Sheer Bonsai Beauty

The black background provides a perfect contrast to the sheer white flowers. This Hawthorn bonsai belongs to Hans Van Meer. He doesn’t say what the the variety is but the flower looks like a Common hawthorn* (Crataegus monogyna). The pot is by Dan Barton Here’s another post I dug out of our archives (heavily edited to spare you unnecessary words). It’s from June, 2015. Both of the bonsai featured here are from the bonsai blog of Hans Van Meer. Continued below… Here’s the Wire Sale you’ve been waiting for… 20% to 25% off Kilo Rolls of Bonsai Aesthetics Wire 20% … Continue reading Sheer Bonsai Beauty

Hedge Bonsai #2 and Some Loose Ends

The other day we featured a bonsai hedge by Joe Selworthy (Dan Barton’s talented twin) and now here’s another one with this caption: “Picture of my first Cotoneaster hedge with Deshojo maple which I sold several years ago.” Though you can’t tell from here, there’s some impressive detail on and around the little fence under the maple (see below). Recognize this tree? It’s a Cheng, Cheng-Kung Shimpaku juniper that we featured last week. Here’s part of our caption: …there’s something very unusual going on here. Not that I expect you to read my mind, but still, the first person … Continue reading Hedge Bonsai #2 and Some Loose Ends

Bonsai Hedge – Something You Don’t See Everyday

‘Joe Selworthy’s’ Cotoneaster hedge planting. Here’s part of what Joe has to say about it. “I can’t remember whether I posted this image before so I’m posting it now. It’s my cotoneaster hedge (grown from seed) with a deshojo maple and a style with sleeping cat. The “accent” is a wee painted bronze wren waiting for the cat to leave so that it can go to its nest in the hedge!!!” Running behind so we’ll borrow from our archives. This one was first posted just eleven months ago, but I like it (even though it’s a little embarrassing) and thought … Continue reading Bonsai Hedge – Something You Don’t See Everyday

Sheer Beauty – More Flowering Bonsai

The black background provides a perfect contrast to the sheer beauty of the white flowers. This spectacular Hawthorn bonsai belongs to Hans Van Meer. He doesn’t say what the the variety is but the flower looks like a Common hawthorn* (Crataegus monogyna). The pot is by Brian Albright. We’ve been featuring flowering bonsai lately so thought we’d keep going in that direction. It’s the right time of year and our facebook likes tend to explode whenever we put flowers up (facebook likes and click-through-rate are related). Of course the trick is to find worthy bonsai that happen to be in … Continue reading Sheer Beauty – More Flowering Bonsai

A Remarkable Planting by Joe Selworthy or Dan Barton, Take Your Choice

‘Joe Selworthy’s‘ Cotoneaster hedge planting. Here’s part of what Joe has to say about it. “I can’t remember whether I posted this image before so I’m posting it now. It’s my cotoneaster hedge (grown from seed) with a deshojo maple and a style with sleeping cat. The “accent” is a wee painted bronze wren waiting for the cat to leave so that it can go to its nest in the hedge!!!” I found the photo above thanks to a link from Colin Lewis. However when I tried to figure out who on earth Joe Selworthy is, I ended up on … Continue reading A Remarkable Planting by Joe Selworthy or Dan Barton, Take Your Choice

A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

The inspiration for this post arouse when I stumbled upon this remarkable tree on facebook. It belongs to Colin Lewis. Here’s his caption: “Colorado blue spruce, acquired 2008 from Harold Sasaki. Styled 2011-2012. Pot custom made by my old friend Dan Barton, 2013. I’m letting it grow this year to refresh some old congested areas. Maybe I’ll show it in 2016…” Le raison d’être for this post is the tree above. More accurately, the tree and the pot. Both are delightful and together, even more delightful. However, and in spite of the magic of the bonsai above, two questions arise. … Continue reading A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

Scots & Scotch

Great tree, great pot. This powerful old Scot’s pine by Enrico Savini was an overall winner in a contest that was held at the Art of Bonsai Project way back in 2005. The pot is by Isabelia. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is another in our bonsai species series. I used to think they were Scotch pine (some people say Scotch pine is incorrect and others say it’s an acceptable variation) and had the notion that you could enjoy a sip of Scotch while working on you Scotch pine (oh well…). No matter what you call them, Scots pine make excellent … Continue reading Scots & Scotch

Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire #3

This photo of Kobayashi Nursery comes from Soh-Ju-En Satsuki Bonsai. I assume it’s Kunio Kobayashi*** (he’s won awards for Satsuki bonsai), but my research team (that’s me) is a little over-worked right now and is having trouble finding time, so we’ll have to leave it at that. ***Thanks to Marc (see comments below) we now know that this photo is of Kobayashi Sangyo Satsuki Bonsai Nursery and is not Kunio Kobayashi’s. Do your tools look like this? If not, then here’s a hot tip on how you can make it happen: visit Cheng, Cheng-Kung’s most excellent website (he’s one … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire #3