Root-over-rock bonsai

The U.S. National Bonsai Foundation Has a Wonderful New Website, Featuring Some of the Most Outstanding Bonsai in the World

The perfect blend of greens and reds highlights an altogether perfect tree. It’s a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) that has been in training since 1906. It was donated to the U.S. National Bonsai Museum by Ryutaro Azuma in 1978 The National Bonsai Foundation and has a wonderful new website that features the  U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, home to some of the most outstanding bonsai in the world. Today is just a teaser from the Museum’s Japanese Collection. We’ll have more trees and more about the National Bonsai Foundation and the Museum soon. Meanwhile here are three maples from the Japanese Collection for your enjoyment More perfection. This … Continue reading The U.S. National Bonsai Foundation Has a Wonderful New Website, Featuring Some of the Most Outstanding Bonsai in the World

A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

It’s a little surprising that there are so few good shots of bonsai in creative settings. This one was borrowed from Peter Warren’s Surayama, as were all the photos in this post. Still catching up form vacation, so for expediency’s sake we’ll plunder our archives. This one is from June 2015. It was titled ‘Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others.‘ NEW SPECIAL 20% OFF BONSAI TURNTABLES INCLUDES GREEN T HYDRAULIC LIFT TURNTABLES – – This photo is from a series Peter calls Noelanders trees. (Noelanders refers to the Noelanders Trophy Exhibit). He doesn’t say what it is, but I’ll guess that … Continue reading A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Root-over-rock Japanese black pine by Suthin Sukosolvisit. No major restyling, but still a striking improvement. Sutin’s caption reads simply… “Japanese black pine 2011-2013” The original before and after photos are from Suthin’s timeline Still on vacation, so we’ll simplify by borrowing from our archives. This one first appeared here almost exactly one year ago Continuing with before and after bonsai from two days ago… A big part of bonsai involves transforming rough stock into beautiful, or at least passable bonsai. However, it’s equally important to do the periodic work necessary to keep a bonsai beautiful, or soon enough it will lose its shape and start to look like … Continue reading Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays

Suthin’s “Happy Holidays to all” tree. It’s a Trident maple root-over-rock (root devouring rock). Staying close to home today, it’s our old friend Suthin Sukosolvisit offering some  bonsai wizardry just in time for the New Year Bonsai Pot & Soil Specials End Tonight Friday, Dec 28th at 11:59pm EST Plus Two New Specials at Stone Lantern see below – Cropped for a closer look at how the trunk is slowly devouring the rock Suthin’s caption says simply… “New home” You might recognize this as the tree that won Best Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National. It’s a Japanese black pine   Cropped for … Continue reading Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays

The Emperor’s Bonsai

At least two things set this Root-over-rock  Trident maple (Kaede Ishitsuki – maple planted on a rock) apart from thousands of other root-over Trident maples on this planet. First there it’s exceptional quality, and second, it’s part of Japan’s Imperial Bonsai Collection. The tree’s age is about 90 years. Its height is 57 cm (22.5″). Here’s a quote from the Imperial website… “Among ‘zoki’ deciduous trees, ‘momiji’ (Japanese maple) and “kaede” (maple) (I’m not sure why this isn’t translated as Trident maple) are particular favorites of bonsai lovers because of the way they show off the four seasons. Aficionados appreciate the young buds in … Continue reading The Emperor’s Bonsai

Eisei-en & Bjorn’s Big Bonsai Weekend

I found this Shimpaku rock planting in a vast array of Bjorn Bjorholm’s online photos. I couldn’t find any text with the photo, so it’s hard to tell if it’s a root-over-rock (if it is, the root must be on the other side) or a on root-on-rock. No matter, it’s great tree Continuing with our North American bonsai series in our lead up to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition…  Though our goal is encourage you to visit the 6th U.S.,  we’d be remiss if we passed on Bjorn Bjorholm’s Eisei-en grand opening Here’s a quote from Bjorn about his new nursery and the … Continue reading Eisei-en & Bjorn’s Big Bonsai Weekend

Something for Bonsai Rock Planting Lovers & Fans

Great stone. Great planting. All but the lowest juniper appear to be growing in pockets of soil in the stone. This is referred to as a root-on-rock bonsai. It looks like the lowest one has its roots growing down into the pot (protected for now by moss). This would be root-over-rock style. The artist is Jan Culek Continuing our rock planting theme from yesterday… Most large complex stones for bonsai plantings are made by human hands, and the ones shown here are no exception. They’ll all by Jan Culek GREAT BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY NIGHT 40% OFF LIST PRICES ALL BONSAI AESTHETICS TOOLS INCLUDING … Continue reading Something for Bonsai Rock Planting Lovers & Fans

A Different Kind of Root-over-Rock

A strange sort of root-over-rock. You might imagine that it started more or less like other root overs, but because the rock is so small, the roots grew under it and pushed it up, while also growing around one side and creating a firm grip on the rock. Though I originally thought the result might simply be an happy accident, upon reflection I think it was the intention of the original artist 40 to 50 years ago.* It’s just too perfect the way most of the rock, particularly the bowl is left uncovered and even emphasized. Like so many root-over-rock bonsai, the tree … Continue reading A Different Kind of Root-over-Rock

“One Quick Glance at this Tree Brought Me to a State of Nirvana”

A close up of a rather spectacular root-over-rock bonsai (the entire planting is just below). Here’s our original caption (from May, 2016) with some changes made today… Robert Steven (my mistake, see below) has done it again. This time it’s a perfect root-over-rock bonsai. Here’s what Charles Bevan has to say about it: “This is unbelievably perfect. One quick glance at this tree brought me to a state of nirvana.” I was looking to continue our forest theme when I ran across this post from last year (and the year before). There is a forest (below), but it’s the feature tree and … Continue reading “One Quick Glance at this Tree Brought Me to a State of Nirvana”

Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Root-over-rock Japanese black pine by Suthin Sukosolvisit. No major restyling, but what a striking improvement. Sutin’s caption reads simply… “Japanese black pine 2011-2013” The original before and after photos are from Suthin’s timeline A big part of learning about bonsai involves transforming rough stock into beautiful, or at least passable bonsai. However, it’s equally important to do the periodic work necessary to keep a bonsai beautiful, or soon enough it will return to its rough state (or worse). Allowing a tree to just grow on its own for a while is essential to its health, and bringing it back into shape after this period of unrestrained growth is also … Continue reading Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai