an answer.

The old Ezo with its eye-catching shari.

Bonsai Tourists. This friendly photo is from the latest Bonsai No Satori, the Rosade Bonsai Studio Newsletter.

You don’t see that many Birch bonsai. Let along quality Birch bonsai. This one is from the Maros Bonsai Blog. Apologies to Maros for playing with the image in order to get a clear background. You can go here to see original photo.

This looks intriguing. I’ve often thought that residential retreats are one of the best ways to enhance your bonsai skills. You can check it out here.

Recently we featured a dramatic raft style bonsai. Now here’s another. It’s somewhat unusual because it starts above ground and finishes above ground. I think it’s worth noting that raft bonsai are not all that common outside of Japan. Unfortunately, I don’t know who this one belongs to. Anyone?

The Columbus Bonsai Society’s new newsletter is out. Among other things it features the event above and a review of Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono & Suiseki (on sale at Stone Lantern for only 9.95).

It’s that time of year. Bonsai West’s Spring Open House is coming soon.

Not so naturalistic
It’s not my intention to reopen the old naturalistic versus sculptural bonsai debate. It’s just that when you look at some of Masahiko Kimura‘s bonsai, the question seems to arise on its own; his highly refined deadwood-dominant bonsai stand in contrast to what you find in nature. Beyond that, I don’t know if more needs to be said, other than Kimura’s bonsai are truly mind blowing and that there’s no real need to draw lines and take sides.

Kimura’s Garden 2008
Here’s what Owen says about the photos that he posted under the title Kimura’s Garden 2008: “Photos really do not do justice to Kimura-san’s bonsai. The depth and complexity is lost a little in photos.” I second that sentiment. No photo of any bonsai anywhere, ever captures the sheer power that a world class bonsai conveys when you see it in person (come to the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition and see for yourself).

Up close.

Taking flight.

This undulating pine is no doubt a little closer to the way it was found in nature than the other trees shown here. In general, Kimura treats pines quite differently that junipers and some others.

This looks like a Hinoki. My semi-educated guess is that Kimura built the rock (you can see how in our book The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2).

NEW. Masters’ Series Set of three of our most popular bonsai books. Each one features bonsai step-by-step by Masahiko Kimura (Pine & Junipers feature other artists as well). Each is also available individually.

Take a look. Have you seen this video yet? If you haven’t, or even if you have, take a look. And then sign up for the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition.

Simplicity. Here’s another sweet tree from Higurashi Jardinera Creativa. Aside from being something within the reach of us ordinary bonsai enthusiasts, what strikes me about this one is the way the soft somewhat shaggy foliage and the soft somewhat shaggy moss play together.

Like butter. Have you seen our new Stone Lantern-Corex bonsai tools? We sell them and I like them. Though where there’s money involved, hype soon follows, still, I think that these are the best tools for the price that you’ll find anywhere. They look good, they feel good, and they cut like butter.

Begging the question
I found the photo above (and the one below) at Tae Kukiwon Bonsai on facebook. The caption says John Pitt Bonsai Ceramics – Hawthorn at its best, so I visited John Pitt’s website to see if I could find it there, which I couldn’t. Then suddenly, a very faint flicker occurred, somewhere in the dark recesses of my aging memory, and I thought to search Bonsai Bark for John Pitt. Sure enough, there it was, almost exactly a year ago to the day, and almost foliage free.

This sweet looking peach bonsai is also from Tae Kukiwon Bonsai. It belong to Ivson R. Filipak, at least that’s what the caption says: “Prunus persica – Proprietário Senhor Ivson R. Filipak. Prunus persica var. nucipersica (nectarina anã) que foi adquirida como pré-bonsai no Bonsai do Campo em Porto Amazonas (PR) de propriedade do amigo Carlos Tramujas. Trabalhei nela 4 ano”

*** for those of you who bothered to read this far, you’ll receive a free Bonsai Aesthetics scissors with your next Stone Lantern order (provided you order by May 31st, 2012). All you have to do is put the following in the comments box with your order “free scissors from Bonsai Bark” and we’ll take care of the rest.

Pines and junipers at Meifu-ten
All of the photos in this post have been lifted from a post on Bonsai Tonight titled Pines and junipers at Meifu-ten. I picked out four of the most unusual trees because bonsai that are both high quality and unusual seem to exist at the cutting edge of the art (I’m not sure if this statement is really true, it just stuck me at this moment; you can be the judge).

A question mark. There area couple things that mark this striking Shimpaku as unusual, even eccentric. The most notable of these is the trunk’s question mark shape; a shape that is sometimes criticized in Japanese bonsai. Then there’s the way the deadwood forms an almost closed semi-circular hole (an abundance of strangely shaped deadwood is very common these days, especially in Japanese bonsai, so perhaps this isn’t really worth mentioning).

