Over 500 items discounted

Some stuff is very dramatically discounted: The Magician, Shohin Bonsai, Bonsai from the Wild, Saikei and Art are all marked down to $9.95 each.

Plus double discounts

But not for long

Tomorrow (Sept 30th) is the last day

Books, Tools, Fertilizer, Bonsai Today, Wire, Kenzans, Netuske & more.

Sale ends the last day of September
This is Stone Lantern’s biggest and most comprehensive sale. Almost every single item offered is discounted and some of the discounts are outrageous (Bonsai from the Wild and some other books marked down from $29.95 to $9.95). When you factor in the double discounts for volume, many of the prices are below wholesale. Not a bad deal at all.

Next?
Our next sale will be 30% off all tools plus 10% off orders of $100 or more. As always, other individual items will be discounted. It will begin on October 1st.

One of our very best bonsai books marked down from $29.95 to $9.95. Why, you ask? Because we printed 3,000 and still have about 1,000 left. So, let’s liberate them and give you a chance to enjoy and learn from one of our best and most interesting bonsai artists. BTW: the image above gives you a glimpse into the inner workings of a publishing company.  This isn’t the cover we ended up with. We changed the color from blue to green and the main heading to gold. Otherwise, everything is the same.

We can’t do this with most books…
… just the ones we published. We pay way too much for books by other publishers to reduce them this much. However, with our own books, we can do what we want; they were paid for eons ago, and though we’ve sold thousands of each, we overdid it when it came to printing (our foolishness is your good fortune). 

The exquisite bonsai on the cover provides but a small taste of what’s inside. Kimura was, is (and will be?) the world’s foremost bonsai master. It’s also marked down from $29.95 to $9.95.

Over 425 books and other items marked down at Stone Lantern, with double discounts on orders over $50.

Nice trunk. Definitely looks like an azalea. The shot is from a video by Alejandro Medina Ibarra of the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition.

Alejandro Medina Ibarra
The shots here are all from a video of the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The video is by Alejandro Medina Ibarra and it’s brilliant. I wasn’t able to attend, so I’m particularly grateful for Alejandro’s efforts. Something powerful and good took place in Rochester last month if this video is any indication. Really, check it out and you too will wish you’d been there (see you in 2012).

Bill Valavanis
I’m not sure how Bill does it, but he has now pulled off the two of the most important bonsai events in the history of North American Bonsai. You could even say the two most important events. Out of thin air no less. People that have brilliant big ideas and the energy, intelligence, perseverance, and skills to pull them off, are rare, and Bill fits that bill (sorry) perfectly.

This one looks like it’s by Larch Master Nick Lenz, one of America’s foremost bonsai artists, diggers, critics, and authors (Bonsai from the Wild). Speaking of books, we’ve got the 1st U.S. Bonsai Exhibiton Album and now’s the time (35% to 45% off all books).

More shots…

Bill’s front and Suthin’s back.

One of Nick Lenz’ famous larches as it appears in Wikipedia.

A little Nick
Yesterday, we featured a couple of Candy Shirley’s bonsai that I believe had their start with Nick Lenz, so this seems like a good time to offer a little more Nick for your enjoyment.

The same tree: different angle, different time. Photo is from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (now on special at Stone Lantern).

The cover tree (American larch) from Nick’s book. Whoops! It’s a Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis).

Looking for larch stock?
I will be offering some of my collected and field grown larches soon. Stay posted.

Inspiration for your bonsai. This photo is from Bonsaimania. It’s on facebook in a gallery called “Inspirations to your Bonsai: (translated from Spanish). If anyone has any clues, I’d like to know where this photo was taken.

Bonsaimania gallery (in English)
Here’s what Bonsaimania has to say about their gallery in English: “These trees are real and they can be found in nature. They are on this album because they are models that should inspire us to create our bonsai. If you want to propose a tree in nature that will inspire us, send me a message through my Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/suiseki”

Y en Espanol
“Estos árboles son de verdad y se encuentran en la naturaleza. Están en este álbum porque son modelos que deberían inspirarnos para crear nuestros bonsáis.Si quieres proponer algún árbol en la naturaleza que nos sirva de inspiración, envíame un mensaje a través de mi perfil en Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/suiseki”

Speaking of Larch
Larch Master Nick Lenz’s Bonsai from the Wild has an extensive section on collecting and growing larch. Nick know larches like know one knows larch. Check it out, it’s on special.

Here’s another one from the same gallery. Buttonwood?

You like unconventional? Crazy? How about daring and masterful? Notice how the color and design of the pot plays with the wild shari (deadwood) and the small touch of moss on the left mirrors the foliage. Just another bonsai from left field by crafty old Nick Lenz, master left fielder, author, and preeminent (whatever that means) master of cedars, larches and other collected North American gems. This photo is from North American Bonsai (American Bonsai Society – compiled and edited by Martin Schmalenberg), now on sale at Stone Lantern.

