Japanese Beautyberry & other Fruiting Bonsai

This brilliant little Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is well named indeed (it’s nice when the name of a plant says something about how the plant looks; an onamonapia of sight). I found this photo on Bonsai Empire They attribute it to AR&B*, but I think AR&B picked it up somewhere else and failed to attribute. Looking at the tree, I’m almost certain that the pot, tree and photo are from Japan. The rest of the photos in this post are from an old Bark post called Luminous Fruit. The artist is Katsumi Komiya. If you’ve ever tried to grow fruiting … Continue reading Japanese Beautyberry & other Fruiting Bonsai

Mystery Bonsai Artist – Koyo Tool Special Ends Tonight

Here’s what a machine translation from Japanese to English looks like… “70 times with kuromatsu stone, and the 77th Chinese National exhibition. 85 million yen. 15 years ago, when I was 32 years old, I applied for the first time in Japan’s National Exhibition, and I was elected, and I was very jealous of this kuromatsu, and I was very good at it, so I was very good at it. I feel strange about what I have to do I have a sense of time becoming a successive goshinboku ” BTW Kuromatsu is Japanese black pine. In this case, it’s … Continue reading Mystery Bonsai Artist – Koyo Tool Special Ends Tonight

Blazing Bonsai – An Embarrassment of Riches

This blazing bonsai is a prize-winning Shishigashira Japanese maple from a Peter Tea post on the 32nd Annual Taikan-ten bonsai exhibition in Kyoto. This photos shown here are lifted from a December 2012 Bark post titled An Embarrassment of Riches. In addition to the trees, there’s a special bonus offering below… NEW MID-WINTER SITE WIDE SALE Almost All Items Discounted 25% to 40% off List Prices* Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices Visit Stone Lantern Here’s what Matt Reel has to say about this tree: “This Japanese Red Pine has such a broad apex it makes me … Continue reading Blazing Bonsai – An Embarrassment of Riches

Unusual Bonsai and a Human Tendency to Orthodoxy

This magnificent old yamadori Shimpaku, with its self framing deadwood just might be one of the most outrageously unusual bonsai you’ll ever ever see. It’s from Taisho-en in Japan. I originally found this image here. Today is catch up day after a hectic week, so once again it’s archive time. This one is from August 2014. It was titled ‘A Magnificent Affront to Bonsai Orthodoxy.’ Trees as unusual as the one above are often controversial. I think some of this controversy is a human tendency to orthodoxy. We get used to things a certain way and next thing you know … Continue reading Unusual Bonsai and a Human Tendency to Orthodoxy

A Magnificent Affront to Bonsai Orthodoxy

This magnificent old yamadori Shimpaku, with its self framing deadwood has to be one of the most outrageously unusual bonsai we’ve ever posted (ever seen, for that matter). It’s from Taisho-en in Japan. I originally found this image here. Trees as unusual as the one above are often controversial. I think some of this controversy is a human tendency towards orthodoxy. We get used to things a certain way and next thing you know we’re defending that way as the correct way. All three photos shown here are of trees that live at Taisho-en. Here’s a short discription I lifted … Continue reading A Magnificent Affront to Bonsai Orthodoxy

In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

Grotesque is in the eye of the beholder. Every now and then, and only in Japan, you see a nebari like this (pancake nebari is an apt name). Aside from its somewhat strange quality, a couple things jump out about this one. First it’s is a clear example of a fused nebari (except for around the edges, all the exposed roots have fused together), and second is how thin the trunk is in relation to the size of the nebari. This photo and the others in this post were all taken at Fuyo-en by Bonsai in Japan. Back in the … Continue reading In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

Bonsai by the Thousands

Talk about maximizing space. This photo is from somewhere in Japan via BonsaiNet on facebook. If it weren’t the guy on the right, you might think we’re somewhere in the 19th century. This one, also from BonsaiNet, has a caption: Kanuma & Abe bonsai nurseries.