Maple Kissing the Rock (Arce Besando La Roca)

That’s a rock sticking out on the left side of this Trident maple. According to Juan Andrade, the maple is kissing the rock (Arce “besando” la roca) We’ve been posting recurring themes these days. For example we’ve run a whole string of Before & Afters lately. Now with yesterday (another before & after) and today, the new binding factor is Juan Andrade. Juan is one of a whole host of young Western apprentices (Costa Rica in Juan’s case) who are studying or have studied in Japan. The photos and quotes shown here are from Juan’s timeline NEW SPECIAL Watering Cans … Continue reading Maple Kissing the Rock (Arce Besando La Roca)

Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

This Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) presents a number of striking features, not the least of which is its powerful nebari (surface roots). The photo originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 35. Yesterday we featured a post on nebari, part of a long history of posts on the topic. Today we’ll go all the way back to April 2009 (our infancy) for our third ever nebari post. It was titled In Search of the Perfect Nebari – part two (Part one was comprised of An Ingenious Technique and An Ingenious Technique part 2 taken together). Continued below… Special Kilo Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

Pot Contest – We Have a Winner!

Pot #2 finished first. Just over three weeks ago we started a contest called Choosing the Right Pot. Here’s the link if you’d like to recharge your memory. A total of 139 people entered the contest. It turned out to be a neck and neck race between two pots. Pot #2 started very strong and looked like it would win going away. Then in the last week or so, pot number 5 gave a valiant chase, finishing a mere one vote short. The breakdown on the favorite pot-tree combination is as follows: 32 chose Pot #2 31 chose Pot #5 … Continue reading Pot Contest – We Have a Winner!