A little pressed for time today, so we’ll just show you this remarkable tree that we found here (plus remind you that our wire sale ends tonight). The tree is a Abeliophllum Distichum (White Forsythia or Korean Abelia). 25% off Kilo Wire Sale ends tonight at 11:59pm EST 25% off plus FREE Shipping (U.S. orders 49.00 or more) is a very good deal
Tropical monster. From the Crespi Museum of Bonsai in Parabiago, Milan. The photo is from World Bonsai Friendship Federation delegation’s visit to Europe in April 2010. Before you ask if we’ve dug out yet, we haven’t. There’s not one flake to dig out from. The entire storm was way south of us. If anything, we’d like to see a little more snow. For me, it’s about a deep warm blanket for landscape plant protection. For our friends who make their living off winter sports, it’s about paying the bills. The more or less random selection of photos you see here … Continue reading Tropical Bonsai Monster & the Crespi Bonsai Museum
I like this little tree. It tells a story – any tree that grow to over 250 feet (see below) in optimal conditions and yet looks like this, has a story. It’s a Poderosa pine. I don’t know who collected it, but it belongs to Colin Lewis (unless he sold it). Yesterday was Ponderosa pines, so we’ll continue on that track today. BTW: I didn’t set out to make this post about rare cork bark Ponderosa, but it has headed in that direction, at least in part. This is because some of the photos and text here are from a … Continue reading Old Bonsai Tell Stories
Walter Pall and Mother Nature conspired and came up with something really good. It’s a Ponderosa pine that was originally collected in the Rockies. Got a couple Ponderosa pine Yamadori today (Yamadori is the Japanese word for bonsai that were collected from the wild). Just in case you never been to the mountains of the western U.S., Ponderosa pine are magnificently beautiful towering trees (obviously they don’t all tower, but in optimal conditions that’s what they do) with distinctive reddish bark. Unfortunately millions of acres of Poderosa have been wiped out by an ongoing Mountain pine beetle infestation. Previously these … Continue reading Bonsai & Magnificently Beautiful Towering Trees
Zen pine. In some types of art (calligraphy comes to mind) shapes are often suggested rather than completed. The mind of the viewer does the rest. In the case of this pine, it’s a circle (the way the raw power of the deadwood demands your attention cinches it). The tree and the photo belong to Mauro Stemberger. You can see more of Mauro’s bonsai here, here and here. Circles, semi circles and curves are today’s theme. Bonsai with long slow curves like this one tend to be out of favor, at least with some people, who might refer to this … Continue reading Bonsai Zen – Circles & Curves
Shohin Japanese maple in early spring. Among other things that make this an outstanding bonsai is the way the shallow pot accentuates the trunk’s impressive girth. The photo is from Roland Schatzer’s new book, Bonsai Shohin Passion, as are all the photos in this post. A while back we got an email from Bill Valavanis recommending we take a look at Roland Schatzer’s new book, Bonsai Shohin Passion. Soon after that Bill sent an introductory email to Roland and to us. The rest, as they say, is history. Just in case you are new to bonsai, Shohin is ‘small thing’ … Continue reading Bonsai Shohin Passion
This image from our 2016 Bonsai Calendar has nothing to do with our Bonsai Detective Contest. Though you might note that our Contest is now officially over and that this beautiful calendar is now half price (as is our Japanese Garden Calendar). We have a Bonsai Detective Contest winner. His name is Dane Smith. He submitted his correct answers (see below) in considerably less than an hour from the time the post went up (Stephen Moore submitted his correct answers only moments later). Now the ten thousand of you who are emailing your answers can go back to your whatever … Continue reading We’ve Got a Bonsai Detective Winner and…
Full cascade Japanese black pine (Pinus thumbergii). Japanese for Black pine is Kuromatsu (kuro is black and matsu is pine). Even though we posted this just four months ago, the title stuck me as appropriate for this national holiday (for some of us at least). Japanese black pines are sometimes referred to a the king of bonsai. This may be in part due to their natural strength; they tend to have powerful trunks and thick lush foliage. Rugged bark doesn’t hurt either. King or not, the best of the black pines are undeniably among the most powerful bonsai in the … Continue reading The King of Bonsai
Tree #1 in our Bonsai Detective contest Here’s a simple contest to amuse you while you wait for the spring growing season. What you have to do to win Find each tree on the internet and provide a link to it (linking this post isn’t acceptable, though other Bark posts are fair game). If you know the type tree and the owner or artist, please include them as well (this isn’t necessary to win the contest but is in keeping with our policy of attribution and identification). The prize The first person to provide links for all 12 trees will … Continue reading $100 Bonsai Detective Contest
It’s not often you see bark like this. Its uniquely patterned texture and color adds considerable character and age to this old live oak. And then there’s the pot; the way it complements the tree (an how small it is relative to the tree). No mention of who made it, but whoever did deserves some love. The photo is from the ‘My Trees’ section of Mauro Stemberger’s website. The following is in response to a comment on Facebook… We would never chop off part of the pot in a bonsai photo unless that’s the way we found it, or we’re … Continue reading Bonsai Is Both the Tree & the Pot (and we know that)