Boon’s American Larch – Which Pot Do You Prefer?

One American larch, five pots (the original pot is below). If things go according to plan (when did that ever happen?) this will be our last post in this tired old software. Starting tomorrow morning our posts will show on the ‘front page’ of our NEW Website (wish us luck!) What better way to end an era and begin another than with two of our favorites, Boon and the American larch? Continued below… FOUR SPRING SPECIALS END tonight when WE THROW THE SWITCH* 25% OFF BONSAI WIRE FOR 3 OR MORE ROLLS 35% OFF ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS 25% OFF … Continue reading Boon’s American Larch – Which Pot Do You Prefer?

A Friendly Plug for a Famous Bonsai Magazine

The cover of the latest issue of Bill Valavanis’ International Bonsai Magazine We’ve been featuring the bonsai and bonsai related exploits of Bill Valavanis for a long time, but I don’t think we’ve ever featured his famous International Bonsai Magazine. So we’re way overdue I won’t say too much here (we’ll let the pictures do the talking) except that it’s the flagship American bonsai magazine and in my humble opinion a must for any serious North American (and beyond) bonsai enthusiast. Here’s your link to subscribe (just in case you missed the two links above). You can thank me later … Continue reading A Friendly Plug for a Famous Bonsai Magazine

Two Major Bonsai Events Part 1 – Where Will You Be the Second Weekend of April?

This shot of a Tsukumo cypress(Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Tsukumo’) is from one of Bonsai Boon’s famous Which Pot Would You Choose? posts. Boon is one of the headliners the upcoming 2019 American Bonsai Society (ABS) Convention, April 11 – 14 Boon Manikitipartit Ryan Neil Enrique Castaño Headliners at the upcoming ABS Convention in Houston We’ve got two barn burner bonsai conventions coming up this spring. They are the 2019 Mid Atlantic Bonsai Spring Festival and the 2019 American Bonsai Society (ABS) Convention. Here’s the rub, they’re both on the second weekend of April, so you’ll have to choose Today we’re focusing … Continue reading Two Major Bonsai Events Part 1 – Where Will You Be the Second Weekend of April?

Bonsai Forest Rock Plantings

That’s Ryan Neil’s hand (Bonsai Mirai) posing for a professional photo with a very large root-on-rock planting. Here’s his caption: “In the studio today with @hornbecker shooting for the Artisans Cup promotional material” (from 2015). He doesn’t say what the tree’s are. If you’d like to see the uncropped original, it’s here We’re on a bonsai forest binge these days, so let’s keep going. Though it’s questionable if you’d call these rock plantings forests, they do share the multiple tree and some of the landscape features you’ll find with more conventional bonsai forests BONSAI TURNTABLE SPECIAL TURNTABLES ARE ALL INDIVIDUALLY … Continue reading Bonsai Forest Rock Plantings

Flowering Cherry Bonsai – Few and Far Between

This is perhaps the strongest Flowering cherry we’ve featured in our ten years of posting. Its muscular trunk, aged bark and profusion of lovely flowers make for an impressive showing Good Flowering cherry bonsai seem to be few and far between. In our ten years of posting (about 3.500 posts), we’ve only featured three flowering cherries and I’m not sure about one (here’s one, here’s another and here’s the one I’m not sure about). We found this one on Michael Bonsai fb timeline, a steady source for quality bonsai photos NEW 25% OFF TURNTABLE DISCOUNTS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE GREEN T … Continue reading Flowering Cherry Bonsai – Few and Far Between

Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

The Guardian of Laments is Giacomo Pappalardo’s name for this magnificent old European larch (Larix decidua) Another before and after and it’s a good one. I have a soft spot for larches, though ours are Tamaracks (Larix laricina) and this one is a European larch (Larix decidua). Not the same tree, but similar, though the similarity ends when you compare a tree like this with the much younger ones I’ve been growing here for the last fifteen years or so (this one was no doubt collected from the wild and shows all the signs of great age). Here’s your link … Continue reading Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

Another Mid Winter Tease

The new growth on Spruce is often a brilliant yellow. Almost like yellow flowers. In this case the spruce is an Ezo (Picea jezoensis). This one resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum as do the other trees in this post. Continuing with our long trek home from vacation, I found just enough time to sneak another one in from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Like yesterday it’s also from our archives (June, 2015). SITE WIDE SALE ENDS SOON 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS For a lot … Continue reading Another Mid Winter Tease

Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and though the deadwood is prominent, it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees. But perhaps the best of all are are the brilliant living veins and the way they stand out against the deadwood Island hopping today, so to save precious time, we’re going to rerun a post on one of my favorite trees. This before and after is more about refinement than styling rough stock. Less daunting perhaps, but only someone skilled in the … Continue reading Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After

Here’s what Todd Schlafer wrote about this transformation… “Before and after – Colorado Blue Spruce. This tree has a lot of sentimental value. This tree was given to me by Jerry Morris. We had dug several trees and after work I went to his greenhouse to build boxes and get them reestablished. At the end he said ‘Why don’t you just take this one home.” I was ecstatic! Structure was set in 2010 with @bonsaimirai and I wired it out on my own. It’s fun to see the progression of the tree and my eye.” From Todd’s fb timeline It’s … Continue reading Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After

Bonsai Essentials Site Wide Sale Is Back & Better Than Ever – Same Day Shipping*

STONE LANTERN’S 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE multIple DISCOUNTS on hundreds of items SALE INCLUDES ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY ON SPECIAL Discounts are computed at check out – *We Ship the Same Business Day on orders received by 2:00 pm EST If you want to make sure your order arrives on time you might want to choose accelerated shipping when you check out If you don’t care about arrival time, and your order is at least 75.00 you can choose Free Shipping for the Continental U.S. — All ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS ARE 20% OFF IN ADDITION TO OUR 20% OFF SITE WIDE SALE Discounts are … Continue reading Bonsai Essentials Site Wide Sale Is Back & Better Than Ever – Same Day Shipping*