Bonsai Crazy – Before & After x 3

Of the three before and after photos shown here, this is my favorite. The transition from a clunky, overgrown and unbalanced semi cascading bonsai to an elegant fully cascading tree is radical and quite impressive. If you didn’t know, you might never guess it’s the same tree. All three before and after shots shown here are by Bonsai Crazy. If you’d like to see transition shots, you can visit Crazy on facebook. If you’re curious about just who this person is who calls himself Bonsai Crazy, here’s something from his website that will shed some light. NEW LOWEST WIRE PRICE … Continue reading Bonsai Crazy – Before & After x 3

More North American Bonsai Excellence

Winner of the Creative Award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The tree is a Dwarf Japanese garden juniper (Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’) and the artist is Creighton Bostrom. The photo is by Joe Noga, as are all the photos in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album To continue where we left off yesterday… we just got our new 2017 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album and it’s the best yet. We’ll show two more photos here and leave the rest up to you Time to Stock Up on Bonsai Wire 1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading More North American Bonsai Excellence

Silver Fir Bonsai – A First (for us at least)

This European silver fir (Abies alba) belongs to Walter Pall. We borrowed this and the other photos shown here from Walter’s Bonsai Adventures Blog. It’s not that often we discover a suitable-for-bonsai plant species that we’ve yet to feature (300+ posts a year for 8 years covers a lot of ground). So, as you might imagine, our interest was peaked when we landed on this European silver fir while cruising Walter Pall’s famous bonsai blog. Continued below… Our Long Awaited Yoshiaki Bonsai Turntables just arrived this morning Including our popular all-weather turntables All at New Lower Prices – The same … Continue reading Silver Fir Bonsai – A First (for us at least)

A Well Fed Japanese Red Pine & a Reminder to Feed Your Bonsai Generously

This distinctive Japanese red pine with its strong shari and sudden change of direction, shows the radiant vibrancy of a well-fed bonsai. It belongs Ken Fujiwara Summer growing season is time to generously feed your bonsai… Without adequate fertilizing, you won’t see the development you want; vibrant rich foliage, fine branching, thickening trunks and primary branches, powerful nebari and most critical of all, strong root growth. And of course, well-fed strong bonsai can better resists pests and diseases and withstand the challenges of the coming winter FEED YOUR BONSAI & SAVE All Bonsai Fertilizers 25% to 40% off List Prices … Continue reading A Well Fed Japanese Red Pine & a Reminder to Feed Your Bonsai Generously

A Very Impressive North American Bonsai Collection

Fantastic tree! It belongs to Doug Paul (Mr. Kennett Collection). This photo is from the famous Kokufu Exhibition in Tokyo. It’s a great honor to have a tree accepted to Kokufu; only a handful of North Americans have had that honor. Today we’ve got a few photos from Doug Paul’s Kennett Collection, no doubt one of the foremost bonsai collections in North America. The collection – with the exception of any trees Doug keeps in Japan -resides in Kennett Square PA. Continued below… NEW Lower Prices on Bonsai Aesthetics Wire with many sizes individually discounted as well 100 gram – … Continue reading A Very Impressive North American Bonsai Collection

New Free Shipping Rates & Discounting at Stone Lantern

Starting Monday, May 8th, we will initiate the following changes FREE Shipping for Continental U.S. orders 100.00 or more Extra 10% off for all orders 150.00 or more These changes will allow us to keep our prices down and continue to offer deeply discounted Sales on a range of items… …including 3 excellent sales currently running for bonsai wire, bonsai tools & embroidered bonsai clothing Thank you for your continued support

For Healthy & Beautiful Bonsai…

Your bonsai may never look like this, but they can be this healthy. It’s a Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) from last year’s Kokufu Exhibition.* You can tell by its robust development that this tree has been well-fed throughout its life. Feed your bonsai! Because it’s so practical and timely, this post deserves annual airing. Most what you see here first appeared in 2010. The advice is still spot on and worth a careful read if you’d like to maximize the health and beauty of your bonsai. This magnificently robust Willow leaf ficus (Ficus nerifolia) is by Jim Smith of Dura-Stone … Continue reading For Healthy & Beautiful Bonsai…

Back Budding – Feed Your Bonsai!

This shohin Carpinus coreana (Korean hornbeam) by Mario Komsta has appeared here on Bark before. As a companion plant no less (see below). No problem though. Any tree this good deserves to be shown more than once. As a companion or by itself. You might wonder why we’re headlining a dormant tree in mid-summer. Well, it’s a great tree and it goes with this post which has appeared twice already here on Bark (with some value added each time). I have been trying to get a few of my trees to back bud lately. So far to no avail. But … Continue reading Back Budding – Feed Your Bonsai!

Don’t Starve Your Bonsai

Lush summer foliage and impressive deadwood on an old Shimpaku juniper.The lush foliage is the result of timely feeding. The photo is from our Masters Series Juniper book (due back in print in December). I know the tree is from Japan, but don’t know who the artist is. Many, if not most people underfeed their bonsai. There are many reasons why ample fertilizing is critical to developing healthy and beautiful bonsai. I’ll list a few (if I missed something important, please let us know in the comments). 1. It’s up to you. Most bonsai soils don’t contain nutrients. This means … Continue reading Don’t Starve Your Bonsai

Feed Your Bonsai!

Your bonsai may never look like this, but they can be this healthy. This magnificently robust Willow leaf ficus (Ficus nerifolia) is by Jim Smith of Dura-Stone in Vero Beach Florida. The photo is from Bonsai Today, issue 61 and was taken by Jim. While we’re on basic bonsai health topics, we might as well discuss fertilizing. And, because I’m traveling again we’ll dig into our archives. All the way back to May 2009 (with some fairly extensive adding and editing this time). Your bonsai depend on you Bonsai do not survive on water, light, and love alone. Because most … Continue reading Feed Your Bonsai!