Bonsai Bark Has a New Home & We’ve Got a New Website

I cropped this Ficus microcarpa for a close look at the sheer power and beauty of the trunk, pot and stand (the uncropped original is below). It’s by Huang,Ching-Chi of Taiwan We’ve got a New Website & Bonsai Bark has a New Home (right there on our New Website)! You can go directly to Bark with this link, or you can go to our New Website and scroll down just a tad and there it is Today we’ve got three bonsai from the 2008 Taiwan Bonsai Creators Exhibition booklet which appears on Bonsai Shari Si-Diao, Cheng, Cheng-Kung’s website. It’s the … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Has a New Home & We’ve Got a New Website

Bonsai Holiday Greetings from Another Place & Time

Chinese hackberry by Lo Min Hsuan It’s the Holidays and we all need a little down time, so today it’s back to our archives. All of today’s photos are from Lo Min Hsuan’s Bonsai blog and they all appeared here exactly eight years ago. That’s a great thing about bonsai of this magnitude… they are already so old that eight years might as well be yesterday Roshi Bonsai Tools 30% off Plus and extra 10% off on orders 150.00 or more Roshi Tools are famous for precision, durability, beauty & reasonable prices this special ends Dec 26th at 11:59pm EST – I’ve always appreciated a good … Continue reading Bonsai Holiday Greetings from Another Place & Time

You Don’t See Bonsai Like These Everyday

You don’t see bonsai like this every day. For me, there’s a temptation to grab my thinning shears. But first, it’s a good idea to take it in as is. And there’s a lot to take in. Especially the sheer weight of the remarkably lush foliage. And, if you can pull your eyes down to the trunk, the play of the living veins and deadwood is striking. Unfortunately the tree is not identified (nor attributed), but it looks a lot a like a Shimpaku juniper Normally we shy away from unattributed and unidentified bonsai. But in this case the trees are so unusual that I couldn’t … Continue reading You Don’t See Bonsai Like These Everyday

Great Pots Deserve Great Trees

Barbados cherry (Malpigia glabra) by Hsieh, Cheng-Hua These three magnificent trees with their equally magnificent pots are from the 2008 Taiwan Bonsai Creators Exhibition booklet which appears on Bonsai Shari Si-Diao, Cheng, Cheng-Kung’s website. All three photo originally appeared her in April, 2011 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE at STONE LANTERN SEE BELOW – Ficus microcarpa by Huang,Ching-Chi. Variety unlisted. By Tung, Wen Chi 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE OUR 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE MEANS DOUBLE DISCOUNTS ON ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY ON SALE AND 20% OFF ON EVERYTHING ELSE 20% off will show up when you check out – FREE Shipping Still Applies … Continue reading Great Pots Deserve Great Trees

Bonsai Superlatives

I’m running out of superlatives. How about… ‘somewhere north of magnificent.’ My only question is, could the pot be a little bigger? By Hsieh, Shun-Chin of Taiwan Continuing with spectacular Ficus bonsai… Though the Taiwanese aren’t alone, a large dose of creative bonsai energy seems to be emanating from that unique island. And it’s not just Min Hsuan Lo and Cheng, Cheng-Kung, they have plenty of talented company. If you want some evidence, check out the Taiwan Bonsai Creators Exhibitions FALL POTTING SEASON SPECIAL 25% OFF LIST ON ALL HIGH IMPACT PLASTIC BONSAI POTS 25% OFF LIST ON ALL BONSAI SOIL … Continue reading Bonsai Superlatives

Somewhere North of Magnificent

I’m running out of superlatives. How about ‘somewhere north of magnificent?’ My only question is; could the pot be a little bigger? It’s a Ficus by Hsieh, Shun-Chin. This is at least the third time we’ve featured the ‘north of magnificent’ tree above. My guess is we’ll show it again before we chuck it all in. Though the Taiwanese aren’t alone, a large dose of creative bonsai energy seems to be emanating from that unique island. And it’s not just Min Hsuan Lo and Cheng, Cheng-Kung, they have plenty of talented company. If you want some evidence, check out the … Continue reading Somewhere North of Magnificent

Radiant Red Leaves, Luminous Yellow Pot

Without going into the stunning red-yellow contrast or why we are showing fall foliage when spring is looming… This sweet little Japanese maple belongs to Mark Arpag. Here are his comments, “Joe Noga Photography and color separation is exquisite !!! The sweet display table (below) is my friend Bill Valavanis’ and really compliments my tree. Thanks to my great friends for capturing this beauty!” Got a very late start this morning but still wanted to squeeze a post in (to make sure you know that today is the last day of our Roshi Bonsai Tool Sale). Coffee and then straight … Continue reading Radiant Red Leaves, Luminous Yellow Pot

If You Want to Grow Bonsai Indoors, You’d Be Hard Pressed to Find Trees Better Suited than Ficus

This powerfully built gem is from Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai by Jerry Meislik. Our American (U.S. that is) Thanksgiving is this week, so I thought I’d resurrect a post on the topic from three years ago. I’m not flying anywhere this year, but does it really matter? I’m headed out again. Tomorrow will be another day spent in an airborne cattle car. Then Thanksgiving with family. I know there are some people who’d rather spend time in a cattle car than with family, but I like mine, so I guess I’m lucky. Though if someone is going to misbehave at … Continue reading If You Want to Grow Bonsai Indoors, You’d Be Hard Pressed to Find Trees Better Suited than Ficus

A Regal Bonsai & a Simple Wonder of Subtle Complexity

Finest Tropical Bonsai & Finest Accent Plant. The tree is a Tiger bark Ficus (Ficus microcarpa) by Hoe Chuah. I’ve cropped this lead photo to show just the tree (a photo showing Soon Chuah’s companion is just below and a photo of the tree with the companion is below that). The first three photos in this post are from Bonsai Empire. A family that does bonsai (and companions) together, wins together. Hoe and Soon Chuah were double winners at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Hoe’s Ficus is a strong and perfectly well-balanced, even regal bonsai, and Soon’s companion is … Continue reading A Regal Bonsai & a Simple Wonder of Subtle Complexity

Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long

You don’t often see half defoliated trees. You also don’t often see photos of bonsai with both side chopped off, but there was too much noise in the background so this is my solution (you can see the uncropped version here). The tree is a Ficus and the photo is originally from Eduardo Mourão Guedes’s post at Indonesian Bonsai Society. I couldn’t find a live link there but I did find one here. If you live in the tropics you can defoliate a tree like the one above any time of year. However, if you want to defoliate a Ficus … Continue reading Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long