That Rugged Yamadori Look in a Tropical Bonsai World

An an ancient sinuous root stand in Robert Steven’s tropical bonsai world Continuing with Robert Steven (see day before yesterday) with some of my favorites he has posted over the years. There are many more to be sure, but these provide some powerful glimpses. They are all from his fb timeline TWO NEW SPECIALS 25% OFF BONSAI WIRE FOR 3 OR MORE ROLLS 35% OFF ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS Specials include items already discounted – This and the other trees shown here all have that rugged collected-from-the-wild (yamadori) look A simple tree with its gnarled time-twisted trunk, leans into the … Continue reading That Rugged Yamadori Look in a Tropical Bonsai World

Bonsai Artist, Connoisseur & All Around Interesting Fellow

This Pemphis acidula with its distinctive curlycue jin (dead branch) and its even more distinctive carved shari (deadwood on the trunk), was collected in the wilds of Indonesia by Wayan Arthana. The tree is 77cm (30″) top to bottom and the pot is 12.5cm (5″) high and 63cm (almost 25″) across. The artist and owner is Gede Merta of Bonsai Bali It’s been a long time since we visited Gede Merta. Too long in fact, considering his accomplishments as a bonsai artist , bonsai connoisseur and all around interesting fellow. All the photo shown here are from his Gede Merta … Continue reading Bonsai Artist, Connoisseur & All Around Interesting Fellow

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

Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After

Here’s what Todd Schlafer wrote about this transformation… “Before and after – Colorado Blue Spruce. This tree has a lot of sentimental value. This tree was given to me by Jerry Morris. We had dug several trees and after work I went to his greenhouse to build boxes and get them reestablished. At the end he said ‘Why don’t you just take this one home.” I was ecstatic! Structure was set in 2010 with @bonsaimirai and I wired it out on my own. It’s fun to see the progression of the tree and my eye.” From Todd’s fb timeline It’s … Continue reading Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After

A Dramatic Before & After Bonsai

An impressive Sierra juniper(Juniperus occidentalis) transformation by Valentín Cruz. It was originally dug by Ned Lycett Before we start, we’ve got an update on yesterday’s post, thanks to Bill Valvanis (see below). Here we go again with another exceptional before and after bonsai. I found it on the artist’s timeline. His name is Valentín Cruz and a couple hours ago I had no idea he existed. My guess is you didn’t either, but if you spend some time looking him up you most likely won’t forget him. By the way Valentín’s bonsai teacher is Jim Gremel, an artist we’ve featured several times over the years. Roshi Tool Special … Continue reading A Dramatic Before & After Bonsai

Naturally Dramatic Bonsai

A particularly dramatic and complex Pemphis acidula. Not that Pemphis don’t tend to be dramatic anyway, but this one is almost unrivaled. It was collected and styled by Gedemerta. Height 82cm (32″). Continuing from yesterday with more bonsai by Gedemerta, we’ll borrow a few photos from our archives (June, 2015). All but one of the trees here are Pemphis acidula which has to be one of the most naturally dramatic trees in the world. It’s a safe bet that they were all collected from the wild. In fact, it might not be too far fetched to assume that Pemphis bonsai only originate in the wild, … Continue reading Naturally Dramatic Bonsai

Mugo Pines – Achieving the Recognition They Deserve

This powerful old yamadori (collected from the wild) Mugo pine would be exceptional even if it didn’t have that piece of deadwood that doubles back on the trunk. With this feature it’s a tree you won’t easily forget. My one question has to do with balance. The long left side nebari provides an anchor, but is it enough to visually stabilize the strong lean to the right? I found this photo on Carlos van der Vaart’s timeline. All three bonsai photos shown here are from earlier Bark posts. However, most of the text was written this morning in front of … Continue reading Mugo Pines – Achieving the Recognition They Deserve

The Smoke of the Volcano

The Smoke of the Volcano. This famous old collected Shimpaku juniper is called Noble Satake’s Shimpaku. When it was collected it was given the name The Smoke of the Volcano because of its unusual twisting trunk. The fuzzy photo is what happens when you blow an image up from 300 to 770 pixels (see below for the original). I just discovered an excellent article on Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai blog (thanks to Bonsai Mary). It’s a history of a particular collected Shimpaku juniper and collecting Shimpaku juniper in general. This article was written by Kazuki Yamanaka and published in Japanese … Continue reading The Smoke of the Volcano

Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

I found this gnarly old European yew (Taxus Baccata) on Francesco Santini’s website. We’ve been featuring yews a lot these days. They make excellent bonsai and there are countless old specimens in temperate zone gardens (and in the wild) in Europe, North American and elsewhere (not all are T baccata however, as there are several other species scattered around the world). It’s been a long time. Way back in February of 2010 we featured a couple trees that belong to Francesco Santini. Now, seven years on, he’s still at it and so are we. This time however, we’ll double down … Continue reading Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

Yamadori Pines from somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai

A great tree with a long story of a rugged life spent on the side of cold snow burdened mountain. Somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai Yesterday it was pines, so we’ll just keep going. Today it’s a pine mix from Amics Del Bonsai Corbera. None are identified. Nor are their owners… SITE WIDE SALE 20% TO 25% OFF EVERYTHING* Another tough yamadori (collected from the wild) pine. To my eye, this one and the one above are about as good as it gets. Neither is over-styled and both … Continue reading Yamadori Pines from somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai