All You Need Is the Right Pot and Just a Touch of Art

This unusual gem is part of an excellent selection of Kusamono from Tony Tickle’s garden. In Tony’s own words… “I have a large collection of dwarf Hostas, these flourish in my rather damp garden, in summer the other Kusamono come into flower and leaf. Here are a few they include Astilbie, Thrift and sedums. Most of the Pots are from my friend Dan Barton but there are pots from Gordon Duffet and many other European Potters.” Five of the nine photos in this post are Tony’s. It’s summer, the sun is shinning for a change and my bonsai and gardens … Continue reading All You Need Is the Right Pot and Just a Touch of Art

Stone Images, With or Without Bonsai

There’s a story behind this delightfully complex Suiseki for those of you who know how read such things. The photo is from the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s website. It’s there to tell you about an event that starts tomorrow (see just below). The following was lifted from the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s website: “Viewing Stones from Members of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association Suiseki Interest Group. April 3 – May 4, 2015 “Viewing stones, or suiseki as they are called in Japanese, are naturally formed stones valued for their beauty and ability to represent a scene from nature. This includes anything from … Continue reading Stone Images, With or Without Bonsai

Great Bonsai, Great Photos

We’ve featured this tree before, but now I can’t find it (read, just back from vacation, too much to do and don’t want to be bothered). It looks kinda Ilex like, but neither my guessing skills nor my memory are up to much. Anyway, it’s a great little tree (if you can take your eyes off the pot long enough to see it… which is not to say that I don’t like the pot, because I really like it and I also think it’s a daring choice for the tree). This photo and all the photos in this post are … Continue reading Great Bonsai, Great Photos

A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Succulent with flowers. Such brilliant colors are hard to argue with. All the companion plantings shown here are succulents that belong to Eraydin Erdogan, a bonsai potter living in Turkey (the pots are his creations). The great thing about succulents is that anybody can grow them. All you need is a nice pot, a little soil and a juicy little plant or two. No green thumb or amazing sense of aesthetics necessary. You can even forget to water (up to a point at least). The following three paragraphs are from earlier Bonsai Bark posts (from 2011 and from 2009). If … Continue reading A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Companions for Lonely Bonsai

I borrowed this intriguing display from Bonsai Art magazine’s website (I guess you can tell). I like the tree a lot, but it’s the companion that really caught my eye. Companions, accents, shitakusa, kusamono… whatever you call them One thing I like about companion plants is that good ones can have dual functions: you can team them with bonsai to create dynamic displays, or, if they are good enough, they can be displayed alone. This mystery plant from our mystery book easily stands alone. One companion plant keeps three bonsai and a suiseki company in this circular shohin display. … Continue reading Companions for Lonely Bonsai

Another Use for Bonsai Pots

I lifted this from Bonsai Smiths’ gallery. I like the planting and I especially like the pot. I wonder who made it (I assume one of the Smiths did the planting). Kusamono or Shitakusa? Willi knows best In his book Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Willi Benz says “Kusa = grass and Mono = object.” He goes on to say “If a Kusamono-Bonsai is the main object of a display, we use the term Kusamono. But if a Kusamono-Bonsai is used as an accent or complementary plant, we say it is a Shitakusa.” This one is from one of our mystery Japanese … Continue reading Another Use for Bonsai Pots

Speaking of Kusamono & Companion Plants

An exquisite kusamono from our Japanese mystery book. Because I don’t read Japanese, I can’t say what the grass is (can you?), who the potter is, or even, what the name of the book is. However, I can say, with complete confidence, that the whole arrangement is beautiful. What does Kusamono mean? In his book Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Willi Benz says “Kusa = grass and Mono = object.” He goes on to say “If a Kusamono-Bonsai is the main object of a display, we use the term Kusamono. But if a Kusamono-Bonsai is used as an accent or complementary plant, … Continue reading Speaking of Kusamono & Companion Plants