Dreams of Flowering Bonsai

Sabamiki and uro. Aside from its overall power and beauty, there are a several things that might catch your eye: the flowers and buds, the aged bark (Ume bark develops an aged look fairly fast) and the hollowed out trunk (sabamiki). If you look closely you can also see several uro (small hollows that are left on deciduous trees where branches have rotted and fallen off, though bonsai uro may well be man made). We’re venturing back into the deep riches of our archives once again. This one is from July 2012 (with a little present tense editing). Seems like … Continue reading Dreams of Flowering Bonsai

Selling Out & Going Fast

This gracefully flowing Hornbeam is from Bonsai Today issue 94. It seems to me that deciduous bonsai are somewhat under-appreciated and under-explored in the west. Along those lines (so to speak) you might notice the near perfect taper from the base of the trunk out to tip of each twig. This level of detailed development is still somewhat rare in Western deciduous bonsai, but quite common in Japan. Bonsai Today issues are now 75% off. We just increased the discount to 75% off on Bonsai Today back issues. In case you’re not familiar with the wonders of Bonsai Today, each … Continue reading Selling Out & Going Fast

Rugged, Graceful & Not All That Common

Sabamiki and uro.  Aside from its overall power and beauty, there are a several things that might catch your eye: the flowers and buds, the aged bark (Ume bark develops an aged look fairly fast) and the hollowed out trunk (sabamiki). If you look closely you can also see several uro (small hollows that are left on deciduous trees where branches have rotted and fallen off, though bonsai uro may well be man made). What’s in a name? Ume have several names: Prunus mume (or just mume), Japanese apricot (or sometimes Japanese flowering apricot) and Chinese plum to name the … Continue reading Rugged, Graceful & Not All That Common