The sky blue pot is the perfect compliment to the light pink flowers on this powerful Satsuki Azalea that resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington DC. There are a multitude of cultivars in the Satsuki group of azaleas. This one is a ‘Nikko.’ It was donated to the museum by Masayuki Nakamura.
As you read this…
… one of the best and most breathtaking exhibits of blooming satsuki azaleas is taking place at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. It has already started (May 29th) but don’t despair, it runs until June 13th.
Even if you miss this one
It’s always worth a trip to the Museum.
Just in case
If you need a good book or some shears for your Satsuki azaleas, we have them at Stone Lantern:
Satsuki Azaleas for bonsai and azalea enthusiasts, published by Stone Lantern. Professional grade carbon steel satsuki shears. Masters’ grade stainless satsuki shears.
Our most popular book has been reduced. This doesn’t make any sense; why reduce something that is selling so well?
It says over 200 items have been reduced and that’s true. Actually more like 250. Some quite steeply. And, if you order over $100, you’ll get those dreaded (just kidding) double discounts.
My way or the highway?
Here it is and don’t blame me. Who you should blame is unknown; Bonsai Today issue 21 doesn’t provide the artist’s name.
Should’ve or could’ve?
On April 16th we posted a little quiz from Bonsai Today issue 21. Several of you took the challenge (see comments). Now we are posting the artist’s answers. One could take issue with the ’should have’ language (the problem may have been in the translation). Still, whatever your thoughts on the language, you can bet that the original artist had a pretty good handle on the art of pruning (see above).
Continue reading ‘A Simple & Instructive Little Quiz, Part 2′
Almost gone. Our classic Pine book is down to less than 40 copies. We originally printed 5,200, so it’s been a pretty good run.
One per person please
While it lasts (and it won’t be long) we request that you limit yourself to one per person (or one per company). Thanks.
No plans
At this point, we have no plans to reprint, though in a year or two, we could change our minds.
Continue reading ‘Say Goodbye to an Old Classic (Well, Almost)’
Check out the meandering living vein on this wonderful crazy work in progress by Isao Omachi. It showed up on facebook the other day and instantly grabbed my imagination and got me thinking about how he could have done it (the living vein part, that is). Perhaps there’s a clue in something that Masahiko Kimura (The Magician) did years ago in a chapter entitled ‘Kimura Flips (a Tree Upside Down)’ in our Masters’ Series Juniper book (below).
Here’s the Kimura tree that he flipped upside down. It originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 21 (out of print).
Pirates
At least one blog has been pirating our posts, lock stock and barrel; but without our links and without any attribution to bonsai bark, or Stone Lantern. If you are reading this on any website or blog that is not ours, and is not attributed to us, then it has been pirated. Please visit us at bonsaibark.com. Thank you.
Only three days left! Sale ends Feb 24th, 2010.
Visit Stone Lantern and enjoy large discounts on books, bonsai wire and kenzans (aka flower pins or frogs).
Enjoy a large selection of books on bonsai & suiseki, Japanese gardening, general gardening, Ikebana, and Japanese arts and culture.
You can also enjoy a very large selection of high quality, affordable kenzans that are made in the USA.
Copper colored aluminum bonsai wire for shaping beautiful bonsai.
This sale ends Febuary 24th 2010.
This old Satsuki azalea, with its massive trunk and wild display of mixed up flowers, is from our Satuski Azalea book by Robert Z. Callaham (Stone Lantern Publishing).
Ramification
Ramification just means branching. More specifically in bonsai (and other places) it is sometimes used to mean branch development or branch refining.
The language of ramification
Pruning
Pruning is a commonly used word that is loosely applied to mean any removal of all or parts of branches. More specifically it means removing branches rather than shortening branches, but this distinction is lost on many people.
Thinning
Thinning means removing unwanted branches or twigs (see illustration below).
Trimming
Trimming usually means shortening branches or twigs (see bottom illustration), or even new shoots (coming soon, stay posted), but is sometimes used to refer to removing them. Confused yet? Don’t worry about it; you’re not alone.
Thinning branches. With any bonsai it is necessary to thin on a regular basis. Branches that grow into or crowd other branches, (see above), branches that grow in towards the center of the tree, parallel branches that grow too close to each other, branches that are too thick for where they are on the tree, unhealthy branches and etc, all need to be thinned. The illustrations in this post originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue number 1.
Continue reading ‘Azalea Tips #2: The Language of Ramification’
I found this old out-of-print classic in Green Apple Books in San Franscisco for ten dollars (minus my family discount – see disclaimer below). It was in near perfect condition after more than forty years (copyright 1967, Kodansha International). The original price was $6.95 (hardcover no less). BTW: Green Apple is one of the best surviving used/new independent bookstores anywhere (disclaimer: my son-in-law is part owner, but this takes away nothing from the fact that it’s a great place and an institution in San Fransisco).
I got lucky
John Palmer, founder of Bonsai Today and Stone Lantern Publishing mentioned this book to me years ago. I think he was hoping that it would show up back in print, or perhaps he was entertaining ideas of reprinting it himself (memory doesn’t always serve). Now, years later I got lucky and stumbled upon it.
Stay posted for excerpts
Though this classic is chock full of useful info for anyone interested in saikei, we’ll tantalize you with just the cover for now. Later and little by little, we’ll post excerpts for your enjoyment.
BTW: There is an English language saikei book that is in print.
You like unconventional? Crazy? How about daring and masterful? Notice how the color and design of the pot plays with the wild shari (deadwood) and the small touch of moss on the left mirrors the foliage. Just another bonsai from left field by crafty old Nick Lenz, master left fielder, author, and preeminent (whatever that means) master of cedars, larches and other collected North American gems. This photo is from North American Bonsai (American Bonsai Society – compiled and edited by Martin Schmalenberg), now on sale at Stone Lantern.
When is a cedar not really a cedar?
The tree featured here is commonly called a Northern (or Eastern) white cedar, when in fact it’s actually a variety of arborvitae (botanical name; Thuja occidentalis). Lots of trees that aren’t cedars are called cedar, including at least one juniper (Eastern red cedar; Juniperus virginiana), one false cypress (Atlantic white cedar; Chamaecyparis thyoides), the California Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and no doubt others. What most of these share is fan shaped foliage (like Nick’s tree above). Interestingly, true cedars (Cedrus) don’t have fan shaped foliage. Confused? You’re not alone.
When is a cedar a really cedar?
There are a handful of true cedars (Cedrus) in the world, the best known of which are: the Deodar cedar (C. deodara) from the Himalayas, and two from the Mediterranean: the Lebanon cedar (C. libani) and the Atlas cedar (C, atlantica).
An earlier (less professional) photo of the same tree. You can find this one in Nick’s excellent book on collecting bonsai, Bonsai from the Wild (Stone Lantern Publishing).
You can find this in-training collected Larch in Bonsai from the Wild by Larch Master Nick Lenz (Stone Lantern Publishing). Good tapers on larches are hard to come by. This exceptionally strong taper is the result of what Nick calls a ’swamp layer.’ For details see the chapter on larches in Bonsai from the Wild (THE book on collecting).
Planting two trunks together that diverge as they ascend is a good way to create the appearance of taper. This image is from an article by Nick Lenz entitled Larch with Taper, that appears in The Bonsai Journal.
Check out our previous post on larches: In Praise of the American Larch: aka the Tamarack
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