Second place prize
Congratulations to Tom Duong, our Bonsai from Scratch contest second place winner. Tom’s juniper gave Aaron Klalid’s juniper a real run. Tom’s second place prize is a $250 gift certificate from Stone Lantern.

Judges comments
“Strong entrant. Using a branch to cover the abrupt bend on the main trunk is a good choice. Nicely wired crown.” “Great performance; some of the larger foliage masses lack clarity and definition, such as the large low branch to the left, and the smaller trunk is one single dome – try to make these areas modular.” “It is really well wired, looks like a long term project.” “Good choice of stock to start with and a well-thought out result.”

My comments
Several things stand out about Tom’s bonsai. First, his choice of stock was excellent. Good stock is half the battle. Second, Tom’s skill in shaping with wire is undeniable. I am particularly impressed with the crown, where this skill (and a high degree of patience with a somewhat tedious job) shines through. I also like the way the movement of the two trunks flows together (particularly the crowns). It’s unfortunate we can’t see the tree in a bonsai pot, though not potting it may have been the right choice (health-wise) on Tom’s part. We’ll just have to use our imaginations (mine shows an unglazed light-grey medium-depth oval). It’s also unfortunate that more care wasn’t put into the photos.

Stay posted for the rest of the prizes
Please accept my apologies. I know I promised we’d post the rest of the winners today, but in order to do them justice, we need just a little more time. Thanks for you patience and understanding.

The back. Interesting how the flow of the tree seems to change some when viewed from this side (aside from the obvious point that it is a reverse view). It would have been a better shot with less background noise (clutter). I wonder if the quality of the photos was the difference between first and second place.

Before. There’s a bonsai in here somewhere.

Don’t let up yet
Just a little reminder about the plight of Isao Omachi and his family. It’s not too late to do something to help. As you know, relief efforts commonly suffer from short half-lives. Something horrible happens, we get worked up about people suffering and, in a matter of days, we’ve forgotten and moved on the next thing.

Omachi Relief Fund
The following was written by Bill Valavanis: Award winning bonsai artist Isao Omachi is one of the rising starts of the Japanese bonsai world. He lives with his wife, two young daughters and parents near Sendai, Japan, in Iwate Prefecture. On March 11, 2011 the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan swept away Omachi’s home, bonsai garden and entire town. Fortunately, the Omachi family ran away and escaped the tsunami. They are fine, homeless and without anything.

Marco Invernizzi from Italy has established the Omachi Relief Fund to assist the Omachi family. Please join me along with others from around the world to give financial support to the Omachi family.

Contributions should be sent to:
The Omachi Relief Fund
P.O. Box 22
Yorklyn, DE 19736 USA

Contributions are not tax deductible. Donation accounts have been set up around the world to assist the Omachi family. Please contact Marco Invernizzi (marco@marcoinvernizzi.com) for details.

Countless other Japanese people are also suffering
Stone Lantern is sending 10% of all Japanese products sold (Koyo and Okatsune tools and numerous other items) to the Japanese Red Cross. It may not sound like much, but our margins are quite low these days, so 10% will pretty much wipe out profits from these items. Nevertheless, it’s the least we can do.

This monster Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) was shot by Craig Thompson somewhere in the Sierra Nevadas. The little one (is it a pine?) in front isn’t half bad either.

Biggest Sale…
… on Bonsai, Japanese garden & ikebana tools, books, and more at Stone Lantern. Virtually every item is discounted with double discounts for orders over $50..

Robert Steven’s digitally enhanced version of a Trident maple by Carl Morrow (the photo Carl submitted is below).

The original photo.

Robert’s comments
Despite the details, bonsai design is all about composition, and the pot is one of the most important composition elements. A well chosen pot can reflect and enhance the best features of a tree and effect the overall image, adding both nuance and balance.

Our first impression is a sense of visual imbalance. This is due to pot size (which is too big) and  improper potting position. Another disturbing thing is the foliage edge on the left side seems to be heavier than the right side. This creates and unbalanced effect, since the tree’s movement flows to the right.

Solution :

1. Reduce the foliage on the left to enhance the tree’s natural flow to the right.
2. Prune some leaves to show some of the branches structure, this will give an older look to the tree.
3. Use a smaller pot.

There is more than one way to design any bonsai and my critiques and recommended solutions might not always fit your taste because of personal preferences. But I always try to give my opinion based on artistic and horticultural principles.

To understand my concepts better, please read my books Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation which are available at Stone Lantern.

You can also visit my bonsai blog: http://blogs.knowledgeofbonsai.org/robert_steven

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

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.

Aaron Khalid’s Engelman spruce leaning over a blue lake in Banff, Alberta won third place; just one point behind second place, and is worth a $10 gift certificate to Stone Lantern.

Rodrigo Sousa’s Almond came in forth; just one point behind third place and just out of the money.

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).

These sketches are applicable to almost any deciduous tree. Our apologies for the small type. If you’d like to see the whole article, with a more agreeable font size, Bonsai Today issue 107 is available at Stone Lantern.

Only six more days…
…for our largest and most popular sale ever.