The Cup, Cork Bark Bonsai & Collecting from the Wild

Backcountry Bonsai doesn’t show any Ponderosa bonsai, so we borrowed this yamadori Ponderosa pine from Ryan Neil’s Mirai, American Bonsai. There are signs of what some people might call corking (see the close up at the bottom of the post), but I don’t think Back Country Bonsai would qualify it as a cork bark Ponderosa. Tonight is the opening of the Artisans Cup. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that we’ve been resurrecting posts that have something to do with Oregon and more specifically (though sometimes indirectly,) the Cup itself. This works for me as generating new posts while … Continue reading The Cup, Cork Bark Bonsai & Collecting from the Wild

Oregon Backcountry Bonsai

This ancient three-quarters-dead Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) is clinging for its life on Cusick Mountain in the southern part of Eagle Cap Wilderness in northeastern Oregon. I borrowed both photos in this post from Backcountry Bonsai. Today it’s SF to Portland. Tomorrow evening it’s the Portland Art Museum for the Cup. Saturday it’s the Village tour to the Pacific Bonsai Museum, then Saturday night and Sunday back to the Museum. I hope to see you there and I apologize in advance if I don’t remember your name. And remember to be kind to your elders. Soon enough, it will be … Continue reading Oregon Backcountry Bonsai

What if you woke up on September 25th and realized that you’re not at the Artisans Cup?

You know there has to be a living vein somewhere, but it must be hidden behind all that impressive deadwood. The crown belongs to a Shimpaku juniper that was grafted onto a collected Rocky Mountain juniper. The tree belongs to Michael Hagedorn, as do all the trees (and boots) shown here. In two hours I’m leaving for SF and then Portland for the Artisans Cup. No time for a new post, but what could be more timely than another (last) reminder that’s it’s not too late for you to get in gear and go (well, maybe it is too late … Continue reading What if you woke up on September 25th and realized that you’re not at the Artisans Cup?

Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance

Stephen Vos’ upcoming book, In Training is generating buzz all over the place, including at Slate magazine (the photos and captions shown here were all lifted directly from Slate, as was the title, Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance ). But just remember, before you saw it on Slate, you saw it right here (and here) on Bonsai Bark. Enough said. Enjoy the photos and feel free to join us in support of Stephen’s worthy project. NEW Bonsai Wire Special Kilo coils of Bonsai Aesthetics Wire marked down from 19.50 now only 15.50 each plus … Continue reading Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance

Fat Guy & Tall Guy

Tony Tickle, a man with a sense of humor worthy of his name, calls this Hawthorn ‘Fat Guy’ and the one just below ‘Tall Guy.’ Yesterday we featured some of Tony Tickle’s wild and wonderful yamadori bonsai, with a little confusion thrown in (courtesy of yours truly). Today, it’s Tony’s trees again, but this time we’ll do our best to limit the confusion. So much for limiting confusion… I just noticed that the links from yesterday’s post don’t go to Tony’s website, but instead to an interview with Tony on ABC’s website. However, I distinctly remember copying http://yamadori.co.uk, from Tony’s … Continue reading Fat Guy & Tall Guy

A Range of Bonsai Varieties & Styles, Along with a Flair for Experimentation…

This raft style bonsai belongs to Tony Tickle. Most of Tony’s trees are labeled by variety, but this one simply says ‘Raft’ (I spent some time searching Tony’s site for more on this remarkable tree, to no avail). I’m guessing it’s a Larch (Larix) or maybe not (see below). We could go further and guess European larch as the U.K. where Tony lives and works is considered part of Europe (by most people, at least) and Tony seems to favor yamadori that are collected in Europe (he calls his site Bonsai & Yamadori from Tony Tickle). Looks like I might … Continue reading A Range of Bonsai Varieties & Styles, Along with a Flair for Experimentation…

Paradise Found

A Japanese white pine after it was wired by John Milton. The before photo is below. The title Paradise Found is a reference to John Milton’s famous poem Paradise Lost (famous at least on college campuses, if nowhere else). Now we have another John Milton who writes that he’s “currently following (his) dreams and studying as an apprentice at Aichi-en in Nagoya, Japan under Junichiro Tanaka-San” (in addition to the John Milton Paradise connection, the Aichi-en apprenticeship connects nicely with our last post as do the Japanese white pine before and after photos). What I really wanted to show you … Continue reading Paradise Found

Before & After – What Would You Do?

Before you look at the after picture below, consider this: you are visiting Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery in Japan for two weeks and you’re tasked with wiring and styling this Japanese white pine. What would you do? The photos shown here are from Jeremiah Lee’s Yenling Bonsai Blog. In Jerimiah’s own words… “Over the past two weeks I did a visiting apprenticeship at Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery in Nagoya, Japan. Nothing but eat, sleep and Bonsai for two weeks.” Jerimiah goes on to say… “With this tree I’m going to show a useful technique I learned for creating a good anchor point … Continue reading Before & After – What Would You Do?

The King of Bonsai

Full cascade Japanese black pine (Pinus thumbergii). Japanese for Black pine is Kuromatsu (kuro is black and matsu is pine). 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 world. All the photos shown here are from the 89th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition that took place February 2015 in Tokyo. We found them at Michael … Continue reading The King of Bonsai

Spinning Through the Seasons with a Magnificent Maple

Even though Sergio Cuan (the artist behind this magnificent tree), wrote that “out of the group, the two photos of the tree leafless are probably the most interesting and show off the tree at its best,” still, I couldn’t resist leading with this full-fall-splendor photo (it’s about grabbing your attention). The tree is a Sharps pygmy Japanese maple. You may have seen it at the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (or in the Exhibition Album) where it was the winner of the Finest Deciduous Bonsai award. The still shots you see here are of Sergio Cuan’s now famous Sharps pygmy … Continue reading Spinning Through the Seasons with a Magnificent Maple