The Emperor’s Bonsai

At least two things set this Root-over-rock Trident maple (Kaede Ishitsuki – maple planted on a rock) apart from thousands of other root-over Trident maples on this planet. First there it’s exceptional quality, and second, it’s part of Japan’s Imperial Bonsai Collection. The tree’s age is about 90 years. Its height is 57 cm (22.5″). Here’s a quote from the Imperial website… “Among ‘zoki’ deciduous trees, ‘momiji’ (Japanese maple) and “kaede” (maple) (I’m not sure why this isn’t translated as Trident maple) are particular favorites of bonsai lovers because of the way they show off the four seasons. Aficionados appreciate the young buds in … Continue reading The Emperor’s Bonsai

Blooming Bonsai Beauties & a Quick Tip on Ramification

I found this luscious beauty on Micheal Hagedorn’s Crateagus Bonsai. It’s a Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis).* Here’s Michael’s caption… “This tree has been a prolific bloomer for the past five years. When the blooms are done, leaves form at the base of the bloom spike, so we cut them back to those leaves, leaving a short spike. That becomes our ramification in a wisteria bonsai.” Just back from vacation and swamped, so we’ll make this one short and sweet. Thanks once again to our friend and teacher, Michael Hagedorn, a source of brilliant bonsai insights (and brilliant bonsai!) ROSHI TOOL … Continue reading Blooming Bonsai Beauties & a Quick Tip on Ramification

Purple Rain & a Stupendous Bonsai Book Sale

Purple rain. From an early Bark post (September 2010). I’ve got a climbing Wisteria on my front porch that never blooms. Our northern Vermont winters are too cold (it dies back to the ground each winter) and our growing season is too short. Still, one can hope… Meanwhile, here are three wildly blooming Wisteria bonsai for your viewing pleasure. Continued below… Stupendous Bonsai Book and DVD Sale 25% to 32.5% off* all our of our Bonsai Books and DVDs (other books too) discounts are off our already discounted prices Plus FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 49.00 or more *Just in … Continue reading Purple Rain & a Stupendous Bonsai Book Sale

A Scent of Spring

I like it when azaleas show some leaves when they bloom. Sometimes you see them completely covered with flowers, which can seem a little unnatural. This magnificent Nyohozan Satsuki Azalea belongs to Melvyn Goldstein. Its height is only 10 inches (25cm). It, along with nearly two hundred of North America’s other greatest bonsai, can be found in the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album (out of print – Albums 3 & 4 are still available). We’re not out of the winter woods yet here in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, but there is a slight scent of spring in the breeze. Still, … Continue reading A Scent of Spring

Bonsai Brilliance at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Cork bark Chinese elm in full fall brilliance at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You don’t see that many good Chinese elm bonsai. I like this one a lot; its color, the heavy trunk with its corky bark, the handsome Tokoname pot. This photo and the others in this post are from the bonsai collection on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens website. With the exception of the Trident maple root-over-rock just below, and some re-writing to bring things up to date, the rest of this post appeared back in December 2013. Though I haven’t been there for a long time, I think … Continue reading Bonsai Brilliance at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Bonsai Flowers & A Certain Kind of Provincialism

Wisteria bonsai doing its profuse thing. It belongs to Gerard Schoofs of the Bonsai Society of Victoria. Being a North American I just figured Victoria BC, Canada without a second thought, until I read this caption: “I managed to get this photo about Oct 2011…” Turns out, there are several Victorias in this wide world and this one is a state somewhere in that over-sized island south of Indonesia (just kidding sort of, with only a hint of irritation about a certain kind of provincialism that assumes*…. or maybe I’m just cranky). I think it’s a good time to start … Continue reading Bonsai Flowers & A Certain Kind of Provincialism

Bonsai in Brooklyn

Cork bark Chinese elm in full fall brilliance at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You don’t see that many good Chinese elm bonsai. At least I don’t. I like this one a lot; its color, the heavy trunk with its corky bark, the handsome Tokoname pot. This photo and the others in this post are from the bonsai collection on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens website. I think the quality of the Brooklyn Botanic bonsai collection has been improving for a while now. Still not a world class collection, but getting there. Speaking of world-class collections, I think the U.S. lags a … Continue reading Bonsai in Brooklyn

Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

Picasso’s (aka Dan Robinson’s) now famous wild and wonderful Hinoki. It’s from Will Hiltz’ excellent book, Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, about Dan’s life and work. It’s no longer available through Stone Lantern, but I think they might still have some at Dan’s Elandan Gardens. Here’s the original Bark post. It’s Independence Day (here in the USA at least)! To help you celebrate, why not enjoy a sampling of home-grown (and a couple recent immigrant) bonsai from previous Bark posts? But first, because many of our readers are not US Americans (and because some US Americans don’t know much about history … Continue reading Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

Full Floral Assualt

Whoops! My mistake. This tree is from Bill Valavanis‘ excellent new book ‘Classical Bonsai Art’ (stay posted, it will be here next week). It belongs to Robert Blankfield, who originally styled it at a workshop with Bill. I found the tree on the web (unattributed, so I’ve deleted that link) and didn’t know its origin. I have Bill to thank for setting me straight. It all started with an email from Terry Davis with a link a rather amazing Ashikaga Flower Park and the joy of spring video. To excite your optic nerves and maybe inspire you to take a … Continue reading Full Floral Assualt

Three Bonsai: Artists Unknown

On fire. If you look closely, you can see a little reddish hue in the trunk, pot and even the soil. Does this mean this fiery thread leaf Japanese maple was color enhanced? My guess is, yes, it was. Unnecessarily so. If it were slightly less blazing, this would still be a beautiful bonsai. In fact, even if the foliage were green, the age and movement in the nebari, trunk and the rest of the tree, would be enough to qualify this tree as beautiful. The pot is excellent too, though it’s difficult to tell if it’s round or oval. … Continue reading Three Bonsai: Artists Unknown