Digging Out Lost Treasures

Lakeside with Lingering Snow, our second in a series of plantings from Toshio Kawamoto’s Saikei classic. The trees are the same (cryptomeria) as in our last post from the book (creating a deep ravine planting), the pot is almost the same and the landscape is similar, though this one is softer. The focal point, the large single mountain stone that elevates the planting from good to extraordinary, is enhanced by a little touch of snow. The author doesn’t say what the snow is and it’s hard to tell from the photo. It would be ideal if it were simply part … Continue reading Digging Out Lost Treasures

With Buttonwood Bonsai, Nature Does the Real Work

This powerfully compact Buttonwood belongs to Nacho Marin, as do all four Buttonwood bonsai shown here. With Buttonwood bonsai it’s nature that does the real work. Humans find them, dig them, pot them and eliminate branches and other parts that distract from the natural beauty of the tree (ideally, at least). But nature does the twisting, turning and scouring by sand and wind that results in such unusual shapes and magnificent deadwood. I’m told* that much of this shaping and scouring happens during hurricanes and tropical storms. I’ve even heard that Buttonwoods are sometimes violently uprooted and blown to new … Continue reading With Buttonwood Bonsai, Nature Does the Real Work

What Do FREE Bonsai Wire & Football Have in Common?

This might pass as artistic to an unsophisticated viewer, but it’s really just a miserably failed photoshop effort. The bonsai drawing is by Rueben Roig. FREE Bonsai Wire Superbowl Weekend Special With any Stone Lantern order But only if you write FREE in the comments box when you check out Saturday and Superbowl Sunday only Order now for you FREE wire take advantage of a whole range of existing sales and discounted items The Details… You will receive your FREE wire if you write FREE in the comments when you check out* Orders from 1 to 9.99 will receive 100 … Continue reading What Do FREE Bonsai Wire & Football Have in Common?

Paying Another Visit to Super Mario, Plus One

Here’s a tree by Mario Komsta that we missed. With this exception and a reminder about Free Shipping and our current Book Sale, the rest of the post is the same as yesterday. Not so sure about the background color, but I really like the sparse simplicity and naturalness of this tree. This photo and the others shown here are from Mario Komsta’s facebook photos. It’s Monday morning, I overslept and now I’m running behind, so we’ll make this post almost purely visual (trusting that you can live without my comments just this once). All the photos shown here … Continue reading Paying Another Visit to Super Mario, Plus One

A Revolutionary Tour de Force that Will Shatter Every Notion You Ever Had About Bonsai Display

Halloween (the show was in October)? At first glance you might just see the tree and the cobwebs and miss the hands clutching (persenting?) the sculpted wooden pot. All the photos in the post are from Robert Steven’s 2014 International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale. Coming up with a title that captures the sheer creative energy of the bonsai displays shown here wasn’t easy (Messing with Bonsai Convention in a Very Big Way was my second choice). Nor is writing about them (way too many hyped up adjectives keep trying to force their way in). I even thought about just showing … Continue reading A Revolutionary Tour de Force that Will Shatter Every Notion You Ever Had About Bonsai Display

Masters of Bonsai Technique

When I first saw this tree I thought it might be a Yew. But, the bark isn’t right, and even the foliage, though close, isn’t quite right either. Fortunately, Peter Tea solved the problem in his 2011 Taikan-ten Exhibition post. Peter’s caption reads: “This Yew Hemlock caught many peoples attention. It made sense that it took the prize for medium conifer. We don’t have any Yews here at Aichien because they don’t do well in the hot weather that we have in Nagoya.” As for the species, it turns out that there are two Hemlocks that are native to Japan … Continue reading Masters of Bonsai Technique

Michael’s Mountain Hemlock Clump After Some Serious Work & a Little Touch Up

January, 2015. Michael Hagedorn’s freshly touched up Mountain Hemlock clump. From Micheal’s Crataegus Bonsai blog. If you only had time to follow Bonsai Bark and one other blog, you wouldn’t go wrong with Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. I won’t bore you by repeating the praise we’ve already showered on Michael in previous posts, but I will encourage you to visit Micheal’s blog and to serious consider reading his highly enjoyable page turner, Post-Dated, The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. 2010. Taking nothing away from Michael’s cheerful demeanor, or the planting, I think the best part of this photo … Continue reading Michael’s Mountain Hemlock Clump After Some Serious Work & a Little Touch Up

A Perfect Example of What Great Ramification Looks Like & a Series of Excellent How-to Illustrations

You have your own eyes so there’s no need for me to say much. Except that this photo appeared here on Bark last spring in a post titled The One Percent (.001 percent would be more accurate). It’s a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) that received the coveted Kokufu prize at the 88th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition (the oldest and most prestigious bonsai exhibition in the world). Aside from its overall magnificence, this tree provides a perfect example of what great ramification looks like (made even more obvious by the bright rusty-red leaf buds). The photo is from the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. … Continue reading A Perfect Example of What Great Ramification Looks Like & a Series of Excellent How-to Illustrations

What’s Eccentric?

This wildly elaborate juniper bonsai is from Bjorn Bjornholm’s facebook photos. It’s a case where a darker background would work better, but borrowers can’t be choosey. Here Bjorn’s caption: “Procumbens wired and ready for its trip to Tokyo.” When I saw the photo above my first thought was… it’s been a while since we did a post on eccentric bonsai, so why not? On reflection however, the whole notion of eccentric is called into question. This has a lot to do with the sudden spread of bonsai throughout the world and the cross pollination made possible by easy travel and … Continue reading What’s Eccentric?

While Waiting for Spring – $100 Bonsai Detective Contest

Bonsai #1 Here’s a simple contest to amuse yourself with while waiting for spring. What you have to do to win Identify the variety and the owner of each tree shown here and provide a link to your source (Bonsai Bark does not qualify as a source, with one exception). What you’ll win The first person to get them all right (with links) will win a $100 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. If no one gets them all right, then the person to get the most right before the deadline wins. The Deadline The contest will run for one week … Continue reading While Waiting for Spring – $100 Bonsai Detective Contest