The Tallest Trees in the World?

This Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii* subsp. glauca) is one of numerous extraordinary bonsai at Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai (near Portland, Oregon). It was originally collected in the Rocky mountains by Randy Knight. It’s age is given as 100-250 years. Height is 36″ (91cm), width 52″ (132cm). Yesterday’s post got me thinking about Firs and it wasn’t a long trip from firs (Abies varieties) to Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii). So even though Douglas firs are not true firs, still, these photo are just too good to pass up NEW Deeper Discount 1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now only 16.00 … Continue reading The Tallest Trees in the World?

Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Close up of Dan Robinson’s Mountain hemlock, taken on my cell at the Artisans Cup. Last weekend I finally had the pleasure of meeting Dan and Diane Robinson. It was at the Artisans Cup so I also had the pleasure of viewing and photographing Dan’s entry, the Mountain hemlock shown here (above and below). We’ve been featuring Dan Robinson’s bonsai and we’ve been selling and enjoying Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees for a long time (the second printing of Will Hiltz’ brilliant book about Dan and his trees just came out). Now that I’ve met Dan and actually seen one of … Continue reading Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees is Back!

Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Works of Dan Robinson – Bonsai Pioneer is back in print! We’ve been waiting for this wonderful, ground breaking book to come back into print for a long time. Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees is surely one of the most important and beautiful bonsai books ever published. Will Hiltz, author and photographer elevates the art of book making, and Dan Robinson, bonsai artist and master, elevates the art of collecting, growing and styling bonsai. Dan Robinson’s approach is uniquely his own and shows profound respect for trees, nature, art; the whole process that we … Continue reading Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees is Back!

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

A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events

It has been a while since we’ve featured the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum‘s world-class bonsai collection. This Korean hornbeam (Carpinus tschonoskii ) donated by Minoru Koshimura, has been in training since 1935 and it’s not even one of the oldest at the museum. Not by a long shot. But it is undeniably a venerable tree with a majestic dignity that you just don’t find every day. And of course, it’s just one of hundreds of powerful bonsai and bonsai events you can enjoy while visiting our nation’s capital. Here we go again in our quest to keep you up … Continue reading A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events

Bonsai Tonight Visits Picasso

Dan Robinson, famous bonsai innovator and owner of Elandan Gardens, gives 1,500 as the year of origin for this wild Ponderosa pine. Photo by Jonas Dupuich of Bonsai Tonight. The Picasso of Bonsai According to Will Hiltz, the author and publisher of Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, it was Frank Okimura who first referred to Dan Robinson as the Picasso of Bonsai. I think these photos and the photos in Gnarly Branches make a pretty good case for that name. Another title that fits is Dan is Bonsai Pioneer (also from Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees). The natural in naturalistic The notion … Continue reading Bonsai Tonight Visits Picasso

Weekly Wire Six: A Little Tipsy

More fall color. There’s something about the fiery brilliance of fall color. Both the colors and the shape of this Japanese maple are reminiscent of the large Sugar maples that grow around here in Vermont. The photo is from Reiner Vollmari’s facebook page. The Windy City. Next time you’re in Chicago you can visit the bonsai collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden. From what I can see from their website, it looks like a great display area with some quality trees. They claim to have “one of the best public collections of bonsai in the world” which may be … Continue reading Weekly Wire Six: A Little Tipsy

Blazing Bonsai Gallery

The swirl of color and freakishly wild and wonderful form, belongs to Dan Robinson. It’s from Will Hiltz brilliant book (Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees) about Dan and his trees (this one is a Bald cypress, one of the handful a few deciduous conifers on this planet). It’s that time of year… This brilliant Boston ivy appears on the cover of Bonsai Today issue 68 and is part of a gorgeous autumn color gallery (Bonsai Today back issues are currently 70% off at Stone Lantern). A multi-hued Trident maple forest from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum’s North American Collection. … Continue reading Blazing Bonsai Gallery

Pushing Bonsai Boundaries Even Further

Has Nick gone too far and ventured beyond what you’d call bonsai with this early spring larch that promises summer shade for a cheap garden ornament? From Bonsai from the Wild by Nick Lenz. Nick Lenz’ fertile imagination Nick Lenz has been pushing bonsai boundaries for a long time. The planting above is just one example of his fertile imagination. However, a friend of mine says that what Nick is up to is just vain eccentricity and has no real meaning as far as bonsai goes. As for me, well, root-over-tank (below) always makes me smile, and maybe that’s good … Continue reading Pushing Bonsai Boundaries Even Further

Nature, Picasso & the Hand of Man

Here’s an exquisite, powerful old tree that features some wild twists and turns. I found it here. My guess is it’s a Shimpaku juniper that was originally collected in the mountains of Japan. A further guess is that it fell into the hands of one of the Japanese masters. One more guess; it was professionally photographed and appears in a Japanese bonsai book or Bonsai magazine Okay, I stand corrected (see comments) That Old Question: Naturalistic vs Highly Styled Bonsai Though nature originally grew, shaped and aged this wonderful old tree, there is no pretending that humans didn’t have a … Continue reading Nature, Picasso & the Hand of Man