Monster Bonsai, True Confession & the Meaning of Life

It’s hard to tell just how large this monster is from this photo (cropped from the photo just below), but it does provide some notion of how massive the trunk is and a pretty good look at the details on the pot… In the past I’ve always managed to post in spite of being on vacation… which might beg a question about the meaning of vacation (maybe even the meaning of life). Anyway, this is my first post in almost a week, and – true confession – much of it is borrowed from a 2011 post that was titled Vacation Gallery. The original … Continue reading Monster Bonsai, True Confession & the Meaning of Life

Not Exactly Bonsai, but Close Enough

I know this is a bonsai blog and this isn’t a bonsai, but it’s close enough. You might call it something like a giant Penjing style landscape. Or maybe just an exceptional landscape planting (probably Chinese) and leave it at that. I found on at a place call Bonsai Mag. They don’t provide much information about who they are, or about this photo. Just heard from Dennis (one of our subscribers), that it belongs to Lâm Ng?c Vinh Yesterday and day before we featured Harmut Muenchebach’s brilliant Bavarian backyard bonsai garden. Today we’ll continue the landscape theme with the garden … Continue reading Not Exactly Bonsai, but Close Enough

Flowering Bonsai & some other Good News

This is the first and only Fuchsia bonsai we’ve shown. Until now, that is (see below). It’s from a post we did two years ago. We originally found it at Aus Bonsai. Tropical and semi-tropical flowering plants are common and abundant, though not all are suitable for bonsai. This has a lot to do with leaf size, as many have leaves that are too large for bonsai (you can reduce leaf size to some degree, but in most cases it’s best to start out with plants that have small leaves and short internodes). Two good warm climate flowering plants that … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai & some other Good News

Pot Master

I don’t know who styled this wonderfully crazy azalea (I don’t read Japanese) but I do know that Master Potter Gyozan Nakano made the pot. Still out of town so we’ll continue borrowing from our illustrious past. We’re on a pot roll, so let’s just keep rolling. And as long as we’re delving into the archives, why not go all the way back to our first pot post. It’s from July, 2007. A remarkable book about a remarkable potter Four years ago (ten years ago now) I was given a most remarkable book by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation, who … Continue reading Pot Master

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…

Suiseki & Satsuki

This stone speaks of Death Valley or some remote spot on the edge of the North African desert. It”s from the California Suiseki Society’s 15th Annual Show, via Bonsai Tonight. A great debate? I don’t think we’ve ever featured suiseki (viewing stones) on this blog. We used to feature them regularly in Bonsai Today, with occasional objections by some readers. I’ve always felt that suiseki is a natural with bonsai, so mixing in a few makes sense to me. Perhaps this is a Japanese influenced view, as it seems that you see suiseki and bonsai together with much greater frequency … Continue reading Suiseki & Satsuki

Mission of Transformation is rapidly approaching

This powerful tray planting leaves little doubt that Robert Steven is a brilliant bonsai and penjing artist. From Mission of Transformation. It’s on shore and on its way A truck bearing Robert Steven’s new book, Mission of Transformation, will be ascending our long dirt driveway any day now (maybe today!). Walter Pall “Tradition is not the conservation of ashes but the propagation of fire. Robert Steven certainly is propagating the fire. What was started in his first book, Vision of My Soul… is put into practice here in this book. I dare to say that this book will become a … Continue reading Mission of Transformation is rapidly approaching

A True Gem: Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki

A true gem. There is no other book in English that is anything like Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, by Willi Benz. In his forword to Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Mr. I Chi Su* says: “My respected friend Mr. Benz has dedicated himself entirely to the art of Bonsai and Suiseki for years… With his experience, knowledge and artistic talent in both Bonsai and Suiseki, applied with the Western analytical method to explain Eastern philosophy and culture, he has created a refreshing way of design… These concepts have elevated the art of Suiseki to even a higher level”