Perfection? Or Just the Eye of the Beholder?

My Japanese is a little rusty (actually more like non-existent), so I have no idea what this little gem is. However, thanks to Willi Benz, I know that if it is displayed alone, you might call it a kusamono (or kusamono bonsai). If it is displayed as an accent or companion plant, then you could call it a shitakusa. This photo, just like the second photo in Friday’s post, is from one of our Japanese mystery books. Is this perfection? When I look at the two photos in this post, I can find absolutely no faults anywhere. Often with bonsai, … Continue reading Perfection? Or Just the Eye of the Beholder?

Our Summer Sale Ends Thursday Morning

Our Okatsune bonsai shear. This is my favorite bonsai shear. In fact, I think it’s the best bonsai shear in the world (short of individually hand made $500 and up Japanese shears). New shipment of tools from Japan due in next week We are running out of many of our tools, but a new supply is due in next week. Order now and take advantage of our Site Wide Summer Sale, and as soon as they arrive, yours will be on its way. I’ve seen most of the photos and much of the text, and I will stake my reputation … Continue reading Our Summer Sale Ends Thursday Morning

A Powerful Cedar Bonsai (Or Is It?)

I first saw this Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) in International Bonsai magazine (2009 issue 4). It also appears on the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York’s website. It belongs to Marc Arpag and was part of the Society’s 36th Upstate New York Exhibition (2009). It jumped out at me because I have a thing for cedars, but can never seem to find any that begin to approach this natural wonder. When is a cedar a cedar (or not)? Common names often create confusion. There are only four true cedar (Cedrus) species in the world, yet an abundance of trees … Continue reading A Powerful Cedar Bonsai (Or Is It?)

Another Use for Bonsai Pots

I lifted this from Bonsai Smiths’ gallery. I like the planting and I especially like the pot. I wonder who made it (I assume one of the Smiths did the planting). Kusamono or Shitakusa? Willi knows best In his book Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Willi Benz says “Kusa = grass and Mono = object.” He goes on to say “If a Kusamono-Bonsai is the main object of a display, we use the term Kusamono. But if a Kusamono-Bonsai is used as an accent or complementary plant, we say it is a Shitakusa.” This one is from one of our mystery Japanese … Continue reading Another Use for Bonsai Pots

Laziness Plus Foolishness Equals Trouble

I posted this haunting strangeness the other day, and then, without doing an ounce of research or exercising even a small sliver of my overtaxed intelligence, I conjectured that Nick Lenz must be the guilty party. I could blame it on the fact that I was in the middle of summer vacation, or because I grew up in an age well before photoshop and have never really caught up (I still struggle with my TV/DVD remote). The good news is… … it elicited more comments than 98% of our other more accurate and (in my opinion) more useful posts. I … Continue reading Laziness Plus Foolishness Equals Trouble

Michael Hagedorn on Boon’s Intensives

Michael Hagedorn working at one of Boon’s intensives. From Bonsai Boon. A little background I stumbled across this article (below) by Michael Hagedorn while whiling away some time exploring Bonsai Boon. Michael is now recognized as one of our most accomplished bonsai artists, authors and teachers, and Boon, in addition to being one of Michael’s teachers and a first rate bonsai artist, has long been a key player in establishing and furthering the art of bonsai in North America. In Michael’s own words “I first met Boon Manakitivipart some years ago at a bonsai convention. He was energetic and animated, … Continue reading Michael Hagedorn on Boon’s Intensives

Tempus Fugit and So Am I

Don’t go away. I’m at 36,000 feet, can’t upload images (text, we can do) but will be back in the saddle tomorrow with more exciting (a small stretch) and brilliant (a longer stretch) bonsai observations for your enjoyment. Meanwhile, don’t forget to water and watch out for aphids and various other little sap suckers. And BTW: don’t wait too long, our site wide sale is about to run its course.

Larch Roots & TMS

Larch bonsai in full fall display. By Larch Master Nick Lenz. Larch roots & TMS I know the topic in this post is a bit arcane, but I’d like to know if anyone out there has any more info on TMS. The research quoted below is from this journal. “The roots of 200 one-year-old Changbai Larch (Larix olgensis) seedlings were soaked for 6 hours at the TMS concentrations of 2000, 1000, 500, 250, 125, and 62 ?L·L?1. Mean seedling height, root collar diameter, main root length and number of lateral roots were measured every 15 days during growing season from … Continue reading Larch Roots & TMS

The Dog Days

Bonsai? Weird perversion? Highly innovative new cross art? Whaddya think? And to answer your question, I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet my third born grandchild that it’s a Lenz (it just has too many marks of the old Master to deny). Anyway, you can blame it on BUNJINJOURNAL.COM. Or further down the chain of blame; FreakingNews.com.

Big Tree

Big tree. A little fuzzy, but you get the idea. From Bonsai Isma Shim’s Photos. Vacay time I’m ducking out for a few days. I’ll try to keep something coming so you don’t forget about us. Easy to do posts like this one. Big summer sale still humming along…