Meandering Myrtles

Here’s the copy from our source (a Bark post last November titled Meandering Lines)… “This Myrtle (Myrtus communis) belongs to Andrea Albergo. The pot is by Greg Ceramics and the photo is by Harry Harrington. I chose it for the lead tree for several reasons; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Myrtle with such a massive trunk (turns out I had), deadwood on most non-conifers isn’t all that common (though becoming more common) and I like the loose abstract meandering lines of the deadwood and living veins.” Yesterday we feature a very muscular Myrtle (Myrtus communis) for your viewing … Continue reading Meandering Myrtles

Even Though No Vacation Goes Unpunished, We’re Back & Ready for the Next Round

You almost never see Myrtles this massive. And when you do, they’re never from North America (go ahead, prove me wrong). This one is from Spain. It belong to Gabriel Bonsaisantboi Romero Aguade (something of a regular here on Bark). Here’s his caption… “After a day and a half removing inner leaves, it’s ready for a wire and correction.” We’ll just feature one tree today. I’m recovering from jet lag and worse, buried in two weeks of work (no vacation goes unpunished). Anyway, I’m back and Ric (our warehouse master) will be back and recovered from routine surgery on Monday Continued below… … Continue reading Even Though No Vacation Goes Unpunished, We’re Back & Ready for the Next Round

Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

This magnificent Juniper bonsai is said to be 800 years old, which makes it a very old bonsai. But not the oldest bonsai we know of and nowhere near the oldest living tree in the world. It resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. We borrowed the photo from Bonsai Empire. Getting another late start and the sun is shining (you’d be surprised how few sunny days we have here in Vermont) so time to get outside. All this is an excuse for recycling this post from March of last year. The tree below is called Old Tjikko. … Continue reading Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

Bonsai Tool Sales End Tonight and 500,000 (plus) Cuts

These well worn Okatsune bypass shears belong to Greg McNally and Tune Faulkner of Fall Brook Tree Farm in Wheelock Vermont. Tune uses hers all year, but most intensively before the holidays when she makes wreaths. She makes thousands of cuts a day when she’s going strong and has been using the same shears for years. We came up with 500,000 cuts, but suspect it could easily be twice that. This photo and the one the grass below are by Amy Palmer. Bonsai & Garden Tool Sales End Tonight at 11:59pm EDT 30% off 2 or more Bonsai Aesthetics Tools … Continue reading Bonsai Tool Sales End Tonight and 500,000 (plus) Cuts

Bonsai Nibbler & The Foundations of Bonsai

A piece of a European Larch that was carved by Harry Harrington with his Bonsai Nibbler. Here’s Harry’s caption: “Images of a European Larch I carved and styled last year, with the help of a Bonsai Nibbler fitted to a Dremel multi-tool!” We’ve been featuring Harry Harrington a lot lately. Not only have we long been fans of Harry’s unique and innovative bonsai, but his book The Foundations of Bonsai is due to arrive at our warehouse early next week.* Bonsai Aesthetic Tool Sale Ends Tonight 30% off Bonsai Aesthetics Tools 30% off our already low prices a great opportunity … Continue reading Bonsai Nibbler & The Foundations of Bonsai

Bonsai Magic at Night

Black pine in the black of night. From the collection of Masahiko Kimura (The Magician). There’s a lot going on here and it’s just me today so we’ll plug back into our archives. This post is from September 2012. The photos were borrowed from El Tim Bonsai. It’s not often you see bonsai photographed in the dark. In this case the effects are rather magical (no pun intended). If you look at the El Tim KIMURA album, you’ll see a bunch of photos of phenomenal bonsai that were shot during the day, followed by a few photos of phenomenal bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Magic at Night

Half Price Bonsai Today Sale Ends Tonight

We still have one of this rare collector’s Bonsai Today issue. Most other issues are still in stock, but like this one, many are down to one or two.* 50% off Bonsai Today Sale ends tonight at 11:59 EDT For years Bonsai Today was the premier English language bonsai magazine. Fortunately we still have a selection of back issues that feature how-to articles and world class bonsai from many of the world’s greatest bonsai masters (East and West). However, our selection is limited. Some issues are already gone and many others will be gone soon.* Our Bonsai Aesthetics and Okatsune … Continue reading Half Price Bonsai Today Sale Ends Tonight

Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)

Great tree, great pot. It belongs to Wolfgang Putz. The pot is by Ingrid Kralovec. The tree is a Korean hornbeam. The botanical name is Carpinus turczaninowii, though you’ll sometimes see them referred to as Carpinus coreana. This post didn’t start out to be mostly about Cedars. The three photos and the text you see here are borrowed from a much longer post we did back in March 2013. After eliminating the out of date content, what’s left are a Hornbeam and two Cedars. Boreal Bonsai. This White cedar (Thuja occidentalis) belongs to Paul Chong of the Toronto Bonsai Society … Continue reading Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)

Two Handed Bonsai

It’s not unusual to see a photo of someone holding a small bonsai in one hand. However, you almost never see a photo with someone holding a bonsai with two hands. Until now that is. This two handed approach gives the feeling that the tree (a rather spectacular Shimpaku juniper) is being offered. This photo and the others in this post are from Japan Shohin Bonsai. One of the problems with photographing bonsai is conveying size. The easiest and perhaps best way is to provide something familiar for contrast. It used to be fairly common to see bonsai with cigarette … Continue reading Two Handed Bonsai

Flowering Bonsai & some other Good News

This is the first and only Fuchsia bonsai we’ve shown. Until now, that is (see below). It’s from a post we did two years ago. We originally found it at Aus Bonsai. Tropical and semi-tropical flowering plants are common and abundant, though not all are suitable for bonsai. This has a lot to do with leaf size, as many have leaves that are too large for bonsai (you can reduce leaf size to some degree, but in most cases it’s best to start out with plants that have small leaves and short internodes). Two good warm climate flowering plants that … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai & some other Good News