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 (an Artisans Cup prime mover), as do all the trees (and boots) shown here. What if you woke up on September 25th and realized that you’re not at the Artisans Cup and it’s too late to get there? Your friends are there and some of the best bonsai in North America are there, but not you. Sadly, you’ll … Continue reading What if you woke up on September 25th and realized that you’re not at the Artisans Cup?

Snake Dance & other Tropical Wonders

This Pemphis acidula was styled by Gede Merta and currently belongs to H.N. Holiq Effendi. Gede Merta titled it Snake Dance (I know of at least one other Gede Merta bonsai called Snake Dance). It’s height is 57cm (22.5″) and, as you can see it’s a rather spectacular bonsai. I don’t know how hard Pemphis wood is and how difficult it is to keep the deadwood from rotting, but it looks like it has been treated with lime sulfur. A good place to start. All the trees shown here were styled by Gede Merta. His nursery is called Bonsai Bali … Continue reading Snake Dance & other Tropical Wonders

Satsuki Azaleas, the Never Ending Quest

We borrowed this stunning (some might say gaudy) Satsuki photo and the other photos here from Empire Bonsai. The photos shown here are from a recent Satsuki azalea Bonsai festival at Ueno Park in Tokyo. Satsuki means fifth month (May) in Japanese.In this case late May (the dates on the festival sign below say May 27th to June 1st). You might imagine Satsuki would bloom a little earlier in more southerly environs. Satsuki, almost more than any other plant, show just how far humans will push nature in the quest for beauty and distinction. Robert Callaham’s benchmark book, Satsuki for … Continue reading Satsuki Azaleas, the Never Ending Quest

Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others

It’s a little surprising that there are so few good shots of bonsai in creative settings. Not that they don’t exist, just that they don’t exist in larger numbers. This one was borrowed from Peter Warren’s Surayama, as were all the photos in this post. We’re merging two themes from recent posts: Rosemary bonsai and Peter Warren’s bonsai. Only one Rosemary actually, but all the bonsai shown here are Peter’s. This is not the first time we’ve featured Peter Warren’s bonsai and, as we are fond of saying, won’t be the last. Peter is an accomplish bonsai artist and teacher … Continue reading Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others

4th National Bonsai Exhibition Album Has Arrived

It’s here! It’s better than ever and it’s available at Stone Lantern. I was at the 2014 National Exhibition and the excitement in the display area was palpable. The trees were magnificent and, as in the past, the overall quality had improved from the previous Exhibition. Now we have the book… for those of you who couldn’t make it and for those of you who did make it and want to remember what you saw. Just in case you are new to this and not familiar with our National Exhibitions; every two years, Bill Valavanis and friends put together a … Continue reading 4th National Bonsai Exhibition Album Has Arrived

Just Drinking Some Tea and Relaxing

I guess we can live with the lighter. Several of the trees in Lam Ngoc Vinh’s photos also have distracting tags hanging from them. Still, we’ll take what we can get and in this case, what we can get is pretty good. And, speaking of pretty good, check out the facial expression on this very relaxed tea-drinker. I’m a little pressed for time today, so we’ll take a journey back through our archives to 2013. The quote below is lifted word for word from an old Art of Bonsai Project post. The same goes for the photos. “Lam Ngoc Vinh … Continue reading Just Drinking Some Tea and Relaxing

A Four Course Bonsai Feast

Old Rosemary plants abound in Europe, so you’d expect to see some pretty good Rosemary bonsai and this semi-cacade certainly qualifies. It doesn’t hurt that it’s in a very cool pot. All the photos in this post are from old issues of Bonsai Today. They have all appeared here before, back in 2010 in a post called A Moveable Feast European Style. It’s a long story, but none were attributed then and none are attributed now. My apologies to the artists. All four trees shown here are from Europe and originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 85. This twisty … Continue reading A Four Course Bonsai Feast

Judging Bonsai & a Propensity for Understatement

This powerful kuromatsu (Japanese black pine) won the Culture Minister’s Prize at the 20th Green Festa Kokubunji bonsai fair. It is 19″ (48cm) high and about 55 years old. It is owned by Toyoyuki Hamabata from Takamatsu’s Mure town in Shikoku. It appears at Bonsai World, a Japanese English language website. Out of town acting as nanny (remember Suthin?) for my grand kids, so we’ll sneak back into our archives. This time we’re borrowing from two posts: one from way back in 2009 and one from last year. Both feature Japanese black pines with very stout trunks. Here’s what the … Continue reading Judging Bonsai & a Propensity for Understatement

Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan

The sheer size and power are of this magnificent tree places it in elevated company. It’s a 50cm (20″) tall Ficus microcarpa by one of our favorite South American bonsai artists, Nacho Marin of Venezuela. The pot is by John Evans from the USA. Though this post was inspired by Nacho Marin’s powerful Ficus (above) and though Nacho is South American, when we start looking at Ficus bonsai we seem to circle back to Taiwan. In this case, much of the elevated company (mentioned in the caption above) comes from that island nation. It doesn’t hurt that they have the … Continue reading Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan

Wild Horses, Tiny Trees

This sweet little quince with its brilliant tiny flowers belongs to Haruyosi. It’s a safe bet that he also made the pot. It has been a couple years since I first stumbled upon Haruyosi and his delightful tiny trees and pots and though I’m usually loath to use the term bonsai master (once you introduce the term, pretty soon you see even moderately accomplish bonsai artists called bonsai master and that just ain’t right), if I were to use it, Haruyosi would be a good place to start. Or, more precisely, Shohin Bonsai Master. While were throwing the term around, … Continue reading Wild Horses, Tiny Trees