Bark

A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

The inspiration for this post arouse when I stumbled upon this remarkable tree on facebook. It belongs to Colin Lewis. Here’s his caption: “Colorado blue spruce, acquired 2008 from Harold Sasaki. Styled 2011-2012. Pot custom made by my old friend Dan Barton, 2013. I’m letting it grow this year to refresh some old congested areas. Maybe I’ll show it in 2016…” Le raison d’être for this post is the tree above. More accurately, the tree and the pot. Both are delightful and together, even more delightful. However, and in spite of the magic of the bonsai above, two questions arise. … Continue reading A Remarkable Bonsai, Two Questions & the Boreal Forest

A Beautiful New Bonsai Book

Ginkgo. A close up of the cover tree from the new Crespi Bonsai Museum gallery book. We only occasionally devote a whole post to advertising and then only when we think what we are selling is newsworthy or warrants some special attention. It has been a long time since we’ve seen such an exceptional new bonsai book. Quality photography, materials and production combine with fifty blue chip bonsai that have been shot over time and from different perspectives in a way that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable bonsai experience. This excellent new book allows you a taste of the world … Continue reading A Beautiful New Bonsai Book

Majesty in Miniature

Winter or early spring (it looks like there might be some leaves starting to push, but it’s hard to tell). Two things that jumped out when I first saw this photo are, the rather unusual shape of the stand and the shear number of trees in the display. No companions, no figurines, no stones (well, maybe one small one in the middle) and not much internal space either (though there is plenty of space around the whole display). Just nine mini bonsai and one very well chosen larger tree. The photos shown here were taken by Morten Albek at the … Continue reading Majesty in Miniature

Bonsai Art: Running Out of Superlatives

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess ‘spectacular’ will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. Getting ready for another cross country hop (west to east this time), so to save time we’ll pull something out of our archival hat once again. This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come (taking nothing away from International Bonsai Magazine and several other good … Continue reading Bonsai Art: Running Out of Superlatives

New Name, New Curator, Same Great Bonsai Collection

Simplicity. Elegance. Balance. Perfection. However you say it, this tree has it. The only thing that breaks up the perfect balance is the irregular nebari. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’s a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata). The artist is Yasuo Mitsuya of Toyochasi, Japan. This masterpiece and the rest of the trees shown here reside at the Pacific Bonsai Museum. The bonsai photos are all by Hoe Chuah. From the Bonsai, Penjing & More blog. We’ve mentioned that the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection has a new  improved website. What we haven’t mentioned is they also have a new name and … Continue reading New Name, New Curator, Same Great Bonsai Collection

Extreme Bonsai Beauty & Thank You for Your Patience

Once again Extreme Beauty is back and once again we could only get ten copies (don’t ask). If you’d like to know more about this remarkable book, here’s something from last year. We’ll make this short and sweet (lot’s of traveling these days so it’s hard to keep up with everything).   Speaking of keeping up… we haven’t forgotten about our Bonsai Detective Contest. I promise we’ll have the results soon. Thank you for your patience. Bad news, good news. Our wire sale ended last night and our tool sale began this morning. 20% off all Bonsai tools and Garden … Continue reading Extreme Bonsai Beauty & Thank You for Your Patience

Betting On 2015 – Bonsai Calendars Are Here

We’re getting close and we’re feeling more confident everyday that there will be a 2015. In fact, we’re so confident about 2015 that we’ve gone ahead and imported some Japanese Bonsai and Garden Calendars. It’s worked in the past, so why not let your guard down a little and take a positive view about another year? If you have friends, be sure to tell them that you read it first right here. 2015 is coming! Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.   The first page of our 13 page Bonsai Calendar happens to be the cover.   … Continue reading Betting On 2015 – Bonsai Calendars Are Here

Bonsai, Deadwood & Another World Series Win

Deadwood! Just before we originally featured this post (August 2012), we showed a couple of Serge Clemence’ bonsai in a post on deadwood. I guess the reason I didn’t include this Mugo pine in that post is because Serge has so many trees with powerful deadwood. Still…. Got excited about the SF Giants winning the world series last night and ended up sleeping until 9:00am this morning when I was shocked awake by a vicious horn blast from a truck delivering our 2015 calendars all the way from Japan (soil sieves –large & small – turntables and watering cans too). … Continue reading Bonsai, Deadwood & Another World Series Win

Improving Excellence

Morten Albek’s virtual restructing of Hans Vleugels’ Shohin display (the text and arrows are very helpful, though it would have been great to see a second version without them… but we’ll take what we can get). This photo and the three just below are from British Shohin Bonsai.   The original. It’s a real eye opener when you realize that something this beautiful and simple can be improved upon. If you look at Morten’s virtual enhancement (above) the beauty and simplicity are still there, but a more dynamic element has been added.   Here’s a piece of the text from British … Continue reading Improving Excellence