This photo is from Kiki Bonsai.
Win a $25.00 gift certificate to Stone Lantern
Send me (wayne@stonelantern.com) your written critique of the planting in this photo. Try to keep it to 100 words or less. I will pick the winning critique based upon two criteria:
1. Content. How insightful your observations are.
2. Clarity. How clearly and simply you express your observations.
DO NOT PUT YOUR CRITIQUE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. Email it to me at wayne@stonelantern.com. Put ‘Critique’ in the subject line.
You will become famous
I will post the winning critique and perhaps one or two others that I like. I may also offer my own critique.
Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment
Promoting the art of bonsai
Bonsai Bark exists for at least two purposes. 1. To promote the art of bonsai, and 2. to bring people to Stone Lantern. In keeping with number 1, we are going start offering a regular calendar of bonsai events. At this point, I am not sure how often (maybe bi-weekly or even weekly), or exactly what will be included (we may treat non-profit organization differently than for profit businesses). In any case, if you want to promote your event, email me (put bonsai calendar in the subject line) or include it in the comments below, and, chances are, we will publicize it for you. FYI: Bonsai Bark averages about 16,000 visits per month (about 5,000 unique).
A piece of an 1871 Hindu calendar. Borrowed from Wikipedia.
Help us find your event(s)
We will actively seek out events by scouring the web. However, this does not assure that we will find your event(s). So help us out. Send us links. Again, you can email me (put bonsai calendar in the subject line) or you can include your link (with comments if you’d like) in the comments section of any Bonsai Bark posting.
This splendid Japanese maple by Bill Valavanis is from the cover of International Bonsai’s special Maple Issue.
Do you like North American trees?
Larch, cedar, bald cypress, buttonwood, Rocky mountain juniper will be all featured September 10-12 in Rochester NY. Meet some excellent bonsai artists and teachers, take a couple workshops and go home happy (visit International Bonsai for details).
Speaking of North American Bonsai…
…the gallery book North American Bonsai is now double discounted at Stone Lantern. So is The 1st U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album.
Richard Warner’s Southern beech (with mountains) was the inspiration for the contest and, as it turns out, the winner with 28 points. Though just barely. Richard’s take is a $60 gift certificate to Stone Lantern, and world fame, of course.
Thanks to all who entered and congrats to the winners!
Email wayne@stonelantern.com and I’ll tell you what to do get your gift certificate.
And to the Judges too
Thanks to all of you who sent in your choices (21 people in all). Unfortunately, none of you picked all three winners, let alone picked them in order of finish, so we have no winning judges. Next time maybe.
James Miles Juniper somewhere in the high Sierras, won second place; just 2 points behind first place. James wins a $30 gift certificate to Stone Lantern.
Continue reading ‘Oh So Close, But We Have A Winner!’
Our most popular and successful sale to date…
…is about to end. Somewhere around 9am Eastern Daylight Time (U.S.) Monday morning (June 28th), we will pull the plug on our long running, ever accelerating sale. This means, that until Monday morning, you can take advantage of some of the sweetest discounts we’ve ever offered.
Branching tips from Bonsai Today issue 107. It’s about Pomegranates, but is applicable to any plant with opposite leaves (as opposed to alternate leaves – Wikipedia has a good description of leaf arrangement).
Continue reading ‘Branching tips (& Six More Days)’
You could win…
…or maybe just enjoy yourself in the process.
So far eighteen people have put on their judges robes. Join them and and enjoy some great photos and maybe, just maybe, win a gift certificate to Stone Lantern.
17th century Spanish judge in full gowns, by Velázquez.
We get so used to looking at exception bonsai that sometimes we stop really looking. For me, this bunjin style Japanese while pine (seven tree clump) on a slab, is near perfect in every regard. If you just look for a while, free from ideas about what it is or should be, then it has the power to transport you to someplace natural and free. From the cover of Bonsai Today issue 25.
I doubt if these shears have the same power to transport you as the bonsai above, but they will help you style your own trees. Now on special at Stone Lantern for $14.95 (marked down from $29.00).
From the cover of Bonsai No Satori, Chase and Solita Rosade’s new newsletter.
Send us your news
We are happy to post bonsai news from around the world. We get around sixteen thousand visits a month from pretty much everywhere. Some of these just might be interested in what you are doing. Send your info to: wayne@stonelantern.com
Our news (mostly larches)
I’m still digging larches (Larix laricina) and a few Northern white cedars (Thuja occidentalis). A friend of mine has a swampy area on his land that is full of larches. Nothing too old (the swamp was cleared about fifteen years ago), but nevertheless some excellent stuff with great potential that I’ve been planting here and growing on. On an earlier post, I promised that I’d be selling some this year, but now I think I’ll wait another year or two. Some look pretty good, but they grow fast here and will look much better later. No good photos yet, but I’ll post some pretty soon just to whet your appetite.
Big discounts at Stone Lantern
Several people have asked how we can afford to give such large discounts. With books, we are both publishers and distributors, so our costs are pretty low. With tools, we import directly from Japan and China, so the same thing applies. Still, many of our items are discounted to just above our cost. This is good for you and helps to keep the ball rolling here.
This Trident maple root-over-rock is from Bonsai Today issue 24 (a special issue devoted to rock planting).
Root-over vs root-on
Root-over-rock is where the roots grow over the rock and down into soil below. Root-on-rock is where the roots grow in a soil pocket (or soil pockets) in the rock (see below).
A Black pine in the root-on-rock style. The way the tree is growing to the right serves to balance the part of the rock that thrusts out to the left. From Bonsai Today issue 24 (all of the photos in this post are from issue 24). Issue 24, like almost all of the earlier issues, is long out-of-print. However, we have been buying back rare old out-of-print issues for sometime and are now offering them on Stone Lantern.
Continue reading ‘Rock Plantings’
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