Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Here’s a before and after of a Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi Following up from yesterday, we’ve a couple more Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) for you, including this before and after by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai going way back to early days of Bonsai Bark and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today NEW 25% OFF SITE WIDE SALE ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS 25% OFF APPLIES TO EVERYTHING ON ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE INCLUDING ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY DISCOUNTED A llttle fuzzy, but I wanted … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

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

The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

The play of light and shadow… This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s part of the machine translation… “Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” You can read more and see other masterpiece bonsai photos here Even though I think he’s fallen a little out of favor in some circles, I’m still a fan of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai. For years his wildly innovative techniques and his visionary’s eye, combined with a healthy does of daring, produced results at the cutting edge (so to speak) of bonsai innovation. Now, forty some … Continue reading The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

Before and after by Koji Hiramatsu. No species is mentioned, but given that Koji lives in Japan and that the tree looks like a Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), that’s probably a good guess. Though I have been fooled by Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora), another two needle pine We’ve featured Koji Hiramatsu several times over the last couple years, though mostly his Shohin bonsai (here’s our first and my favorite Koji post), though lately I’m seeing more larger trees and fewer shohin on his fb posts. Either way, big or small, Koji is always worth a visit 30% OFF HAWS WATERING CANS ends tomorrow, Thursday … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

A Well Fed Japanese Red Pine & a Reminder to Feed Your Bonsai Generously

This distinctive Japanese red pine with its strong shari and sudden change of direction, shows the radiant vibrancy of a well-fed bonsai. It belongs Ken Fujiwara Summer growing season is time to generously feed your bonsai… Without adequate fertilizing, you won’t see the development you want; vibrant rich foliage, fine branching, thickening trunks and primary branches, powerful nebari and most critical of all, strong root growth. And of course, well-fed strong bonsai can better resists pests and diseases and withstand the challenges of the coming winter FEED YOUR BONSAI & SAVE All Bonsai Fertilizers 25% to 40% off List Prices … Continue reading A Well Fed Japanese Red Pine & a Reminder to Feed Your Bonsai Generously

Pine Bonsai – A Less Common Cousin

This handsome cork bark (see corrections below*) Japanese red pine, with its deeply grooved bark tells a story of age and beauty. The artist is Enrico Savini. If someone asked you to name two Japanese pines, you’d probably answer, Japanese black pine and Japanese white pine. This would make sense as most of the Japanese pine bonsai you see are Black or White. However, there is another important Japanese pine. It’s the Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). One reason you might not think of the Red pine is that it is less common than the Black or White pine and, … Continue reading Pine Bonsai – A Less Common Cousin

A Prize Winning Classically Styled Japanese Red Pine

This slanting Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora) won the Finest classical Bonsai award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It belongs to Gary Gunrow. Oscar Jonker’s original photo of the whole display is below. Slanting bonsai aren’t all that common. Especially ones like this Japanese red pine, where the entire crown is so far from being centered over the pot. What often amazes me about this style, is how the good ones (like this one) maintain the feeling of balance. In this case, I think it’s the trunk’s heavy base and nebari that provide a sense of stability. The … Continue reading A Prize Winning Classically Styled Japanese Red Pine

Bold Bonsai & Added Attraction

I don’t mean to rush the fall season, but couldn’t resist this brilliant photo. The tree, a prize-winning Shishigashira Japanese maple is from a Peter Tea post on the 32nd Annual Taikan-ten bonsai exhibition in Kyoto. This photos shown here are lifted from a December 2012 Bark post titled An Embarrassment of Riches. In addition to the photos the post featured an added attraction; a list of some favorite bonsai blogs (below our ad at the bottom of the post). Here’s what Matt Reel has to say about this tree: “This Japanese Red Pine has such a broad apex it … Continue reading Bold Bonsai & Added Attraction

Before & After Japanese Red Pine Bonsai

Here’s a before and after of a beautiful Bunjin Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi. From Marco’s website. Got a couple Japanese pines for you, including the before and after above by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai here on Bark going way back to early days and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today. Want to improve the quality of your bonsai? Try wiring all the way out to the tips of the smallest branches. You’ll be astounded by the results. The photo is from Bonsai Today issue 1. Back issues of Bonsai Today are now … Continue reading Before & After Japanese Red Pine Bonsai

Running Around in Circles?

The deadwood on this unusual juniper looks a lot like a spontaneous Zen brush stoke. The photo was posted by John Milton. Here’s his caption: “The final result, not quite sure I pulled ‘Stanley’* off but, did my best. Still very raw as the branches are un-styled grafts without ramification, even though it looks full in the before picture. With some mochikomi** over next couple years, should fill out nicely.” Scroll down for the before photo. John Milton has been an apprentice at Aichi-en under Junichiro Tanaka-San since June 2013. He posted the photo above on his facebook feed three … Continue reading Running Around in Circles?