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

Another Hawthorn & Harry’s Timely Reply

Another Hawthorn that belongs to Harry Harrington. It isn’t as advanced as the one we featured yesterday, but it’s full of promise Yesterday we featured a freshly repotted Hawthorn by Harry Harrington. Here’s the rub… the tree hadn’t been repotted for 15 years! As you might imagine this provoked some questions by several readers. So last night I emailed Harry and this morning I woke up to his reply (before you read on, I suggest you take a look at yesterday’s post). So here’s your answer, in Harry’s own words… “Ive been asked this quite a few times since Saturday! … Continue reading Another Hawthorn & Harry’s Timely Reply

Harry’s Famous Hawthorn

Harry Harrington’s Hawthorn just before repotting Here’s what Harry Harrington wrote about repotting his old Hawthorn…. “For the first time in 15 years, this afternoon I’m repotting this Hawthorn bonsai (some will know as the Informal Broom). And I can’t remember seeing quite so many white fleshy roots circling the bottom of a rootball……..I mean, it’s nice when you repot a tree and they are present, but this has hundreds!” In case you’re wondering why Harry is repotting so early, spring came to England ahead of schedule this year. You can visit Harry at Bonsai4me or on his fb timeline … Continue reading Harry’s Famous Hawthorn

A Radical Approach to Bonsai Soil

This sturdy, barely tamed beast of a tree is a perfect example of Walter Pall’s naturalistic style. The photo is from Walter’s website. The tree is a European spruce. Yesterday we resurrected Walter Pall’s unique hedge pruning method. Today we’re resurrecting (for the second time) his equally unique take on bonsai soil. It originally appeared here on Bark in June of 2013. Walter Pall, world famous bonsai artist and much more… We’ve feature Walter’s bonsai numerous times here on Bark (and in Bonsai Today) and will continue to feature them for as long as we continue posting. I won’t say … Continue reading A Radical Approach to Bonsai Soil

Fat Guy & Tall Guy

Tony Tickle, a man with a sense of humor worthy of his name, calls this Hawthorn ‘Fat Guy’ and the one just below ‘Tall Guy.’ Yesterday we featured some of Tony Tickle’s wild and wonderful yamadori bonsai, with a little confusion thrown in (courtesy of yours truly). Today, it’s Tony’s trees again, but this time we’ll do our best to limit the confusion. So much for limiting confusion… I just noticed that the links from yesterday’s post don’t go to Tony’s website, but instead to an interview with Tony on ABC’s website. However, I distinctly remember copying http://yamadori.co.uk, from Tony’s … Continue reading Fat Guy & Tall Guy

Caught in the Act

Caught in the act of flowering. This ubiquitous little Hawthorn belongs to Morten Albek, shohin bonsai artist, author and teacher. The display appeared during a visit to Denmark by Tomohiro Masumi. Still out of the office. This one originally appeared in 2011. It was titled ‘Small Is Beautiful.’ Tomohiro Masumi, Morten Albek & Shohin bonsai Rather than bore you with my take on things, I’ll just post a few photos I think you might appreciate. If you want more (photos and information), you can visit Morten’s facebook post on Tomohiro Masumi’s visit to Denmark, or you can go directly to … Continue reading Caught in the Act

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

Heavy Crowns & Wordy Captions

Based on the photos from Sandor Papp’s blog, this, or the tree just below, might be my exhibition winner (the actual winner is at the bottom of the post). It’s unusual to see this much deadwood on a deciduous or other broad-leafed bonsai, but then Privets are tough trees (Ligustrum vulgaris in this case). Speaking of deadwood you might notice the impressive sabamiki (Japanese for hollow trunk – plural in this case). The unique, well-chosen pot is also worth a mention. The trees shown here appear on the Bonsai Blog of Sandor Papp. The occasion is the recent bonsai exhibition … Continue reading Heavy Crowns & Wordy Captions

Modern Masters Bonsai Soil

This Hawthorn in bloom is from Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures, as is the article below. The rest of the photos in this post are from Walter’s online gallery. It’s about the soil. This post originally appeared here on Bark June last year. We’re revisiting it because it’s about soil and because we’re about soil, at least for the moment (see our new Masters Bonsai Soil at Stone Lantern). Walter Pall, world famous bonsai artist and much more… We’ve feature Walter’s bonsai numerous times here on Bark (and in Bonsai Today) and will continue to feature them for as long as … Continue reading Modern Masters Bonsai Soil

Horst Just Might Be the One

This just turned up on facebook. Horst Heinzlreiter posted it. The tree’s a Hawthorn. It belongs to Hans Van Meer and the pot is by Horst. If I had to name my favorite bonsai potter Horst just might be the one. Especially if the number times his pots have been featured on Bark is any indication. No, I didn’t decide to post this because I wanted to mention our bonsai pots. But now that it’s done…