Bark

Bonsai Tool & Wire Sales Ends Tonight

20% to 30% off all Roshi Bonsai Tools plus 10% off Stone Lantern orders 100.00 or more Roshi tools are famous for beauty, precision cutting, durability & great prices Tool & Wire Sales End Tonight, Sunday, Aug 2nd at 11:59pm EDT  25% off 500 gram (1.1 lb) rolls of Bonsai Aesthetics Wire plus 10% off Stone Lantern orders 100.00 or more Bonsai Aesthetic Tool Sale also ends Tonight Now Back in Stock! Bonsai Aesthetics All purpose Bonsai, Garden & Household Scissors These amazingly sharp, durable and very handy all-purpose scissors-shears are good for almost everything now only 5.63 with your … Continue reading Bonsai Tool & Wire Sales Ends Tonight

Bonsai Banter, Buttonwoods & Summer Dormancy

This dynamic Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) is one of four trees from Florida that were selected for the upcoming Artisan’s Cup in Portland, Oregon (go! it’s going to be great). It belongs to Paul Pikel. Image courtesy of Mary Miller (Bonsai Mary of Bonsai Banter). Florida is more than a refuge for snowbirds and hormone bedeviled college kids; it’s also home to most of the best tropical and semi-tropical bonsai in North America, and of all the great bonsai varieties you’ll find in Florida, Buttonwood is king. Something else you’ll find in Florida (and some other north American hot spots) are … Continue reading Bonsai Banter, Buttonwoods & Summer Dormancy

An Impressive Collection of Delicious Little Trees

These delicious little trees (shohin bonsai) are all from Cliff Chong’s bonsai gallery. I don’t know if all the trees are his, but his or otherwise, it’s a very impressive collection of photographs. Cliff lives and practices the art of bonsai in Malaysia.         Here’s another impressive Shohin Bonsai it’s Morten Albek’s classic and it’s full of a wider range of how-to & other information on small bonsai than most of us ever knew existed And the price is right

Pointing the Way

Three years ago when we originally showed this tree we didn’t have any idea who the artist was. We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments (from the second posting last year ): “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find this newer and better photo (the original is below). This post is worth a third time. It’s rich in bonsai beauty and information. First time was titled The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous (be sure to read the comments). The second was There Are … Continue reading Pointing the Way

Bonsai Beautyberry & Other Little Gems

This brilliant little Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is well named indeed (it’s nice when the name of a plant says something about how the plant looks; an onamonapia of sight). I found this photo on Bonsai Empire They attribute it to AR&B*, but I think AR&B picked it up somewhere else and failed to attribute. Looking at the tree, I’m almost certain that it’s a Japanese bonsai. The rest of the photos in this post are from an old Bark post called Luminous Fruit. The artist is Katsumi Komiya. If you’ve ever tried to grow fruiting bonsai, you know that … Continue reading Bonsai Beautyberry & Other Little Gems

Only the Surface Waves

These three trees belong to Masahiko Kimura. I lifted (and cropped) this photo from El Tim Bonsai. It’s a Spanish language blog with an English language option. The Tim. I have long admired the great photos and great dedication to bonsai expressed on the El Tim Bonsai blog (the original Spanish language version and an English language version). The photos shown here are from El Tim’s visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery on a recent Japan trip. They are the tip of the Kimura iceberg and only the surface waves on El Tim’s vast ocean of great bonsai photos.   If … Continue reading Only the Surface Waves

Unlocking Valuable Bonsai Wisdom

This remarkable Satsuki azalea belongs to Teunis Jan Klein. It’s not very often you see a cascade with such a long reach. What’s more remarkable is the mass of flowers around the tip, which seems to be as strong as the crown. That much strength so much lower than the base is no mean feat. This photo is from Hans Van Meer’s blog. It was taken at the 7th Het Westen Bonsai Show in Delft. The photo above is to grab your attention. Now that we’ve succeeded in that, we’d like to help unlock some valuable bonsai wisdom (borrowed from … Continue reading Unlocking Valuable Bonsai Wisdom

Bonsai Guessing Game at the Montreal Botanical Gardens

This vivid close up was taken by Bill Valavanis at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. The tree is a Chinese privet. To see a photo of the whole tree and a whole range of other great photos, visit Bill’s blog. Bill Valavanis is up to his old tricks. Exploring and promoting bonsai with flair and dedication. The result is one of the best bonsai blogs you’ll find. This time it’s the famous bonsai collection (collections actually, though the Penjing section was closed) at Montreal’s Botanical Gardens. I didn’t start out to turn this post into a bonsai varieties guessing game, it … Continue reading Bonsai Guessing Game at the Montreal Botanical Gardens

Our Masters Series Juniper Book Is Due Back in December – Bonsai Wire & Tool Sale

The Magician again. This sculpted Shimpaku juniper is by Masahiko Kimura, a master of stylized and not so stylized bonsai. From our Masters’ Series Juniper book (out of print, but due back in December). There are also numerous examples of Kimura’s bonsai in The Magician, another Stone Lantern Masters’ Series book. 25% off 500 gram (1.1 lb) rolls of Bonsai Wire Plus 10% off for Stone Lantern orders 100.00 or more 25% off Roshi Bonsai Tools Plus 10% off for Stone Lantern orders 100.00 or more

Master Bonsai Magician

This powerful and famous Yew by is by Bonsai Master Masahiko Kimura. It’s from The Magician (below). It also appears in Bonsai Today issue 56. Archives plus today. Most of this post originally appeared in February 2010 and again last year. It was originally titled ‘Eccentric Bonsai: Fearless Master Kimura Again’. I’ve added some copy and killed some of the original copy in an attempt to reduce the wince factor. I’ve also added another photo for your enjoyment.   Same species but very different tree. Though it’s not as powerful as many other Kimura trees (see above and below), nor … Continue reading Master Bonsai Magician