Visit Our New Stone Lantern Site for Your Bonsai Essentials – We’re Sure You’ll Like It!

This photo is from our first Bonsai Bark post. January 26th, 2009. We finally threw the switch and now you can visit our Brand New Stone Lantern Website. It’s a huge improvement and I’m sure you’ll like it As an encouragement to get you over there, we added some bonuses… every single item is on special. Some for as much as 50% off. And we’ve got several new items that weren’t on our old site And if that’s not enough, we’re offering an additional 10% off on everything for orders 50.00 or more, provided you put the sale code LAUNCH … Continue reading Visit Our New Stone Lantern Site for Your Bonsai Essentials – We’re Sure You’ll Like It!

Bark, Deadwood & the Ravages of Time

I’ve long been fascinated by close ups. Especially shots of deadwood and bark with their richly illustrated stories of time and the elements. Sunday morning. Crocuses, peepers in the pond and pure unobstructed sun. Time to get outside. So rather than taking the time to put together another new post, we’ll borrow from our archives. This one originally appeared in March, 2015. All the photos shown here are by Salvador De Los Reyes. I believe that all but one are of his trees (here and here are couple earlier Bark posts that feature Salvador’s bonsai). You can view more photos … Continue reading Bark, Deadwood & the Ravages of Time

A Rock, Heavily Furrowed Bark, Ramification & a Well Developed Nebari

At first glace I thought the rock that sticks out on the right was part of the trunk. But a closer look (see below) confirms the strong suspicion that it’s a rock. And in case you’re wondering, the tree is the King of bonsai, a Japanese black pine. We’ve been borrowing great photos of Japanese bonsai from Micheal Bonsai for a long time now. I’m not sure where he gets them, but most are superb. The best of the Japanese trees… which are often simply the best. SITE WIDE SALE 20% TO 25% OFF EVERYTHING* You can see the rock … Continue reading A Rock, Heavily Furrowed Bark, Ramification & a Well Developed Nebari

Deadwood, Bark and Other Bonsai Fragments

I’ve long been fascinated by close ups. Shots that provided details that you sometimes miss with regular bonsai photos. Especially deadwood and bark details. Maybe it’s because both deadwood and bark tell stories about time, and time (or at least the illusion of time) provides much of the beauty and mystery of the best bonsai. All the photos shown here are by Salvador De Los Reyes. I believe that all but one of these photos are of his trees (here and here are couple earlier Bark posts that feature Salvador’s bonsai). You can view more photos of Salvador’s bonsai on … Continue reading Deadwood, Bark and Other Bonsai Fragments

Almost Incomprehensibly Thick

A picture is worth a thousand words. What better way to lend a little perspective to what turns out to be an almost incomprehensibly massive trunk with almost incomprehensibly thick bark? It’s from a Peter Tea post titled ‘The Return of the King.’ See below for a couple more photos and some info on this classic tree. Way back in January 2009, we introduced Bonsai Bark with a photo of, believe it or not, bonsai bark (see below). At the time I thought it was a pretty good shot, at least until I saw the photo above. Too late to … Continue reading Almost Incomprehensibly Thick

Weekly Wire: Bodacious Bark, Bonsai Bliss, Viva Brasil & Slovakia Too

Bodacious bark. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen bark quite like this. Its uniquely patterned texture and color adds an abundance of character and age to this wonderful old live oak. Furthermore (and at the risk of excess word proliferation), have you noticed the pot? How much character it has (and how small it is for the tree)? No mention of who made it with the photo, but whoever did deserves some love. The tree and the pot are from the ‘My Trees’ section of Mauro Stemberger’s website. Rocky Mountain bliss. The dates are June 17-20 21-24. Here’s the … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Bodacious Bark, Bonsai Bliss, Viva Brasil & Slovakia Too