Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

Itoigawa juniper before and after by Gabriel Romero Aguade By now you may have seen dozens, if not hundreds of before and after bonsai posts. Some were done in a matter of hours and some took years to complete. When I first saw this one, my guess was it falls into the second group; bonsai transformations that take years. – But rather than settle on a guess, I decided to ask the artist, Gabriel Romero Aguade who posted it just a couple days ago. Here’s my question… “How many years was the process? ” And here’s Gabriel’s answer… “From the … Continue reading Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

A Friendly Plug for a Famous Bonsai Magazine

The cover of the latest issue of Bill Valavanis’ International Bonsai Magazine We’ve been featuring the bonsai and bonsai related exploits of Bill Valavanis for a long time, but I don’t think we’ve ever featured his famous International Bonsai Magazine. So we’re way overdue I won’t say too much here (we’ll let the pictures do the talking) except that it’s the flagship American bonsai magazine and in my humble opinion a must for any serious North American (and beyond) bonsai enthusiast. Here’s your link to subscribe (just in case you missed the two links above). You can thank me later … Continue reading A Friendly Plug for a Famous Bonsai Magazine

One of the Best Pieces of Bonsai Advice…

This old collected Rocky Mountain juniper is from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai portfolio. Spent long days all weekend rewriting my old copy for all 700 or so of our products for our new, soon to be live website. It’s a big job, but essential. If you don’t believe me, read some of our current, soon to be replaced thirteen year old website and you’ll see what I mean. Anyway, I’m not finished yet and time is still compressed, so it’s back to our archives. This one originally appeared here in April, 2015. It’s one of the best pieces of bonsai … Continue reading One of the Best Pieces of Bonsai Advice…

A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

It’s a little surprising that there are so few good shots of bonsai in creative settings. This one was borrowed from Peter Warren’s Surayama, as were all the photos in this post. Still catching up form vacation, so for expediency’s sake we’ll plunder our archives. This one is from June 2015. It was titled ‘Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others.‘ NEW SPECIAL 20% OFF BONSAI TURNTABLES INCLUDES GREEN T HYDRAULIC LIFT TURNTABLES – – This photo is from a series Peter calls Noelanders trees. (Noelanders refers to the Noelanders Trophy Exhibit). He doesn’t say what it is, but I’ll guess that … Continue reading A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

A Mid Winter Spring Color Tease

Today we begin the long two day journey from sea and sun back to waist high snow and sub zero temps. So no time to put together anything new for you, though this one is old enough (June, 2015) where it will be new to most of you anyway. They are all Azaleas (Satsuki, I think) from the Omiya Bonsai Museum. One of our favorites. Enjoy. SITE WIDE SALE ENDS SOON 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS 20% off Site Wide Sale YOU CAN ENJOY EXTRA DISCOUNTS IN … Continue reading A Mid Winter Spring Color Tease

Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

Here’s Juan Adrade’s English caption for this magnificent old Trident maple. “Partial defolation on one of the grandfather trees. Close to 100 yrs old.” Here’s his Spanish: “Defoliación de las ramas exteriores en uno de los tridentes del abuelo de mi maestro. Este arbol posiblemente se acerca a los 100 años.” You might notice the part about exterior branches in the Spanish. This would indicate that Juan is redirecting energy away from the outer tips and down closer to the center of the tree. This photo is from Juan’s facebook feed. Defoliation is an important technique for redirecting energy, maintaining … Continue reading Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

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

New Site Wide Sale for Your Bonsai Essentials

STONE LANTERN SITE WIDE SALE 10% OFF ORDERS 10.00 – 49.99 15% OFF ORDERS 50.00 – 99.99 20% OFF ORDERS 100.00 OR MORE includes items that are already discounted discounts are computed at checkout – – The Perfect Time to Stock Up on Bonsai Wire! Kilo Rolls are now as low as 14.36 on orders 100.00+ – – GREEN T STATE OF THE ART HYDRAULIC TURNTABLES How About Saving 77.00 on a Green T Basic? or 99.00 on a Green T Plus? (plus Free Shipping in the Continental U.S.) – FREE Shipping Still Applies Even With Our Site Wide Sale* *on … Continue reading New Site Wide Sale for Your Bonsai Essentials

Bonsai Essentials Site Wide Special Ends Tonight

STONE LANTERN’S 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE MEANS DOUBLE DISCOUNTS* *ON OUR ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY ON SALE AND A MINIMUM OF 20% OFF ON EVERYTHING ELSE THIS great SPECIAL ENDS WEDNESDAY, NOV 28TH AT 11:59PM EST — All of our large selection of Bonsai Books are at least 20% off Most are double discounted All of our large selection of Bonsai Tool Kits are also Double Discounted This is the first time we’ve offered 20% off on our Hydraulic Lift Green T Turntables Now is the time to stock up on Bonsai Wire – 20% DISCOUNT WILL BE DEDUCTED WHEN YOU … Continue reading Bonsai Essentials Site Wide Special Ends Tonight

New Site Wide Sale for Your Bonsai Essentials

NEW 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE MEANS DOUBLE DISCOUNTS* *ON OUR ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY ON SALE (MOST OF OUR ITEMS ARE ALREADY ON SALE) AND A MINIMUM OF 20% OFF ON EVERYTHING ELSE This is a One Time Opportunity that may not last very long – 20% discount will be deducted when you check out – FREE Shipping Still Applies on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more but only if you select Free Shipping when you check out – –