Powerful & Realistic Bonsai Forest

Impressive! I don’t know what the trees are, though they look like conifers, maybe even pines. It would be nice to have a closer look, but beggars can’t be choosey When I first saw caught site of this planting on Quoc Viet Tran‘s timeline, I was immediately struck by how powerful and realistic it is. I wish I could tell you more about it, but no information is provided. I guess we’ll have to settle for simple appreciation of the artist’s mastery Continued below… NEW 20% OFF ALL BONSAI WIRE Discounts are applied at checkout Left side, closer up. I … Continue reading Powerful & Realistic Bonsai Forest

North American Bonsai Excellence – The 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album Is Here!

Winner of the Finest Bonsai Masterpiece at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana) that belongs to Eric Schikowski. The photo is by Joseph Noga as are all the photos in Exhibition Albums 2-5. Every two years we get a jolt of bonsai excitement when our copies of the latest U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album arrives. This time it’s the 5th Album, and it’s the best yet. This should come as no surprise, bonsai is still relatively new in North America (and much of the world) so steady improvement is to be expected. However, given … Continue reading North American Bonsai Excellence – The 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album Is Here!

Bonsai Forests – Clump Style

We found this extraordinary clump style deciduous bonsai on Bonsai Nakayoshi*. They don’t give a variety. You can imagine that all the smaller trunks started as suckers on the roots of the main tree (you could also imagine that they started from seeds dropped by the main tree; in which case this would not qualify as a clump style bonsai). This one is from August 2015. It was titled Multiple Trunks Sharing a Single Root System – Clump Style Bonsai Forests We’ve been discussing forest bonsai for a while now without mentioning clump style (Japanese: Kabudachi or Kabubuki) . Rather than … Continue reading Bonsai Forests – Clump Style

Some Astoundingly Brilliant Bonsai, though…

Though this extraordinary bonsai is unidentified (and unattributed), still I’m confident that it’s a Japanese beech. I’m also confident that it makes its home in Japan. For a little perspective on just how massive this tree is, there’s that partial human torso on the right. The original shows the whole human, but I’ve taken the liberty to slice him up a bit in an attempt to limit distraction (the original is below). All the photos shown here were posted by Tae-Kukiwon-Bonsai (aka Eduardo Mourão Guedes) and even though they are unnamed and unattributed, I couldn’t resist. In case you are wondering, … Continue reading Some Astoundingly Brilliant Bonsai, though…

The Right Stock, a Great Slab & a Good Eye

This is what you can do if you have the right stock, a great slab and a good eye. It’s a Chinese elm forest (Ulmus davidiana var. japonica), or at least that’s what someone named Iris says it is (there was some question on the site – ibonsaiclub – where I found it). The planting belongs to Heinz Leitner. The slab is by Erik Križovenský. Once you’ve seen Erik’s distinctive looking slabs and other bonsai containers (for lack of a better word) you’ll be able to spot them anywhere. This post started out with some photos of a unique bonsai … Continue reading The Right Stock, a Great Slab & a Good Eye

Kimura Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. It’s hot here in Vermont, my bonsai need water and so do I. Once again it’s time to dig into our archives and vacate this office. This post originally appeared summer before last and again last summer. A question about watering came up when this was originally posted. I’ll preempt this time with my answer: “My guess is the hinoki plantings are kept in shade … Continue reading Kimura Rocks

Evening the Bonsai Odds

How many trunk does this spectacular Trident maple (Acer buergerianum) grove have? It’s from an award winning display at the 2013 Taikan Bonsai Exhibition. The artist is Kenji Oshima. The photo is from Bill Valavanis Bonsai blog. The odd rule. Almost anyone who plays with bonsai for a while will incorporate the odd number of trees rule into their storehouse of bonsai wisdom. It goes something like this: In any group planting (with more than two trunks), you should use an odd number of trees. This applies at least up to eleven trunks. After eleven, it doesn’t matter because who … Continue reading Evening the Bonsai Odds

A Four Course Bonsai Feast

Old Rosemary plants abound in Europe, so you’d expect to see some pretty good Rosemary bonsai and this semi-cacade certainly qualifies. It doesn’t hurt that it’s in a very cool pot. All the photos in this post are from old issues of Bonsai Today. They have all appeared here before, back in 2010 in a post called A Moveable Feast European Style. It’s a long story, but none were attributed then and none are attributed now. My apologies to the artists. All four trees shown here are from Europe and originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 85. This twisty … Continue reading A Four Course Bonsai Feast

Bonsai Elegance with Painted Trunks

Stately bonsai elegance. Here’s the original caption for this photo “The customer wanted the trunk brown and the quickest way was to paint it. This is my first time using paint on my sculptures and I’m very happy with the results.” The person who wrote that is Ken To, the creator of the bonsai wire-sculptures that you see here and in several previous Bark posts. You can find even more of Ken’s exquisite little delights on his website, on facebook and on deviantART. Ken To’s marvelous miniature wire bonsai sculptures just keep getting better. And now, because Ken has started … Continue reading Bonsai Elegance with Painted Trunks

BCI: Bonsai Strong

Bonsai strong. One of many spectacular trees displayed at the recent BCI convention in China. This and all the photos in this post are courtesy of Robert Steven. Pines now, the rest later. Robert Steven just sent us a whole host of great photos from the recent BCI convention in China. We’ll start with some powerful pines here, and then show you some of the other trees in a few days. This has to be one of the most impressive pine forests anywhere. Actually, you can scratch the pine part and we’ll just leave it at one of the … Continue reading BCI: Bonsai Strong