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

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

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 Tie Pots – NEW Deeper Discounts!

We just started offering our remarkable New Tie Pots last September and already we’re closing in on 1,000 sold (during the off season, no less!). Now we’ve sharpened our pencil to make them available to more people. I think you’ll be happy with the results. NEW TIE POT SPECIAL 1-2 TIE POTS 16.00 each 3-7 TIE POTS 15.00 each 8 or more 14.00 each Discounts are applied at checkout Tie Pots have the potential to revolutionize bonsai growing The tie knobs are only part of the story the interior is ingeniously designed for optimal development of fine feeder roots … Continue reading Bonsai Tie Pots – NEW Deeper Discounts!

Warming Up for the 2020 International Bonsai ArtFest

This elegant composition is a small piece of a mixed media show that Robert Steven put together (with a little help from his friends) at the Pasar Seni Art Center in Jakarta, Indonesia. If you are near Jakarta, there’s still time to catch it before it closes (March 7th is the last day) I originally found this mixed media bonsai event on Robert Steven’s fb timeline. Most of the text is in Malay and rather than rely on machine translation, I ask Robert if he could write something for this post. Here it is, in his own words… “This was … Continue reading Warming Up for the 2020 International Bonsai ArtFest

Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

As you can see, this before and after shows considerable skill in styling and refining bonsai. The tree is a European larch (Larix decidua). The artist is Will Baddeley. Someone goy lucky and bought this little gem from Will a while back Still working on our new website. Our original launch date has been obliterated and now I have no idea when we’ll throw the switch. Meanwhile, time is of essence, so it’s back to our archives. This one is from August, 2017 with a few changes today Continued below… THREE SPECIALS END TONIGHT 30% – 40% OFF OFF ROSHI TOOLS … Continue reading Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

Kokufu Bonsai! It’s that Time of Year Again

Dwarf Kumquat. Even though there are more dramatic trees to choose from, I picked this one to start with in part because of the pot. The tree isn’t so bad either with its muscular little trunk and profusion of tiny Kumquats. This photo and the rest shown here are from Bill Valavanis’s Bonsai blog It’s Kokufu time! and Bill Valavanis is back in Japan shooting photos for all of us who can’t make the trip. I’ve grabbed just a few that I like. There’s more where these came from at Bill’s Welcome to My World Bonsai blog NEW SITE WIDE SALE … Continue reading Kokufu Bonsai! It’s that Time of Year Again

Omiya’s Pines, Bonsai Beauty & Heart

Combining two arts and two artists, here’s a small piece of the translation with this striking photo… “Daiki Abe: Bonsai Artist. Takashi Eguchi: Photographer. Name: the two exhibition of bonsai and photography ‘Pine Beauty heart'” There is no species given with this pine, but it looks like a Japanese white (Pinus parviflora). The photo is from Omiya Bonsai Museum’s timeline, along with more information on the display. The rest of the photos in this post are Japanese white pines, also from Omiya’s timeline, but not from this display We could go on indefinitely with photos from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. However, … Continue reading Omiya’s Pines, Bonsai Beauty & Heart

Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution

This prolific Pyracantha was our 2018 New Year’s tree. I don’t know who the artist or owner is (more about this below), but my guess is the tree is Japanese Here’s my New Year’s resolution from 2018… No more unattributed trees on this blog (uh… except for the one just above). So I failed on the first day last year and the failure reoccured throughout the year (you can take this as a metaphor if you’d like). In light of this, here’s a more realistic resolution for this year… I will attribute the trees we post when possible and encourage all of us who have been … Continue reading Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution