The Tallest Trees in the World Brought Down to Bonsai Size

Closeup of a California Coast redwood from Bonsai Mirai’s collection. It’s interesting that most Redwood bonsai tend to be so stocky, given that that they are the tallest trees in the world. You can see the photo of the whole tree below Continuing from yesterday with Bonsai Mirai,the home of what must be the largest and most impressive collection of collected bonsai (yamadori) in the country. Today it’s California’s Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) There are so many iconic North American trees. In fact, and at the risk of just a little chauvinism, our rich array of trees just might be the most … Continue reading The Tallest Trees in the World Brought Down to Bonsai Size

Black Hills Bonsai – What You Do to the Land, You Do to Yourself

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) collected by Andrew (aka Andy) Smith and first styled by Walter Pall. It would hard to find a better pair for the job. Andy (Golden Arrow Bonsai) is a professional forester, master collector of wild bonsai and a bonsai artist in his own right, and Walter Pall is a world famous bonsai artist, teacher, entertainer and owner of a very impressive bonsai collection. The photograph is by Walter. My apologies for the fuzz. It’s the result of dramatically increasing the image size (on balance I think this size presents a better look at the tree … Continue reading Black Hills Bonsai – What You Do to the Land, You Do to Yourself

Great Close Ups and other Bonsai Wonders

It’s not that often that you’ll find a tree with with the top half of the trunk deadwood. When you do, and in the right hands, the result can be striking. It’s a Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) that belongs to Ryan Neil (Bonsai Mirai). All the photos in this post are from Ryan’s facebook photos. One of the things I like about Ryan Neil’s photos are his close-ups. It doesn’t hurt that his trees are phenomenal and so well photographed in the first place. But then to show such vivid close-ups invites you in further. Like you are there in … Continue reading Great Close Ups and other Bonsai Wonders

Two More Reasons to Visit the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

This has to one of the most perfectly conceived and executed Kingsville boxwoods you’ll see anywhere. It belongs to Rodney Clemons. We first featured it and Rodney’s Winged Elm (below)just over a year ago in a post titled There’s No Better Time… The other two bonsai shown here are new to us. The other day I rediscovered the Kingsville above (facebook of course) along with this quote by Rodney Clemons… “I am feeling honored I received word this week that two of my trees have been accepted for the 2018 US National Exhibition. I think they just really love to travel. Photo by Joe Noga, … Continue reading Two More Reasons to Visit the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

A Masterful Example of how Energy Can Be Redirected

This powerful old cascading Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) is a masterful example of how energy can be directed downward in a tree that naturally wants to grow upward. The photo is from Bonsai Today Master Series; Pines. A late start today, so it’s time for a journey into our past. This post was one of our very firsts (Feb 2009 with an added azalea photo from a later post), but like so much with bonsai, is still 100% pertinent today… and tomorrow, and so forth. Whenever you prune, trim or pinch, you are redirecting energy. If you remove a … Continue reading A Masterful Example of how Energy Can Be Redirected

The Tallest Trees in the World?

This Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii* subsp. glauca) is one of numerous extraordinary bonsai at Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai (near Portland, Oregon). It was originally collected in the Rocky mountains by Randy Knight. It’s age is given as 100-250 years. Height is 36″ (91cm), width 52″ (132cm). Yesterday’s post got me thinking about Firs and it wasn’t a long trip from firs (Abies varieties) to Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii). So even though Douglas firs are not true firs, still, these photo are just too good to pass up NEW Deeper Discount 1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now only 16.00 … Continue reading The Tallest Trees in the World?

A Genuine Bonsai Pioneer, Roshi Tools, Bonsai Wire, Bonsai Soil & Flashing Back to the Artisans Cup

Close up of Dan Robinson’s Mountain hemlock, taken on my cell at the Artisans Cup. In SF now in the midst of another short family vacay, so to save precious time we’ll dig back to October 2015 at the Artisan’s Cup. We featured Dan Robinson’s bonsai and digs a couple posts ago, so continuing in the same vein… Continued below… Roshi Bonsai Tool Sale 30% off 2 or more roshi tools roshi sets the standard for affordable high quality bonsai tools 30% off 2 or more roshi tools plus another 10% off orders 100.00 or more and FREE Shipping on … Continue reading A Genuine Bonsai Pioneer, Roshi Tools, Bonsai Wire, Bonsai Soil & Flashing Back to the Artisans Cup

Dynamic Show Stoppers & Other Brilliant Bonsai

This brilliant Satsuki azalea is from a 2015 Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai add (see below). Yesterday we featured some striking photos from the Golden State Bonsai Federation. Today we’ve got some even more striking photos from a 2015 post we did on GSBF. Continued below… Bonsai Tool Sale Ends Tomorrow Night 30% to 35% off Roshi BONSAI Tools Roshi Bonsai Tools are famous for precision cuts, durability, beauty & great prices Roshi Sale Ends tomorrow, Sunday, Feb 19th at 11:59pm EST This dynamic show stopper with its massive deadwood swirl is one of many large bonsai from the private … Continue reading Dynamic Show Stoppers & Other Brilliant Bonsai

Highly Unusual & Undeniably Lush

This Hinoki forest is from the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 2009 Annual Show. It’s a very unusual planting and quite compelling in its lush naturalness. I’ve come across spruce groves while hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire that look something like this. You find them near the mountain tops, where the harsh climate causes the trees to dwarf and huddle together. Traveling again so it’s back to our archives. The photo and caption above are from a post way back in 2010. It’s hard to miss the canopy’s lush and luminous emerald green color. This is characteristic of Hinoki foliage … Continue reading Highly Unusual & Undeniably Lush

We’ve Got a Bonsai Detective Winner and…

This image from our 2016 Bonsai Calendar has nothing to do with our Bonsai Detective Contest. Though you might note that our Contest is now officially over and that this beautiful calendar is now half price (as is our Japanese Garden Calendar). We have a Bonsai Detective Contest winner. His name is Dane Smith. He submitted his correct answers (see below) in considerably less than an hour from the time the post went up (Stephen Moore submitted his correct answers only moments later). Now the ten thousand of you who are emailing your answers can go back to your whatever … Continue reading We’ve Got a Bonsai Detective Winner and…