When is a cedar not really a cedar?
The tree featured here is commonly called a Northern (or Eastern) white cedar, when in fact it’s actually a variety of arborvitae (botanical name; Thuja occidentalis). Lots of trees that aren’t cedars are called cedar, including at least one juniper (Eastern red cedar; Juniperus virginiana), one false cypress (Atlantic white cedar; Chamaecyparis thyoides), the California Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and no doubt others. What most of these share is fan shaped foliage (like Nick’s tree above). Interestingly, true cedars (Cedrus) don’t have fan shaped foliage. Confused? You’re not alone.

When is a cedar a really cedar?
There are a handful of true cedars (Cedrus) in the world, the best known of which are: the Deodar cedar (C. deodara) from the Himalayas, and two from the Mediterranean: the Lebanon cedar (C. libani) and the Atlas cedar (C, atlantica).

An earlier (less professional) photo of the same tree. You can find this one in Nick’s excellent book on collecting bonsai, Bonsai from the Wild (Stone Lantern Publishing).

You can find this in-training collected Larch in Bonsai from the Wild by Larch Master Nick Lenz (Stone Lantern Publishing). Good tapers on larches are hard to come by. This exceptionally strong taper is the result of what Nick calls a ‘swamp layer.’ For details see the chapter on larches in Bonsai from the Wild (THE book on collecting).

Planting two trunks together that diverge as they ascend is a good way to create the appearance of taper. This image is from an article by Nick Lenz entitled Larch with Taper, that appears in The Bonsai Journal.

Check out our previous post on larches: In Praise of the American Larch: aka the Tamarack

Nicknamed OSAMA
Nick Lenz calls his charming looking, but otherwise nasty little bonsai, OSAMA (no explanation needed).

Halloween bonsai
Though you may not take poison ivy bonsai seriously (or take it at all, for that matter), Nick does. Here’s a few of his words (lifted from his book): While poison ivy may be considered a Halloween bonsai, the species has great charm and interest, especially when fruiting. Unfortunately, my most cherished specimen was stolen by a very foolish teenager. Never pass up an outstanding trunk of this species and always pack latex gloves in your collecting kit.

Nick Lenz calls this rugged heavily scarred old larch a ‘super hack back job’ (performed with a chainsaw). It’s noteworthy for its excellent taper and nebari (among other things), things that doesn’t come naturally with most larches. I guess you could say that the Halloween carving is also noteworthy. The photo is from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (Stone Lantern Publishing).

Round these parts it’s a Tamarack
Here in Vermont we are right on the southern edge of the Larix laricina’s range. Most bonsai enthusiasts (and many others) refer to it as the American larch, but around here almost everyone calls it the Tamarack.

So many good qualities
Of all the trees that grow around here, larches are the most prized bonsai candidates. They are easy to grow, flexible, take to pruning and root pruning, have small bright green needles and excellent fall color, the wood is easy to carve and the resulting deadwood is attractive, they develop real character with age, and so forth…

This rugged old naturally dwarfed larch is makes its home in the middle of a somewhat barren and boggy, larch-friendly field. Nick Lenz says that trees like this one with plenty of deadwood are often riddled with borers and that the gems are usually found in the smaller mounded forms (if you look close, you can see some). This photo is also from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild.

And quite unique in their own right
Larches are abundant in these parts, especially in the boggy lowlands. However, because they are conifers that happen to be deciduous, they are unique among the world’s trees (there are only three or four – depending how you classify – deciduous conifers in the world). This gives larches a special cache, as well as a bright yellow fall color.

This  famous bonsai (also from Nick’s book) gives you a pretty good idea of why larches are valued for their seductive yellow-golden fall foliage.

A little man-made rocky hill in my back yard that doubles as a bonsai field growing area. You can see about twelve different species in this shot (excluding the big trees in the back) including several larch. If you are interested in more on field growing, here’s the latest in a series of posts we have been running.

Not ready yet
I’ve been collecting young larch for about five years and growing them on. They are all are still fairly small and need to stay in the field for many more years to age and gain some character, so none are really developed enough to show you much. Nevertheless, here’s a couple photos to give you some idea of what’s going on.  Meanwhile, for the real goods, we always have Rarch Master Renz’s (Larch Master Lenz’s) trees to enjoy.

Here’s one I dug up on a friend’s farm and stuck in my yard for about four years. There trunk is almost 2″ (5cm) thick just above the root that flares out on the right. As you can see, it lacks good taper, which is a common drawback with larches. This year I decided it was time to do a little work on it, so that’s why its in a training pot. I ended up butchering it a bit (some people call it carving) and then sticking it back in the ground. As is often the case, I neglected to take photos. BTW: This photo and the one above are by my friend Amy Plamer, one person who does have the wherewithal to remember her camera.