Honeysuckle Bonsai – Before & After (& One Small Bonus)

This massive old Honeysuckle belongs to our friend Andy Rutledge. Here’s what Andy has to say about it, “The photo is not particularly well done, but I tried to make a decent backdrop. It’s just after a bit of new-growth pinching this afternoon. It’s a Lonicera (don’t know the species). It was collected by my teacher Nick Lenz a while back. Been in my care since 2010. It’s coming along.” Continued below… Two Brand New Bonsai Wire Sales 25% off 2+ rolls of 500 gram Bonsai Aesthetics Wire 25% off 2+ rolls of U.S. manufactured Copper Wire* plus an extra … Continue reading Honeysuckle Bonsai – Before & After (& One Small Bonus)

20 Thoughts on Bunjin Bonsai – Without a Doubt the Best Discussion We’ve Ever Had

Would you call this a Bunjin style bonsai? Whatever you call it, you don’t see too many bonsai that look like this. Even most bunjin are not quite like this; most are conifers and most don’t have such a meandering array of multiple trunks, especially multiple crossing trunks. And then there’s the leaf size (is this a Sumac?). Without a doubt… Back to our the archives. But not to just any old post; this one from 2012 provoked what was and still is, without a doubt, the best discussion we’ve ever had (in six and a half years and over … Continue reading 20 Thoughts on Bunjin Bonsai – Without a Doubt the Best Discussion We’ve Ever Had

A Fabulous Fake

Whatever it is, it’s wonderful. We just featured this ‘bonsai’ in our last post. Turns out it’s a fabulous fake. Or, maybe fake isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it’s a wonderful clay representation of a bonsai. The artist is Paul Finch, according to Nik Rozman. Running behind today so we’ve dipped into our archives and come up with this hodgepodge post from January 2012. Some dated events were removed for obvious reasons. Some unnecessarily wordy copy was also removed. Before and after. It helps to start with great stock. Still, it takes … Continue reading A Fabulous Fake

It’s About the Moss, Our Masters Bonsai Soil, and…

A little shaggy and the pot is dirty but it’s about the moss, our Masters Bonsai Soil and a post we did a while back. An important issue came up in a post we did a while back about our Masters Bonsai Soil. The comment that provoked the question was by Andy Rutledge. Here’s what Andy said: Soil particulate size, especially at the surface, is important. These photos, the latter two especially, indicate problems in tree health will arise in the coming growing season. Be careful. In a follow-up comment Andy goes on to say: …particle size necessarily varies due … Continue reading It’s About the Moss, Our Masters Bonsai Soil, and…

A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

Unfinished, but wild and wonderful. I wonder what this Scot’s pine bunjin beauty looked like before it was collected somewhere in the wilds of Sweden. It belongs to Muaro Stemberger. It’s from his facebook page. Mauro also has a website. It’s called Italian Bonsai Dream. Traveling once again, so we’ll resume our archival explorations. This one, originally titled Bunjin Bonsai Bliss is from October, 2011 (with some current editing and elaboration), though any Bark discussion of Bunjin warrants a mention of Moving Out of the Bonsai Mainstream with a Deft and Delicate Touch (from December 2012), whose comments are the longest … Continue reading A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

Random Pages & A Messy Desk

This unusual Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) is not representative of most of the trees that appear in Fine Bonsai, which tend to be powerful mind-stopppers. Still, there’s something about it, beyond just the fact that it’s so different… Packing and leaving for the West Coast today, so it’s archive time. This will be the third time for this post, which you might view as excessive and I’d have to agree. Except that these photos from Fine Bonsai are great. And, there’s a motive for resorting to a post about a book. We just put up a 25% off book … Continue reading Random Pages & A Messy Desk

There’s Bunjin and Then There’s…

Recognize this planting? It was posted day before yesterday, though now there has been some changes. Andy Rutledge did the digital pruning and repotting to enhance its bunjin-ness, though I’m not so sure he’d say it quite that way (here’s what he did say about it: Even with a very few, but vital adjustments (mostly reduction), the pines begin to take on the bunjin quality). Wabi Sabi Our previous post elicited one of our best discussions yet. Thanks in large part to Andy Rutledge‘s comments. Here’s a quote from Andy that goes to the heart of the matter: “Bunjin is … Continue reading There’s Bunjin and Then There’s…