Time for a pine. This one’s eccentricity speaks for itself (hint: it’s not the powerful base with its excellent sabamiki or the aged bark).

Another Shimpaku. It’s easy to picture this strangely swooping tree growing down a cliff somewhere in the mountains of Japan. I wonder if the busyness of the base distracts from the tree.

While we’re on the topic of Pines and Junipers: these Stone Lantern Masters’ Series books can be purchased individually (both are discounted) or as set (for a larger discount).

Our Stone Lantern warehouse is closed this week. Orders received this week will be shipped next week (the week of the 23rd) on a first-come, first-serve basis. Speaking of orders; don’t forget to fertilize your bonsai! Under-feeding leads to weak trees.

The Roots of Bonsai. The Bonsai Society of Dallas presents the LSBF 2012 Convention: The Roots of Bonsai, featuring Kathy Shaner, Michael Hagedorn and Ryan Neil (April 27-29). All three of these highly skilled bonsai artists studied in Japan and have a wealth of knowledge to share. As of yesterday, I’m told that some workshops are still open.

We’re saving this space. Send us information on your upcoming bonsai event <wayne@stonelantern.com>. If we like it (we like most of them) and especially if you provide a link or two, we’ll feature it here on Bonsai Bark.

See you there. This promises to be one of the greatest bonsai events ever in the U.S. Maybe the greatest. June 9-10. The Fair Expo Center, Rochester, New York. Details here.

Photographing bonsai. Morten Albek, photographer, author and bonsai artist, has an enlightening article on photographing bonsai on Bonsai Empire’s website. Morten is one of the few photographers who seems to be able to effectively photograph bonsai in natural settings (without studio backdrops). This tree is a good example; there’s plenty of potential background noise, but the way the lighting and depth of field are used minimizes distraction. In addition to visiting Morten online, you can also enjoy his high quality bonsai photos in his excellent book, Majesty in Miniature: Shohin Bonsai.

Japanese Bonsai Pots. The cherry blossoms above and the pot below are from a blog titled Japanese Bonsai Pots. If you like beautiful (perhaps even museum quality) bonsai pots, you’ll like this blog.

BSF 39th Annual Convention. Featuring Ryan Neil, Peter Warren and Kora Dalager. May 25-28.

Whoops. Somehow I lost the source for this photo. Apologies to the owner, photographer and everyone else. However, lost or found, this is a wonderful twin trunk pine. Zigs, zags and all.

Bonsai at the University of Michigan. Matthaei Botanical Gardans Bonsai & Penjing Collection. (the two bonsai photos above are by Carlos Diaz). Jerry Meislik (author of Ficus Bonsai) is the chairperson of the collection. You can visit Jerry’s site in addition to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens site, for information on the collection.

This monster is from the 2011 ASPAC. The photo is by Marcel Bebot Calungsud. It would be great to see a photo of the full tree, sans scaffolding.

Marc Noelanders is coming to Sydney. Tony Bebb too. The Tops-Weekend Workshops, August 24-26. Sponsored by the Illawarra Bonsai Society.

Mark your calendar for a world-class bonsai weekend. June 9th and 10th. Details here.

The biggest challenge with the smallest trees
Mini bonsai provide challenges that you don’t find with larger trees. Basically, it’s about showing something that’s compelling with a very limited number of branches to work with (you can almost always forget secondary, let alone tertiary branches). There are other challenges too, such as working in such a small format, and keeping something alive in such a small pot, but I think that such severely limited branching is the biggest challenge.

Warehouse closed for one week
Our warehouse will be closed for vacation starting today (Friday, April 13th) at 12:00 noon U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. All orders received after 12:00 noon today will be shipped the week of April 23rd on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Our free Green Dream giveaway is over today (Friday, April 13th) at 12:00 noon U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. Orders received after that time will not include free Green Dream. If you place your order later, PLEASE DO NOT ASK us to make an exception. Don’t worry, our prices are so good, that you’ll still be getting a great deal.

Almost grotesque, but pretty cool too. I don’t dare guess, but if I did, I’d say it’s a Winterberry (aka Japanese holly).

That’s a pretty compelling trunk, taper and all. And talk about limited branching… Again, I won’t guess that it’s a crabapple.

For an in-depth study of the small bonsai, you might want to take a look here.

The photo is from a series of photos on Morten Albek’s Shohin-Europe website, titled Mansei-en 2011. Mansei-en is the name of Saburo Kato’s bonsai garden and Morten Albek is the author of Majesty in Miniature, Shohin Bonsai (Stone Lantern Publishing). Mr. Kato died in 2008 (Phoenix Bonsai has an excellent biography). Morten is, as far as I know, alive and well in Denmark .

Growing better shohin roots and trunk
Morten Albek has just posted a practical guide to growing better roots and trunks. It’s for Shohin bonsai, but you can apply the techniques to larger bonsai as well.

One of a series of photos by Morten Albek on growing better shohin roots and trunk.