Juniper Bonsai & Other Kokufu Treats

A loop the loop Juniper at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. I took the liberty of cropping* Boon Manakitivipart’s original for a closer look at the deadwood and living vein, as well as the unusual loop. Even with this closeup, it’s not easy to tell exactly what’s going on. But we’ll leave that to you We’ve been featuring some of Bill Valavanis’ photos from this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. If you’ve been following Bark for a while, you’ll know that Bill is one of our favorites. Today it’s Bonsai Boon, another of our favorites We’ll just show you some junipers this time, with more to … Continue reading Juniper Bonsai & Other Kokufu Treats

For Every Highly Stylized Bonsai, There’s One that Breaks the Mold

For every highly stylized Japanese bonsai, there’s one like this that breaks the mold. It’s a Japanese red pine from Japan’s 80th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (2006) Yesterday we featured several trees from this year’s Kokufu Exhibition, including a couple Japanese pines (Black and White). Today we’ve got some Japanese Red pines (Pinus densiflora) from the 2006 Kokufu Exhibition. All the photos are courtesy of Michael Bonsai NEW INCREASED SITE WIDE SALE 25% OFF all orders 25.00 or more INCLUDING ITEMS ALREADY DISCOUNTED PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF ROSHI TOOLS & TOOL KITS Discounts Are Applied at Checkout STONELANTERN.COM Closer up … Continue reading For Every Highly Stylized Bonsai, There’s One that Breaks the Mold

Thief Steals Over $100,000 Worth of Bonsai* Including a 400-year-old Shimpaku Juniper

This rare 400-year-old Shimpaku juniper was due to be entered in a Japanese competition this month Theft of anything is always shocking and doubly so when the missing objects are irreplaceable, one of a kind living items. When and if they are ever found, missing bonsai might be badly damaged or even dead. And the chances of ever finding them are often slim Here’s an except from our source WENY News (courtesy of Eugene Sekulow) … “A bonsai thief has stolen seven… trees worth at least 13 million yen ($118,000)* from a garden space in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo. “The … Continue reading Thief Steals Over $100,000 Worth of Bonsai* Including a 400-year-old Shimpaku Juniper

Two More Bonsai & Two Special Events at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

This dynamic and wild looking Shimpaku juniper, aka Sargent’s juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. Sargentii), with its barely visible living vein (or veins?), was donated to the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum (Japanese Collection) by Kenichi Oguchi in 1976. It has been in training since 1905. The Museum’s logo (below) was inspired by this tree Today we’ve got two special events from the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, sandwiched between a couple Junipers from the Museum’s Japanese Collection. Stay posted for more events and more magnificent trees from the Museum’s new website PHOTOGRAPHING BONSAI WITH STEPHEN VOSS Feb 9, … Continue reading Two More Bonsai & Two Special Events at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Here’s what Michael Hagedorn wrote about this tree… “Another tree from my apprenticeship days, prep work for the Kokufu show. Always liked this tree. Although arguably junipers are best with more dynamic and energy, the quiet presence of this one had a charm of its own. All I did was clarify some of the padding and make minor adjustments throughout.” I cropped Michael’s original photo (see below) for an up close look at the the trunk with its beautifully contrasting shari and living veins “A trip down memory lane…” Lately Michael Hagedorn has been putting up trees from his Japan apprentice … Continue reading A Trip Down Memory Lane

Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, this time with new photos

Japanese apricot (often referred to as Ume) at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan. You can see the whole tree below We’re going to continue with the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum today, but this time with newly posted photos from their facebook timeline. Ones we’ve never shown before 20% OFF EVERYTHING SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TONIGHT PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS THESE SPECIALS END WEDNESDAY, JAN 23RD AT 11:59PM EST – Star jasmine fully cascading with all the foliage below the pot Another Japanese apricot (Ume). This time … Continue reading Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, this time with new photos

Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival

This Satsuki azalea with its powerful trunk and nebari would be a remarkable even without its brilliant flowers The bonsai featured here are from the 2018 Satsuki Azalea Festival in Ueno, Tokyo (even though they are from last year, this is the first time we’ve shown them). You can see these and more flowering Satsuki on Naoi Kenichi’s fb timeline. Continued below… 20% OFF BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL ENDS SOON Choose from our vast array of sizes & types of wire Special ends Thursday, Jan 3rd at 11:59pm EST Here’s something from Wikipedia on Satsuki azaleas… “Satsuki azaleas have a diverse rnge of flower forms and color patterns with multiple patterns … Continue reading Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival

New Year New Day New Bonsai Essentials

There’s something about Quince flowers… Here’s Bill Valavanis’ caption: “A small size Toyo Nishiki Japanese flowering quince, Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Toyo Nishiki’ with multiple colored flowers. Although red, pink and white blossoms are common for this great cultivar, I’ve often seen red branches grafted onto specimens to improve color distribution.” Welcome to 2019. My other New Year’s resolution (see yesterday) is to avoid recycling these same trees for a forth time next year. Stay posted to see how we do. I guess a passable excuse is just how good these trees are. They’re from the 2015 Kokufu Bonsai Exhibiton and were lifted directly from … Continue reading New Year New Day New Bonsai Essentials

Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution

This prolific Pyracantha was our 2018 New Year’s tree. I don’t know who the artist or owner is (more about this below), but my guess is the tree is Japanese Here’s my New Year’s resolution from 2018… No more unattributed trees on this blog (uh… except for the one just above). So I failed on the first day last year and the failure reoccured throughout the year (you can take this as a metaphor if you’d like). In light of this, here’s a more realistic resolution for this year… I will attribute the trees we post when possible and encourage all of us who have been … Continue reading Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution

Eccentric Bonsai: Too Strange, or Just Strange Enough?

Strange as this old tree is, it all works together with a blend of eccentricity and balance (and remarkable ramification*). This photo and the others in this post are from Peter Tea Bonsai Way back in 2009 and early 2010 we ran a series of posts that we called Eccentric Bonsai. Maybe it’s time to resurrect the series. If so, this one-of-a-kind Trident maple seems like a good place to start. We originally posted this tree in December, 2011. It was borrowed from Peter Tea’s blog. Peter was an apprentice at Mr. Junichiro Tanaka’s Aichi-en bonsai nursery at the time. Peter takes good photos and writes of his experience … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai: Too Strange, or Just Strange Enough?