Boon’s American Larch – Which Pot Do You Prefer?

One American larch, five pots (the original pot is below). If things go according to plan (when did that ever happen?) this will be our last post in this tired old software. Starting tomorrow morning our posts will show on the ‘front page’ of our NEW Website (wish us luck!) What better way to end an era and begin another than with two of our favorites, Boon and the American larch? Continued below… FOUR SPRING SPECIALS END tonight when WE THROW THE SWITCH* 25% OFF BONSAI WIRE FOR 3 OR MORE ROLLS 35% OFF ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS 25% OFF … Continue reading Boon’s American Larch – Which Pot Do You Prefer?

Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

The Guardian of Laments is Giacomo Pappalardo’s name for this magnificent old European larch (Larix decidua) Another before and after and it’s a good one. I have a soft spot for larches, though ours are Tamaracks (Larix laricina) and this one is a European larch (Larix decidua). Not the same tree, but similar, though the similarity ends when you compare a tree like this with the much younger ones I’ve been growing here for the last fifteen years or so (this one was no doubt collected from the wild and shows all the signs of great age). Here’s your link … Continue reading Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

Larches are Coming to Rochester – Green T Bonsai Turntables too!

ORDER YOUR OWN GREEN T TURNTABLE NOW OR PICK ONE UP AT THE 6TH U.S. NATIONAL BONSAI EXPOSITION CANADIANS – If you want to avoid shipping costs order yours online before Saturday Morning and we’ll hold it for you We’ll also remove the shipping charge when we process your order But be sure to put Rochester in the comments when you check out Free Shipping for Green Ts in the Continental U.S. We will also be offering 2 slightly used Green T Basics at the Exhibition for only 295.00 (regular discounted price is 345.00) StoneLantern.com Contrary to what you may have heard, … Continue reading Larches are Coming to Rochester – Green T Bonsai Turntables too!

Larch Bonsai – Good Stock Never Hurts

Larches in training by Francois Jeker. Traveling again, so we’ll delve back into our archives. This one draws on material from three different posts. Larches are easy to grow (especially if you live in the north), easy to train and are naturally attractive trees. If you start with decent stock and you have some grasp of design and technique, you can end up with the kind of results you see above. This is not to say each tree couldn’t have been styled differently as they certainly could have. Give the same potential bonsai to five different bonsai artists and you’ll … Continue reading Larch Bonsai – Good Stock Never Hurts

Towering Tamarack Bonsai

This towering Tamarack is too tall for the photo, so the top and a tiny piece of the bottom of the pot are missing (you can see almost all of it below). It belongs to Suthin Sukosolvisit. Tamarack is a local name for the American larch (Larix laricina). Suthin identifies it only as ‘larch,’ a genus of trees that numbers about twelve species; so Tamarack is a guess based on geography. Suthin Sukosolvisit is selling part of his personal bonsai collection (see the Tsukomo cypress below). This is a great opportunity to own a masterpiece bonsai by one of our … Continue reading Towering Tamarack Bonsai

Bonsai from the Wild

This famous American larch by Nick Lenz gives you a pretty good idea of why larches are valued for their yellow-golden fall foliage. The photo is from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild, as are all the photos in this post. One more day on the road and one more post lifted from our archives (2009 in this case), though with serious editing and the addition of one photo and more text. Here in northern Vermont the common name for the American larch is Tamarack, though it has several other names along its entire coast to coast North American range, … Continue reading Bonsai from the Wild

One Larch, Four Bonsai Pots (plus one)

One American larch, four pots (plus the original pot below). All this images in this post were borrowed from Boon Manakitivipart’s facebook feed (the image above is a composite that we put together). Boon is at it again. This time it’s our prized local larch (Larix laricina). Around here we call it Tamarack (the Algonquian name that means “wood used for snowshoes”). No matter what you call it, it is in my opinion, by far the best local wild species for bonsai. Bar none. Which pot do you prefer? If you are ambitious, you might tell us why. (NOTE: So … Continue reading One Larch, Four Bonsai Pots (plus one)

A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

The inspiration for this post arouse when I stumbled upon this remarkable tree on facebook. It belongs to Colin Lewis. Here’s his caption: “Colorado blue spruce, acquired 2008 from Harold Sasaki. Styled 2011-2012. Pot custom made by my old friend Dan Barton, 2013. I’m letting it grow this year to refresh some old congested areas. Maybe I’ll show it in 2016…” Le raison d’être for this post is the tree above. More accurately, the tree and the pot. Both are delightful and together, even more delightful. However, and in spite of the magic of the bonsai above, two questions arise. … Continue reading A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

Transplanting Bonsai into Our Excellent New Masters Soil

I just repotted this old pine into our new Masters Bonsai Soil. The pot is a growing pot rather than a show pot, but will serve nicely for now (pines like deep pots). The tree is a Japanese white pine that was grafted onto Japanese black pine stock in Japan. I got it from John Jaramillo last year when I was in Portland studying with Michael Hagedorn. Michael was kind enough to wire it for me. Our new Masters Bonsai Soil is now 20% off, so this seems like a good time to mention that I am in the process … Continue reading Transplanting Bonsai into Our Excellent New Masters Soil

Small Scale Bonsai Magic

A pretty convincing Tamarack (American larch) forest. I think using a full scale background is part of the secret. The other part is just a very good job. Small scale bonsai magic The series of photo shown here were posted on our Stone Lantern/Bonsai Bark facebook page by Dan Turner. To my eye, they present wonderful examples of small scale bonsai artistry that can only be the result of deep concentration, nimble fingers, boundless patience and a great imagination. The only thing missing are photos that show whole plantings rather than just sections. That and a way to shrink down … Continue reading Small Scale Bonsai Magic