A Steady Stream…

Premna serratifolia by Robert Steven. Aside from the immediate impact of the old wood with all the trunks popping up everywhere, there’s the counter-balance provided by the sturdy little trunk on the far left and the way the two tiny trunks at the base provide subtle accents. And then there’s that teetering trunk on that tiny tip that sticks out on the far right at the very end of the planting (six years of government-funded college down the drain on two mangled sentences). The beat goes on. If you take the time to go back through our 700-plus previous posts, … Continue reading A Steady Stream…

World Famous Masterpiece Bonsai

I like this tree. It has great movement and wild, wonderful deadwood that runs all the way up the trunk, plays peekaboo in the crown and then finishes with a flourish at the top. If you removed the hanging branch that reaches down almost to the base of the trunk, it would still be an interesting tree (even though the remaining crown would be an inverted bowl)… but with that branch and the aforementioned deadwood, the tree is elevated to bonsai masterpiece. If you don’t believe me, you can check out Takahashi Iura’s facebook page, where it says: “My important … Continue reading World Famous Masterpiece Bonsai

High on the List

Great tree (nice pot too) but I can’t find any identification on the Isabelia site. I’ll go ahead an venture one of my oft-mistaken guesses and say it’s a Hornbeam of some sort (Korean?). I’ve never been to the Czech Republic, but it’s definitely high on the list. High enough where 2014 looks like a possibility. In addition to Prague, a city that most people rave about, I plan on visiting the gardens (featured in an earlier post) and bonsai museum at Isabelia. Meanwhile, here are few photos from their collection. Maybe we’ll see you there. Reclining Shimpaku (another … Continue reading High on the List

Blowing in the Wind

The sublime windswept landscape planting is from Robert Steven’s now classic Vision of My Soul. The species of the trees is Dyospryros montana (Mountain persimmon is one of several English names). A very quick search will reveal that there are precious few good windswept bonsai. At least on the web. I suspect there are several reasons for this. First, it’s time consuming to make a superb windswept like the one above. All those little branches need to be wired. Second, you have to understand how the wind works on trees. This requires some study and paying attention to detail. Not … Continue reading Blowing in the Wind

A Congenial Way to Start Your Day

Aside from the very distinctive shari and jin (two types of deadwood), there are a couple other things about this Japanese white pine that you may have already noticed. First it seems somewhat top-heavy, and second, this top-heavy quality is exaggerated by the pot, which is quite small relative to the size of the tree. Still, amazingly it works quite well. Even better than quite well. The bonsai shown here are all from a gallery in Bonsai Today issue 96. Reminds me of the older galleries from the very earliest Bonsai Todays. How important they were back in the dark … Continue reading A Congenial Way to Start Your Day

Mister Windswept Bonsai

Robert Steven’s simulation of the tree pictured below. If you search windswept bonsai, you’ll most likely notice that almost all of the best windswept trees belong to Robert Steven. You could even say that Robert Steven is Mr. Windswept Bonsai. Both as an artist and as an authority on the subject. But then, you could say that about other types of bonsai as well (check out some previous critiques by Robert if you want some evidence). So, given this fact, here’s Mr. Windswept Bonsai himself with another of his illuminating critiques. This one is of unspecified variety of tree that … Continue reading Mister Windswept Bonsai

Some Silly Blog’s Tips for Repotting

A Camellia from a transplanting article in Bonsai Today issue 96. Some silly blog? Okay, it’s not really a silly blog. In fact Michael Hagedorns’ Crataegus Bonsai is one of the best blogs around. It’s just that Michael referred to it as a silly blog and it struck me as a catchy title for this post (after four years of posting 3-4 times a week, desperation sets in). Anyway, Michael’s Crataegus’ post on repotting is definitely worth a look. To peak your interest, here are two of Michael’s seven repotting tips: “2. As a general rule, don’t bare-root your trees. … Continue reading Some Silly Blog’s Tips for Repotting

A Solution to a Nonexistent Problem

If you pitch your tent in the Naturalistic Bonsai camp, then it’s probably too late to suggest you avert your eyes. So… as long as you are looking at this remarkable tree, I’ll just comment on how the static perfectly groomed crown seems to contrast with the swirling movement in the perfectly groomed deadwood. Something like that. The artist is Minoru Akiyama, who is one of the headliners at this year’s Mid Atlantic (scroll down a little for more info). It’s that time of year. You can tell because every other post these days features a few big bonsai events … Continue reading A Solution to a Nonexistent Problem

Extreme Beauty

This may be the the best Camellia bonsai you’ll ever see. Not that there are that many good camellia bonsai, at least not in my experience. No matter, the strong trunk, great display of flowers, the brilliant emerald foliage and excellent pot, make for an exceptional tree. A truly remarkable and unique new book arrived yesterday. All the photos in this post are from Extreme Beauty, A Life Devoted to Bonsai. As far as I know, there are only 25 copies of Extreme Beauty available in the U.S (before you bust me, please be aware that ‘as far as I … Continue reading Extreme Beauty

FREE Items, but only if…

Three of the seven FREE items that we are offering. All you have to do is place an order with Stone Lantern for at least 25.00 AND follow the instructions below. A little craziness every now and then… It has been a while since we gave away a bunch of FREE items when you order from Stone Lantern so I thought maybe it’s time to venture into that craziness again. Warning: read below carefully to assure you get your FREE items. Here’s the deal: You must put FREE in the comments box at check out when you order with Stone … Continue reading FREE Items, but only if…