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?

Bonsai that Don’t Bust Your Bank Account & an Important Natural Phenomenon

We’ve featured this tree before and we may well feature it again in a year or two. The tree is a yew. The artist is Harry Harrington. Sticking with our friend Harry Harrington. We originally put this post together in September, 2017… All the photos featured here are courtesy of Harry Harrington, an artist who specializes in what you might call found bonsai; bonsai from the wild or from hedgerows and gardens or wherever bonsai stock might come from that doesn’t bust your bank account. For more found bonsai and other good news, you can visit Harry at Bonsai4me or on his … Continue reading Bonsai that Don’t Bust Your Bank Account & an Important Natural Phenomenon

Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

Dwarf Japanese five-needle Pine at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. This and other Kokufu photos are from Bill Valavanis’ blog. Here’s Bill’s caption… “Looks like a spruce with the short needles.” Getting ready to throw the switch on our new website, so just some random pine bonsai today. Six from the past and two from this year’s Kokufu Exhibtion (Kokufu photos are courtesy of Bill Valavanis) SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TONIGHT 25% OFF EVERYTHING ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS & AN EXTRA 10% OFF ROBERT STEVEN’S BONSAI AESTHETICS TOOLS 25% OFF … Continue reading Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

More Kokufu Bonsai, but Still Just Scratching the Surface

Full cascade Shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis Sargentii) at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. I like the meandering play of the deadwood with the living vein. Something that works especially well with Shimpaku bonsai. This and the other photos in this post are courtesy of Bill Valavanis We’ve got some more of Bill Valavanis’ photos from this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. We’ll just scratch the surface and encourage you to visit Bill’s blog for more great shots Here’s a quote from Bill about the omnipresent Masahiko Kimura (The Magician) and his influence on Kokufu… “I saw Mr. Kimura and asked him how many bonsai … Continue reading More Kokufu Bonsai, but Still Just Scratching the Surface

Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Here’s a before and after of a Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi Following up from yesterday, we’ve a couple more Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) for you, including this before and after by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai going way back to early days of Bonsai Bark and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today NEW 25% OFF SITE WIDE SALE ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS 25% OFF APPLIES TO EVERYTHING ON ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE INCLUDING ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY DISCOUNTED A llttle fuzzy, but I wanted … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

For Every Highly Stylized Bonsai, There’s One that Breaks the Mold

For every highly stylized Japanese bonsai, there’s one like this that breaks the mold. It’s a Japanese red pine from Japan’s 80th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (2006) Yesterday we featured several trees from this year’s Kokufu Exhibition, including a couple Japanese pines (Black and White). Today we’ve got some Japanese Red pines (Pinus densiflora) from the 2006 Kokufu Exhibition. All the photos are courtesy of Michael Bonsai NEW INCREASED SITE WIDE SALE 25% OFF all orders 25.00 or more INCLUDING ITEMS ALREADY DISCOUNTED PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF ROSHI TOOLS & TOOL KITS Discounts Are Applied at Checkout STONELANTERN.COM Closer up … Continue reading For Every Highly Stylized Bonsai, There’s One that Breaks the Mold

Rough & Rugged Old Bonsai – Two Day Book Special

This rugged old tree starkly contrasts with the way it’s presented; the professional studio photo, the quality stand and pot cleaned and oiled to perfection. As you can see, it’s a pine. I won’t bother to guess the variety, but here’s where I found it and here’s the caption… Nippon Bonsai Sakka Kyookai Europe España a SAKKA TEN 2012 – PEÑISCOLA. Fotos de estudio realizadas por Alex Espuny (Studio Photos by Alex Espuny). I’m mesmerized by this tree’s rugged, natural look. So even though we’ve shown it before (with two more photos today), I’m going to ask you to indulge me in a second time NEW 2 DAY … Continue reading Rough & Rugged Old Bonsai – Two Day Book Special

Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Would you ever guess that these two little gems are Potentilla? Both are sweet in their own way, and so’s the photo; the muted painterly background, the contrasting pot colors and contrasting dead and live wood on both trees. I don’t know what the little companion is, but I like it too. I found it on Roman Stresow’s timeline. His caption is Just two Potentilla When I saw the photo above and then read that the trees were Potentilla (aka Cinquefoil), I felt a little tug of excitement. Not only were both little trees unique, but they’re Potentilla, a type tree I have … Continue reading Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about Harvey Carapella’s backyard bonsai garden… “Enjoy the colorful bonsai garden of Harvey Carapella. His outstanding private bonsai collection is a joy to appreciate, especially at this time of year. I’m quite proud of my friend’s bonsai talent and accomplishments. WOW!” From Bill’s timeline It’s a small world…. It turns out that our Bonsai Star for the Day, Harvey Carapella is an old friend of a good friend of mine here in Vermont. It’s not a bonsai connection, just one of those serendipity type things. When we discover these kinds of connections, my question … Continue reading Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

Before and after Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) by Todd Schlafer. The tree belongs to Mike Andrews. For the Godzilla reference, scroll down to the bottom of the post Continuing with another before and after transformation by Todd Schlafer (see Oct 19th). Here’s a quote by Mike Andrews (facebook)… “Progression of collected Rocky Mountain Juniper. Collected by Randy Knight, delivered to my house September 2016. Initial design and structure setting with Mauro in April 2017. Fertilized heavily and full sun 2017 and 2018 growing seasons resulted in very nice dense foliage. Finally detail wired and pad formation by Todd yesterday. … Continue reading Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After