Tropical Bonsai Gallery

Hot Bonsai – Mid Summer Year Round

I like the fluidity of two main trunks and the contrast and depth that the third trunk provides. My only question is; why such a deep pot? Vietnam anyone? All the photos in this post are from a Vietnam Bonsai Tour site. I’m not sure that these photos reflect the most cutting edge (so to speak) bonsai in Vietnam, but they do provide a little glimpse into the art of a tropical hotspot.   Massive trunk, great taper. Do you think it would look better in rounded pot?   Shadow dancing.   A fairly ordinary tropical bonsai in an unusual … Continue reading Hot Bonsai – Mid Summer Year Round

A Wonderfully Eccentric Bunjin by Budi

We’ve featured bonsai by Budi Sulistyo before, and for good reason; his bonsai are innovative and daring. Budi isn’t afraid to try new ideas and break with convention. I’d say on balance, that this has served him very well. Budi’s tropical gallery book In addition to being an innovative bonsai artist, Budi is a photographer and the author of an excellent gallery book on tropical bonsai (now on special at Stone Lantern).

Another Budi, Another Pemphis

Pemphis acidula by Budiman Darmansjah. Here’s Budiman’s reply when I asked him if I could use it: “You can use it as you want. It is Pemphis acidula, grow on limestone rock at seaside. I collected this tree in 2000. Length of trunk is 105 cm.” (105 cm = 41 inches) Doubled down Just yesterday we posted a Pemphis acidula by Budi Sulistyo, a well known Indonesian bonsai artist and author of Tropical Bonsai Gallery. Now we have another Pemphis by another Budi (actually Budiman). Though it may not be quite as eye-popping as yesterday’s, still, it’s a good tree … Continue reading Another Budi, Another Pemphis

Budi’s Stupendous Bonsai

Stupendous is a good start in the search for words to describe this old full cascade Pemphis acidula by Budi Sulistyo. Ahh, to live in the tropics where stuff like this grows everywhere (well, not exactly like this, but still…). I first saw it in facebook in an album entitled My bonsai by Budi. Budi’s book If you’d like to impress your friends, you can buy Budi’s excellent Tropical Bonsai Gallery book, cut out the pictures and frame them, and tell everyone the bonsai are yours and that the reason you don’t have them anymore is they were blown away … Continue reading Budi’s Stupendous Bonsai

Eccentric Bonsai: Two Trees by Budi

This tree isn’t exactly eccentric. Just powerful, handsome and unique. It’s by Budi Sulistyo and graces the cover of his excellent tropical bonsai gallery book (you can see the whole cover below). Such a contrast I think this next tree (below), also by Budi, falls into the eccentric category. This ficus microcarpa by Budi Sulisyo from an album entitled ‘Stone Pot’.

Eccentric Bonsai #4: A Very Long Cascade

We found this exceptionally long cascading ficus (at least that’s what we think it is) on the Bonsai South website. Take a look if you get a chance. They have an excellent gallery with a range of powerful tropicals (see below) and a some other worthy trees. It’s not that easy It’s not easy to keep the lower lower reaches healthy on such a long cascading branch. Especially on a tree that basically wants to grow upward. You’ll notice the untrained small branches at the very bottom. Letting those small sacrifice branches grow unimpeded helps draw energy down to the … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai #4: A Very Long Cascade

Artofbonsai Nursery Stock Bonsai Gallery

Sinuous root style Rockspray Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) in splendid fall color, by Bill Valavanis of International Bonsai. When I first started playing with bonsai almost thirty years ago, nurseries were bonsai stock gold mines. Now, because bonsai enthusiasts have caught on, old forgotten potential bonsai are a little harder to to find. But don’t lose heart, they are still there. You just have to look a little harder. Bill Valavanis’ sweet sinuous root Cotoneaster (above) is one of many bonsai from nursery stock currently feature on Artofbonsai.org.  Some other well-known featured artists are: Walter Pall, Morten Albek (author of Shohin … Continue reading Artofbonsai Nursery Stock Bonsai Gallery

Gallery of Your Bonsai

This unique bonsai is a Pemphis acidula by Budi Sulistyo (Budi is the author of Tropical Bonsai Gallery). The tree received second place (professional category) in our first and only Bonsai Today awards contest. It appears in Bonsai Today issue 106. Oh, Mexico! I just got back from Patzcuaro Mexico. Day temperatures of 70 to 80F (21 to 27C) and deep blue skies backdropping emerald leaves and needles, wildly bright bougainvillea flowers (actually bracts) and all the rest of natures uninhibited display. Now I’m back to our relentless cold gray skies and fields of snow. You gotta wonder. While we … Continue reading Gallery of Your Bonsai