Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

The winner of the Finest Mame Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Willow leaf ficus (Ficus neriifolia) that belongs to Johnson Teh. No dimensions are given, but some sources list mame as up to 4″ (10cm) tall. Others go a little taller. Oscar Jonker took the photo. I cropped it for a closer look. Oscar’s original is below Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning Mame bonsai and the winning Shohin display NEW KOYO JAPANESE TOOL SPECIAL 30% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL KOYO TOOLS – The winner … Continue reading Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

Bonsai Brilliance Multiplied

Both the tree and the pot are brilliant and each could stand on its own. But together their brilliance is multiplied. Based on the flowers, I’d say the tree is a quince. The photos trees and pots shown here all belong to Michiko Koide. It’s noon already and the project I was working on this morning is bogged down (blogged down). We’ll set it aside for the moment and resort to an old trick. This one is from March, 2016, with a little value added – a couple new photos from Michiko Koide’s facebook timeline. I don’t know much about … Continue reading Bonsai Brilliance Multiplied

Bonsai Artistry in Red & Yellow

There are few things more delicate and beautiful than fresh spring Maple leaves. This exquisite tree and pot are perfect expressions of the artistry of Haruyoshi. Heavy spring snowstorm this weekend. Need to get dressed and get shoveling, so we’ll take the easy way out. This one is from September, 2015. Shoin bonsai & ceramic artist Haruyosi does a couple things that set him apart. First, he regularly posts masterpiece shohin and mame bonsai and pots, and second, he posts a lot of photos that reveal the creative process. For both trees and pots. More exquisite bonsai by Haruyosi below… … Continue reading Bonsai Artistry in Red & Yellow

Chocolate Bonsai

If you read Japanese, you might learn something about this and the other bonsai shown here. Otherwise, you can do what I do; simply enjoy these sweet little trees (and other plantings) and their equally sweet pots. All the photos shown here are from Pinterest. If what many of us suspect is true, that the population of aging bonsai lovers is not being replaced in large enough numbers by younger enthusiasts, then we should be seeing increasing interest in smaller trees. Nevertheless, what we usually see online are larger, more dramatic trees. I suppose this makes sense as drama sells … Continue reading Chocolate Bonsai

Golden Bonsai Statements

Magnificence in miniature. This is one of the most striking mame (literally ‘bean’) bonsai I’ve seen in a long time. And I don’t think we need to say much about the pot, it can speak for itself. At a glance I’d guess this little bonsai is from Japan, but we can’t be sure without attribution. I found it at the Golden State Bonsai Federation.* Here’s part of their caption: “Steve DaSilva reminds all FBS (Fresno Bonsai Society) members that there will be four shohin bonsai workshops offered on Saturday, April 22nd, at the Koen-Nai fundraiser for the Clark Bonsai Collection…” … Continue reading Golden Bonsai Statements

Short & Sweet

Here’s what Bob Bailey wrote when he posted this tiny but powerful pine by Koji Hiramatsu: “One of his finest and only 10cms tall.” And just in case you happen to live in one of the three countries* that haven’t adopted the metric system, that’s just under 4″ I’m not sure how we managed to overlook Koji Hiramatsu for so long (in February it will be eight years of approximately 300 posts per year), but we did. Until now. We’re still recovering from the December frenzy and it’s time to wade though digital piles of year end numbers and obligations, … Continue reading Short & Sweet

Tiny Bonsai Master?

Bright yellow flowers and a light yellow pot makes for a soft contrast. Haruyosi doesn’t identify this little gem, but the flowers look a lot like Potentilla. Though the yellow Potentilla I have in my yard has much smaller leaves relative to the flowers. We’ll continue with tiny bonsai today, though not all are by Shohin master Haruyosi, who we’ve been featuring lately (I originally wrote tiny bonsai master Haruyosi, but that doesn’t work so well). Yesterday we featured freshly trimmed Shimpaku juniper by Haruyosi, now it’s a freshly trimmed Ezo spruce (aka Yezo spruce), also by Haruyosi. I love … Continue reading Tiny Bonsai Master?

Tiny Trees, Brilliant Flowers & Wild Horses

This sweet little quince with its brilliant flowers belongs to Haruyosi. It’s a safe bet that he also made the pot. It has been several years since I first stumbled upon Haruyosi. Every since that fortunate day, we periodically return to him and his delightful tiny trees and pots. In this case, it’s a rerun (we last showed these photos a little over a year ago), but it’s a good one, so I don’t think you’ll mind. I happen to believe that quince flowers are as brilliant and pure as any flowers anywhere. So we’ll stick with quince this time … Continue reading Tiny Trees, Brilliant Flowers & Wild Horses

Tiny Bonsai, Tiny Pots

There are few things more delicate and beautiful than fresh spring Maple leaves (Trident maple in this case). This exquisite tree and exquisite pot are perfect expressions of the artistry of Haruyoshi. Out of town and running late today, so we’ll dip back into our archives. This one originally appeared April, 2014. It features a few of Haruyosi’s exquisite small bonsai. If you’ve been following Bark for a while, you know that Haruyosi is one of our favorites. Red on red. In our last Haruyosi post (Very Red and Very Rare), we mentioned that red glazes are expensive and not … Continue reading Tiny Bonsai, Tiny Pots

Brilliant Bonsai Color Combinations

You don’t see that many bright yellow pots. The glaze is expensive and hard to come by and the brilliance of the color can be overwhelming. But in this case the little tree holds its own. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a better choice of pots to set off the the richly hued Trident maple leaves. Yesterday one of the trees we featured was by Haruyosi, when reminded me how much I like his seemingly endless collection of Shohin bonsai. This post originally appeared November 2014. I think you could spend a lifetime browsing bonsai images and never find another bonsai … Continue reading Brilliant Bonsai Color Combinations