Growing Pine Bonsai – Bonsai Books 50% & 30% off

One of the most famous Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora) bonsai in the world. After restyling by Masahiko Kimura (aka the Magician). This photo is from the White pine gallery in our Masters’ Series Pine Book. Continuing with our growing Pine bonsai theme… If you would like to grow pine bonsai, a good place to start (and continue) is with our Masters Series Pine book. Especially now with 50% off our Stone Lantern Publishing books. NEW Bonsai Book Special 50% off list on Stone Lantern & Haskill Creek Publishing Books 30% off list on All Other Books See Below Pine Book Table … Continue reading Growing Pine Bonsai – Bonsai Books 50% & 30% off

See You at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

I borrowed this dramatic Korean hornbeam from Bill Valavanis, the driving force behind the success of the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions. If you’re not planning on visiting the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, you have one week to change your mind and rearrange you life so you can be there. I can say with complete confidence that the 5th will be the best yet (they get better each time) and that the 4th was a breakthrough U.S. bonsai extravaganza. See you there! Bill’s famous Koto-hime Japanese maple. This brilliant tricolor Toyo nishiki flowering quince also belongs to Bill. If you’re … Continue reading See You at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

Deadwood & Much More at North America’s Signature Bonsai Event

Going down? There’s a lot to love about this old tree: that little piece of wood that hangs over the edge of the pot, the remarkable texture and color of the bark and the way the powerful old trunk seems to cling to the pot. There’s also the fact that the tree is a Southwestern White Pine (Pinus strobiformis), not your everyday bonsai species. And then there’s that remarkable jin that seems to be unconcerned if it fits or doesn’t fit with the rest of the tree. The tree belong to Greg Brenden. The photo is from the 2010 2nd … Continue reading Deadwood & Much More at North America’s Signature Bonsai Event

Roshi – Corex Tool Sale (This Time With Links!)

Roshi – Corex high carbon steel shears. Just one of our collection of some of the most amazing bonsai tools you’ll ever see. They cut like butter and feel like silk in your hand. Try one (or two…), you’ll see what I mean. We’ve got a NEW TOOL SALE for you, but first an explanation (also, you might notice the live links* that allow you to go directly to the tools… what will they think of next?!). ROSHI tools. We’ve decided to rename our Stone Lantern – Corex bonsai tools. The new name is Roshi (old master in Japanese). Not … Continue reading Roshi – Corex Tool Sale (This Time With Links!)

NEW High Carbon Steel Bonsai Shears & FREE Fertilizer

3 NEW Stone Lantern high carbon steel bonsai shears. With this set, you’ll have almost all of your bonsai pruning tasks covered; from the very tip of the apex all the way down to the lowest roots. If you don’t need the set, you can buy them individually. They’ll cut your bonsai and your costs We are very high on our new bonsai tools. So high in fact, that we’ve decided to brand them with our Stone Lantern name. They look good, feel good, cut like butter and, perhaps best of all, the prices won’t bust your budget. Far from … Continue reading NEW High Carbon Steel Bonsai Shears & FREE Fertilizer

Introducing Our Excellent NEW Stone Lantern Bonsai Tools

These new Stone Lantern stainless bonsai tools are truly remarkable. The quality is excellent the the prices are much lower than you would expect for such high performance tools. We could easily call these Master Grade tools I’ve owned a set of these for a year now, and can say with absolute confidence that these are first rate tools. It would not be a stretch to call them ‘Master Grade’ tools, but we already have Master Grade stainless tools and I don’t want to confuse the issue. Just suffice it to say that these are simply the best high quality … Continue reading Introducing Our Excellent NEW Stone Lantern Bonsai Tools

New Bonsai Workstands & More

Table Top Turntable Workstand. Super strong, beautifully designed and constructed, it’s a highly functional tool that doubles as a work of art. It’s big too, with an 18″ (46 cm) work surface, and has all those features you’ve always wanted in a turntable (details here). Retail 225.00, Stone Lantern price 199.00 Avoiding that last-minute mall hysteria We seldom devote a whole post on Bonsai Bark to promoting our products. However, the Holiday shopping season has begun and we’d like to help you make selections that make sense, and in a timely and relaxed way (rather than the usual last minute … Continue reading New Bonsai Workstands & More

How About Yew (Carving Deadwood)?

Every time I open Bonsai Today issue 106 and lay my eyes on this wickedly powerful, dynamic old English yew, my mind does a little double take. It may not look exactly like anything you’ll see in nature, but it certainly jumps off the page. It’s by Kevin Willson, bonsai artist and deadwood carver extraordinaire. Photo by Simon Carr. A labor of love Yew wood is very hard. Harder than almost any other type of wood. In this light, take a look at the photo below and then at the photo above. Now imagine all that carving with only hand … Continue reading How About Yew (Carving Deadwood)?

Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

I borrowed this mesmerizing ancient black pine trunk from Andy Rutledge’s ‘the bonsai journal.’ Trunk chopping 101 for deciduous trees There’s an excellent article on trunk chopping at Andy Rutledge’s bonsai journal. Andy bills it as trunk chopping for beginners, but I suspect there are experienced bonsai people out there who might also benefit (like me, for example). I’ll just show you an illustration and a little text here, and encourage you to visit Andy’s site to see the whole article (and plenty of other useful stuff). Cutting back to an existing leader Here we have a likely candidate (above). … Continue reading Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

Pushing the Limits

This wild and gnarly yamadori (collected bonsai) exhibits some classical flaws. Two of the most obvious are the long straight taperless section of mid-trunk and the cluttered roots around the base. However, that’s the way this tree grew and those flaws tell part of the story of its struggles to survive and thrive in an inhospitable environment. Without them, the story might not be so interesting. Classical vs Eccentric There have always been classical bonsai (ones that conform to accepted norms of an earlier time) and there have always been more eccentric bonsai that push classical forms and norms into … Continue reading Pushing the Limits