Bonsai Adventure & a Pot with a Story to Tell

A muscular old Camellia full of flowers and buds. This photo and the others in this post, were taken by Bill Valavanis during a recent visit to Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo Shunka-en Bonsai Museum is the home, studio, gallery and growing area of Kunio Kobayashi. All the photos in this post were taken at Shunka-en a few weeks ago by the omnipresent Bill Valavanis (everywhere is the answer to the ‘Where’s in the Bonsai World is Bill‘ question) STONE LANTERN’S 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE IS BACK! and we are shipping the same business day on orders received by 2:00pm EST see below More color. … Continue reading Bonsai Adventure & a Pot with a Story to Tell

Don’t Pinch You Juniper Bonsai!

Was this foliage pinched in order to achieve that dense, perfectly refined shape and texture? The answer, according to Michael Hagedorn is an emphatic NO! Except when it isn’t. The image is borrowed from our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book. Thought you might enjoy another round of Micheal Hagedorn‘s bonsai wisdom. Most of this post was borrowed and updated from a 2012 Bark Bark Post titled, Pinch! Don’t Pinch!. We added some content and posted it again in 2015. Because it offers an important lesson for anyone who grows junipers, especially those of us who are in the habit in pinching to control growth, it’s worth another look. Continued … Continue reading Don’t Pinch You Juniper Bonsai!

Monster Demo Bonsai on a Monster Hydraulic Turntable

That’s famous bonsai master, Kunio Kobayashi on the right, getting ready to tackle his monster demo tree. And yes, that’s a Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntable gamely holding the behemoth up. The after shot is below It’s Saturday, a good day to catch up mowing, weeding and trimming outside. Not bonsai (who mows bonsai?) but just our landscape gardens. Anyway, to save time, we’ll resurrect this post from a couple months ago. It’s a bit of an infomercial for our popular Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables, but the photos are still very good. Time to pay another visit to the recent … Continue reading Monster Demo Bonsai on a Monster Hydraulic Turntable

Backyard Bonsai – #15

Bonsai with Koi. This shot is from Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. The concrete display poles are made to look like tree trunks. All but one of the photos in this post are borrowed from Bonsai Empire. Yesterday we featured Kunio Kobayashi’s bonsai, so why not keep going on the same track (more or less… just the first two photos are from his Shunkaen Bonsai Museum)? This post originally appeared in November, 2015. This is the fifthteenth post in our long-standing Backyard Bonsai series. However, if memory serves, this is the first time that we’ve shown commercial gardens … Continue reading Backyard Bonsai – #15

Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

This magnificent Juniper bonsai is said to be 800 years old, which makes it a very old bonsai. But not the oldest bonsai we know of and nowhere near the oldest living tree in the world. It resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. I borrowed the photo from Bonsai Empire. Old Tjikko. This lonely Norway spruce (Picea abies) is said to be 9,500 years old. But the trunk you see in this photo is only a few hundred years old. The tree above is called Old Tjikko. It originally gained fame as the world’s oldest tree, but … Continue reading Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

Remarkable Even Without the Flowers

This would be a remarkable bonsai even without the flowers. This photo and the others in this post were taken by Bill Valavanis during his visit to the Shunka-En Bonsai Museum of Kunio Kobayashi. Mr. Kobayashi is known for his Satsuki azaleas and Japanese black pines too. Renowned American bonsai artist, author, teacher, nurseryman, publisher, impresario, blogger and tireless traveler Bill Valavais is in the midst of a Satsuki azalea tour of Japan. Rather than trying to steal Bill’s thunder, we’ll just whet your appetite with a few photos from Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-En Bonsai Museum and encourage you to visit … Continue reading Remarkable Even Without the Flowers

Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

Picasso’s (aka Dan Robinson’s) now famous wild and wonderful Hinoki. It’s from Will Hiltz’ excellent book, Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, about Dan’s life and work. It’s no longer available through Stone Lantern, but I think they might still have some at Dan’s Elandan Gardens. Here’s the original Bark post. It’s Independence Day (here in the USA at least)! To help you celebrate, why not enjoy a sampling of home-grown (and a couple recent immigrant) bonsai from previous Bark posts? But first, because many of our readers are not US Americans (and because some US Americans don’t know much about history … Continue reading Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

Pinch! Don’t Pinch!

Was this tree pinched? Shimpaku juniper by Kunio Kobayashi from Bonsai Today issue 28. Never pinch junipers! I’ve been ripping off valuable tidbits from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai for a long time (always attributed and linked of course). Micheal is a noted American bonsai artist, teacher and author and a voice for a common sense approach to bonsai. Michael’s latest post is titled ‘Never Pinch Junipers.’ In his own words… Basically, we don’t pinch junipers. We cut new long extensions with scissors…and I know that will raise some eyebrows. I think the idea of pinching junipers with fingers started long … Continue reading Pinch! Don’t Pinch!

Bonsai Island

I’ll take this to be an European olive, even though it looks a lot like a Florida buttonwood. No matter, it’s a very unusual and compelling tree; so compelling that it won Kuni Kobayashi’s Grand Prize in the 2008 Concurso Nacional de Alcobendas MMBA (see below for info on this year’s exhibition). Island bonsai school All the trees shown here are from Antoni Payeras’ Escuela de Bonsái (Bonsai School) gallery. Antonio, and his Escuela reside on Menorca (Minorca), one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. I like two small holes in the deadwood. Not that there aren’t other … Continue reading Bonsai Island

Restyling a Mugo, Offing a Shari, Bonsai Tourists, More Bonsai Rafting & Some Excellent Events

This old beauty is one of hundreds of quality bonsai that was featured at the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Nikko Satsuki Azalea that belongs to The Kennett Collection. It originally belonged to Kunio Kobayashi who started it by planting smaller trees next to each other. The 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition takes place June 9th and 10th in Rochester NY. It’s not too late to sign up. Now half price. Order this collector’s set from the first two U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions and save 50% It’s not a bonsai, but it is a sweet photo. … Continue reading Restyling a Mugo, Offing a Shari, Bonsai Tourists, More Bonsai Rafting & Some Excellent Events