No Switch Last Night, Specials Extended & a Humble Bonsai/Landscaping Experiment

This photo was taken in 2010. It’s one of my small man made landscaping hills for field growing future bonsai. Most of the little trees you see here have been dug. Some of the ones that are still there aren’t that much bigger than they were nine years ago (this might have something to do with our seriously short growing season) I give up. For the moment at least…. We didn’t throw the switch to our new Website last night. I jumped the gun with yesterday’s announcement, and now I’m wiping egg off my face (humiliation goes well with mixed  … Continue reading No Switch Last Night, Specials Extended & a Humble Bonsai/Landscaping Experiment

Flowers, a Tiny Lizard & Other Bonsai Wonders

It’s almost that time of year. Here’s David Benavente’s caption… Rhododendron indicum “Shin Nikko” hoy, en plena floración (today in full bloom). 45x55cm (18″ x 21.5″) We’re still working on finishing touches for our soon-to-be launched new website. Stay posted, I think you’re going to like it. Meanwhile time is of essence so we’ll take our trusty old shortcut. This one is from May of last year. It’s been a while since we’ve featured David Benavente and his Estudio de Bonsái. It’s in Galapagar, Spain. Just outside of Madrid. The photos are from David’s timeline FOUR SPRING SPECIALS 25% OFF BONSAI … Continue reading Flowers, a Tiny Lizard & Other Bonsai Wonders

Be Smart – Don’t Water Your Bonsai by Schedule!

This illustration by Kyosuke Gun is from our Masters’ Series Juniper book (due back in print in 3 or 4 weeks). It is a perfect fit for this post that is borrowed from Michael Hagedorn’s  Crataegus Bonsai Continuing with Michael Hagedorn from yesterday, we’ll stick with watering tips. This one originally appeared here in June, 2009 Before the real summer heat hits, consider how you are watering your trees. Have you ever seen your trees grow through spring just fine, only to get fried leaves at the first onset of early summer? Ever wonder why that happens? Those trees just … Continue reading Be Smart – Don’t Water Your Bonsai by Schedule!

Bonsai Deadwood, Too Much or Just Right?

This unusual full cascade Juniper will no doubt put off some of our anti-deadwood folks, but to my eyes, it’s an expressive and dynamic tree. Cascade shots are normally taken from a point that shows the tree cascading down one side of the pot, but in this case the pot is hidden by the tree, which creates a whole different effect. Still busy putting finishing touches on our soon to be  New Website, so we’ll take a short cut and dip back into our archives… All the photos shown here were taken by Andres Bicocca at the 2017 European Bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Deadwood, Too Much or Just Right?

Juniper Bonsai & Other Kokufu Treats

A loop the loop Juniper at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. I took the liberty of cropping* Boon Manakitivipart’s original for a closer look at the deadwood and living vein, as well as the unusual loop. Even with this closeup, it’s not easy to tell exactly what’s going on. But we’ll leave that to you We’ve been featuring some of Bill Valavanis’ photos from this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. If you’ve been following Bark for a while, you’ll know that Bill is one of our favorites. Today it’s Bonsai Boon, another of our favorites We’ll just show you some junipers this time, with more to … Continue reading Juniper Bonsai & Other Kokufu Treats

Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

This is the after photo from a before and after of a planting by Marc Noelanders, a headliner at the upcoming Mid Atlantic Spring Bonsai Festival (see below). No mention is made of the type tree or what the rock is made of. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark since at least December of last year, or you follow Marc on fb, you’ve already seen this masterpiece. If not, I’m happy you can see it here Continuing from yesterday with two barn burner bonsai conventions coming up this spring.  They are the Mid Atlantic Bonsai Spring Festival and the American Bonsai Society (ABS) Convention.  Unfortunately, they’re both … Continue reading Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

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

Thief Steals Over $100,000 Worth of Bonsai* Including a 400-year-old Shimpaku Juniper

This rare 400-year-old Shimpaku juniper was due to be entered in a Japanese competition this month Theft of anything is always shocking and doubly so when the missing objects are irreplaceable, one of a kind living items. When and if they are ever found, missing bonsai might be badly damaged or even dead. And the chances of ever finding them are often slim Here’s an except from  our source WENY News (courtesy of  Eugene Sekulow) … “A bonsai thief has stolen seven… trees worth at least 13 million yen ($118,000)* from a garden space in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo. “The … Continue reading Thief Steals Over $100,000 Worth of Bonsai* Including a 400-year-old Shimpaku Juniper

Green T & Bonsai Wire Specials Ends Tonight

The famous Masahiko Kimura with his demo planting sitting on a Green T Plus at the World Bonsai Convention. 20% OFF GREEN T TURNTABLES ENDS TONIGHT STONE LANTERN SPECIALS 20% OFF TURNTABLES 25% OFF OKATSUNE TOOLS 100 GRAM AESTHETICS WIRE SPECIAL 40% OFF 10 – 24 ROLLS 50% OFF 25 OR MORE Green T & Wire Specials end Tues, Feb 5th at 11:59pm EST DISCOUNTS ARE APPLIED AT CHECKOUT STONELANTERN.COM   That’s famous bonsai artist, Kunio Kobayashi on the right, getting ready to tackle his monster demo tree at last year’s World Bonsai Convention. And yes, that’s a Green T not even straining … Continue reading Green T & Bonsai Wire Specials Ends Tonight