Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

Itoigawa juniper before and after by Gabriel Romero Aguade By now you may have seen dozens, if not hundreds of before and after bonsai posts. Some were done in a matter of hours and some took years to complete. When I first saw this one, my guess was it falls into the second group; bonsai transformations that take years. – But rather than settle on a guess, I decided to ask the artist, Gabriel Romero Aguade who posted it just a couple days ago. Here’s my question… “How many years was the process? ” And here’s Gabriel’s answer… “From the … Continue reading Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

Time to Throw the Switch!?

This delightful creation by Sandro Segneri has nothing to do with the switch, though it is exciting and new just like our soon-to-be-live New Stonelantern Website First the switch … Sometime this weekend (or shortly thereafter) our NEW STONELANTERN WEBSITE will go live. I won’t say much more except it promises to be better than our old worn out and largely obsolete website by several orders of magnitude – Meanwhile you can still visit our old site and enjoy some very juicy discounts while they last – One more thing …when we do go live, you’ll have to sign in … Continue reading Time to Throw the Switch!?

Flowers, a Tiny Lizard & Other Bonsai Wonders

It’s almost that time of year. Here’s David Benavente’s caption… Rhododendron indicum “Shin Nikko” hoy, en plena floración (today in full bloom). 45x55cm (18″ x 21.5″) We’re still working on finishing touches for our soon-to-be launched new website. Stay posted, I think you’re going to like it. Meanwhile time is of essence so we’ll take our trusty old shortcut. This one is from May of last year. It’s been a while since we’ve featured David Benavente and his Estudio de Bonsái. It’s in Galapagar, Spain. Just outside of Madrid. The photos are from David’s timeline FOUR SPRING SPECIALS 25% OFF BONSAI … Continue reading Flowers, a Tiny Lizard & Other Bonsai Wonders

Blue Skies & Beautiful Bonsai

There’s a lot to like about a good Stewartia like this, including the fine ramafication (branching). Only years of careful trimming can accomplish this. There’s also the strong nebari that offers a sense of stability and a sign of age on any good Stewartia. And then there’s the beauty of the exfoliating bark with its soft reddish shades. All this makes for a masterpiece bonsai. I cropped the original photo for a closer look (it’s below with the original caption) We can’t stay away from Luis Vallejo’s Bonsai Museum for very long. Though I don’t have time to count, I’d … Continue reading Blue Skies & Beautiful Bonsai

Bonsai Deadwood, Too Much or Just Right?

This unusual full cascade Juniper will no doubt put off some of our anti-deadwood folks, but to my eyes, it’s an expressive and dynamic tree. Cascade shots are normally taken from a point that shows the tree cascading down one side of the pot, but in this case the pot is hidden by the tree, which creates a whole different effect. Still busy putting finishing touches on our soon to be New Website, so we’ll take a short cut and dip back into our archives… All the photos shown here were taken by Andres Bicocca at the 2017 European Bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Deadwood, Too Much or Just Right?

Another Hawthorn & Harry’s Timely Reply

Another Hawthorn that belongs to Harry Harrington. It isn’t as advanced as the one we featured yesterday, but it’s full of promise Yesterday we featured a freshly repotted Hawthorn by Harry Harrington. Here’s the rub… the tree hadn’t been repotted for 15 years! As you might imagine this provoked some questions by several readers. So last night I emailed Harry and this morning I woke up to his reply (before you read on, I suggest you take a look at yesterday’s post). So here’s your answer, in Harry’s own words… “Ive been asked this quite a few times since Saturday! … Continue reading Another Hawthorn & Harry’s Timely Reply

Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

As you can see, this before and after shows considerable skill in styling and refining bonsai. The tree is a European larch (Larix decidua). The artist is Will Baddeley. Someone goy lucky and bought this little gem from Will a while back Still working on our new website. Our original launch date has been obliterated and now I have no idea when we’ll throw the switch. Meanwhile, time is of essence, so it’s back to our archives. This one is from August, 2017 with a few changes today Continued below… THREE SPECIALS END TONIGHT 30% – 40% OFF OFF ROSHI TOOLS … Continue reading Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

Dwarf Japanese five-needle Pine at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. This and other Kokufu photos are from Bill Valavanis’ blog. Here’s Bill’s caption… “Looks like a spruce with the short needles.” Getting ready to throw the switch on our new website, so just some random pine bonsai today. Six from the past and two from this year’s Kokufu Exhibtion (Kokufu photos are courtesy of Bill Valavanis) SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TONIGHT 25% OFF EVERYTHING ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS & AN EXTRA 10% OFF ROBERT STEVEN’S BONSAI AESTHETICS TOOLS 25% OFF … Continue reading Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

This is the after photo from a before and after of a planting by Marc Noelanders, a headliner at the upcoming Mid Atlantic Spring Bonsai Festival (see below). No mention is made of the type tree or what the rock is made of. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark since at least December of last year, or you follow Marc on fb, you’ve already seen this masterpiece. If not, I’m happy you can see it here Continuing from yesterday with two barn burner bonsai conventions coming up this spring. They are the Mid Atlantic Bonsai Spring Festival and the American Bonsai Society (ABS) Convention. Unfortunately, they’re both … Continue reading Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Here’s a before and after of a Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi Following up from yesterday, we’ve a couple more Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) for you, including this before and after by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai going way back to early days of Bonsai Bark and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today NEW 25% OFF SITE WIDE SALE ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS 25% OFF APPLIES TO EVERYTHING ON ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE INCLUDING ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY DISCOUNTED A llttle fuzzy, but I wanted … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine