Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Close up of Dan Robinson’s Mountain hemlock, taken on my cell at the Artisans Cup. Last weekend I finally had the pleasure of meeting Dan and Diane Robinson. It was at the Artisans Cup so I also had the pleasure of viewing and photographing Dan’s entry, the Mountain hemlock shown here (above and below). We’ve been featuring Dan Robinson’s bonsai and we’ve been selling and enjoying Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees for a long time (the second printing of Will Hiltz’ brilliant book about Dan and his trees just came out). Now that I’ve met Dan and actually seen one of … Continue reading Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Dan & Roy – Picasso & a Bonsai Grafting Master

Roy Nagatoshi grafted the Shimpaku foliage onto this masterpiece 700 year old yamadori California juniper that Dan Robinson collected and continues to grow and develop (provided Dan still owns it). You can find a lot more about this and dozens of other ancient masterpieces in Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, Will Hiltz wonderful book about Dan (the Picasso of bonsai) and his on going love affair with bonsai and nature. This post started out to be about the bonsai and grafting skills of Roy Nagatoshi (here’s a good example of Roy’s work from a 2014 Bark post). But somewhere along the … Continue reading Dan & Roy – Picasso & a Bonsai Grafting Master

Elandan, Beyond Bonsai

Just another great photo at Elandan Gardens, where water, earth and sky come together in one of the most brilliant bonsai backdrops you’ll ever see. Yesterday, it was Dan Robinson’s bonsai. Today it’s Dan and Diane Robinson’s exquisite Elandan Gardens. All the photos shown here are from Elandan’s website and Dan’s facebook feed. I don’t mean to spoil your Elandan experience with our crass commercialism, but this is how we keep our ship afloat… 15.50 per roll, Kilo Bonsai Wire Special ends tonight this price may be the best … Continue reading Elandan, Beyond Bonsai

“These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

This Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 104. It belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. He presented it as an example of a naturalistic bonsai Walter Pall yesterday, Walter Pall today. This one happens to be our first Walter post ever (June, 2009). It was titled The Great Debate part 2: You Be the Judge. I’ve condensed it to accommodate our shorter attention spans The following quote by Walter is from the same 2009 post (it originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 104)… “I have seen that the trend in styling is toward more and more … Continue reading “These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

Natives Is Here! Brilliant & Unique, Bonsai at Its Best

We’ve all waited long enough and now the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Natives is here. We’ve featured some photos in the past, but now we’ve got the real thing. One hundred and five mind stopping pages. Now available at Stone Lantern Here’s the Museum’s description… “As artistic representations of trees, bonsai are collected from the wild to be cultivated as works of art. While the natural forces that shaped the tree are visibly echoed in its trunk and branches, the direct link between a bonsai and its native habitat has been lost. By displaying a tree with a portrait of its … Continue reading Natives Is Here! Brilliant & Unique, Bonsai at Its Best

Coming Soon, Brilliant Bonsai Fest at the Pacific Bonsai Museum

While you are visiting the The Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Bonsai Fest (see below) you can enjoy their current LIVING ART OF BONSAI: ELEMENTS OF DESIGN exhibit. A perfect twofer. Bonsai Fest! Comes to Federal Way. A two-day celebration over World Bonsai Day – Mother’s Day weekend Details below… Stone Lantern’s bONSAI AESTHETICS WIRE KILO ROLLS 17.95 ONLY 15.95 EACH FOR 3 OR MORE 500 GRAM ROLLS 9.95 ONLY 8.95 EACH FOR 3 OR MORE An Oak in one of the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s many outdoor display sections. I couldn’t find the variety, but the small leaves lead me to believe it … Continue reading Coming Soon, Brilliant Bonsai Fest at the Pacific Bonsai Museum

Rugged Bonsai in the Perfect Setting

The natural look. This photo captures two things I love about Eladan Gardens. The first is the rugged uncontrived feel that characterizes Dan Robinson’s bonsai, and the second is the perfect setting. The tree is a Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). We seem to be stuck on Sierra junipers lately, but who’s complaining? In this case it’s only one (see above and a closeup below) with several other non-Sierra photos to enrich the experience. This post (with some changes today) originally appeared in May 2016. Back in May, 2016 I finally visited Dan and Diane Robinson’s magnificent Elandan Gardens. It was a quick visit … Continue reading Rugged Bonsai in the Perfect Setting

Bonsai of the Day

This dramatically undulating Japanese Maple in its spectacularly vivid full fall foliage splendor (blame it on too much coffee) resides at Showa Memorial Park in Japan. I stumbled upon it and some other mind popping photos on a recent post titled Bonsai of the Day by Oscar at Bonsai Empire. The only connection I can see that ties these photos together is none of them are shot with neutral backgrounds (my usual choice). This and the fact that I like the trees… but that applies to all the photos we post Kilo Bonsai Wire Special 14.95 FOR KILO ROLLS OF WIRE IS TOO GOOD TO … Continue reading Bonsai of the Day

Michelangelo, Picasso & Other Great Bonsai Artists

Even though we know this tree has been worked by human hands, the link to its natural state hasn’t been lost. If anything it has been enhanced. No variety is given, though it looks like a collected juniper. Back from vacation for well over a week and still locked in mortal combat with paperwork demons. Time for a short cut. This post originally appeared almost exactly one year ago. Nacho Marin is someone who was already an artist when he discovered bonsai and who brought his vision, talent and experience to the art. And though people often say that we … Continue reading Michelangelo, Picasso & Other Great Bonsai Artists

The Tallest Trees in the World?

This Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii* subsp. glauca) is one of numerous extraordinary bonsai at Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai (near Portland, Oregon). It was originally collected in the Rocky mountains by Randy Knight. It’s age is given as 100-250 years. Height is 36″ (91cm), width 52″ (132cm). Yesterday’s post got me thinking about Firs and it wasn’t a long trip from firs (Abies varieties) to Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii). So even though Douglas firs are not true firs, still, these photo are just too good to pass up NEW Deeper Discount 1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now only 16.00 … Continue reading The Tallest Trees in the World?