Bark

Bonsai-San

Two powerful trees from the European Bonsai-San 2015 Show. We lifted all the photos shown here* from Bonsai Empire (something we’ve been doing for a long time). They are from the just completed European Bonsai-San 2015 Show in Saulieu France. Oscar at Bonsai Empire wrote the following: “We thank Stephanie and Frederic Chenal for organizing and allowing us to film the exhibit. Visit their website here. Feel free to share these photos, but please mention the source. Thanks!” We don’t have any information on the artists or the owners of any of the trees shown here, though Oscar offers an … Continue reading Bonsai-San

The Sargent

This dynamic tree with its unusual trunk shaped liked the number 3 (this effect is enhanced by the fluid, brush stroke like movement that runs up and down the length of the trunk) belongs to Marcelo Michelotti. He calls it Il Sergente (see below). Yesterday I stumbled upon the bonsai of Marcelo Michelotti, yet another of the talented bonsai artists that seem to be popping up everywhere lately. Marcelo lives and works in Alta Gracia, Argentina. All the photos shown here are from his facebook feed. A lovely confusion of names. Marcelo calls the tree above Il Sergente (the Sargent). … Continue reading The Sargent

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

Breaking the Bonsai Mold

For every highly stylized Japanese bonsai, there’s one like this that breaks the mold. It’s a Japanese red pine from Japan’s 80th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (2006). The other Japanese pine. Japanese black and white pines comprise some of the most famous bonsai in the world. And thousands that aren’t so famous. Japanese Red pines (Pinus densiflora) are much less common in bonsai circles, but judging by the ones shown here and some others we’ve seen along the way, they have no problem holding their own. All the photos shown here are Japanese red pines from Japan’s famous Kokufu-ten Bonsai Exhibition. … Continue reading Breaking the Bonsai Mold

Staying on Theme, Only this Time with a Little More Color

The color on this flowering pear was a bit ahead of most of the other trees at the Pacific Bonsai Museum. This and the other photos in this post were shot in late September by Kurt Simonson. Close up so you can see some of the leaves, the base of the trunk and the moss a little better. Were going to keep going with our the Pacific Bonsai Museum theme. This time with a bit more color. Even though late September was a little early for full force fall foliage (sorry) in the Pacific Northwest, some of the trees were … Continue reading Staying on Theme, Only this Time with a Little More Color

SALE – Everything 20% to 30% off at Stone Lantern

Everything at Stone Lantern is on Sale including hundreds of items that are already discounted 20% off orders 1.00 to 74.99 25% off orders 75.00 to 149.99 30% off orders 150.00 or more Bonsai Tools Bonsai Books Bonsai Wire Bonsai Fertilizers & Bonsai Soil Watering Cans Bonsai Pots Bonsai Today Back Issues Embroidered Bonsai Clothing   Japanese Gardening Tools   And much more…

Bunjin Wizard

Triple trunk bunjin. I’ve long had a soft spot for trees with long straight trunks, topped with dynamic flowing curves. Exactly like this one. Which, along with the other two trees shown here, was styled by Naoki Maeoka. After close up. A good view of how the flowing lines at the top of each trunk are carried over onto the branches. Before. Triple trunk bunjin. You don’t see that many triple trunk bunjin (literati) bonsai. Especially ones as elegant as the one above. It, and the others shown here, belong to Naoki Maeoka. Bunjin wizard. Naoki Maeoka is a resident … Continue reading Bunjin Wizard

Power, Movement & Texture

Power, movement and texture. This astounding Itoigawa shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis Itoigawa) received an Honorable Mention at the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup which was held at the Crespi Bonsai Museum. It belongs to Gino Costa. The photos shown here are from the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup. I cropped them all to bring the trees closer and to eliminate background noise. You can see the uncropped photos of all 65 entries here.   Here’s the First Prize tree and I can’t say I disagree. It’s a Mugo pine that belongs to Paolo Riboli. I like the natural grey of the deadwood, … Continue reading Power, Movement & Texture

Freeze Damage in Bonsai (& other woody plants)

This luscious planting resides at the North Carolina Arboretum. The photo was put up on the Internet Bonsai Club forum by Arthur Joura. The caption reads “This planting is one of a small handful in our bonsai collection that consists entirely of plant material that can tolerate the extremes of winter, and so it remains on the bench, on display in the Bonsai Exhibition Garden all through the year.” The statement ‘can tolerate the extremes of winter’ makes sense if you live someplace like North Carolina, but not if you live someplace like Vermont. Our Vermont fall foliage extravaganza is … Continue reading Freeze Damage in Bonsai (& other woody plants)

Bonsai Meets Pop Music Again

This old triple trunk Japanese white pine resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Musem in Saitama Japan. Busy weekend, so we’ll dip back into our archives. This one is from January 2014. First a confession. The title of this post ‘Bonsai Meets Pop Music’ has little if anything to do with the bonsai shown here. However, if you scroll down, you’ll see that it wasn’t made up out of thin air, and if you read Japanese, some light may be shed. All the trees shown here are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, which houses one of the best bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Meets Pop Music Again