Bark

Deadline for Our Bonsai from Scratch Contest Is Rapidly Approaching

Simon Carr styled this little gem from scratch for an artofbonsai.org contest way back in 2005. It later appeared in Bonsai Today issue 103 in an article entitled ‘Instant Bonsai.’ Which reminds me: all back issues of Bonsai Today are now 65% off. It’s October 15th A friendly reminder to of you who have sent in your before photos of untrained stock, your ‘after’ photos must be received by Oct 15th for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest. That’s just over 2 weeks from now. Don’t procrastinate! There are lots of valuable prizes and you just might win something. You can … Continue reading Deadline for Our Bonsai from Scratch Contest Is Rapidly Approaching

Why Our New Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Is Such A Great Deal

It’s mostly about price… But it’s also about quality… Have you tried our NEW BONSAI AESTHETICS WIRE? We started selling it in June, and about a half ton later the verdict is in: it goes on easily and it holds very well. So well that’s it’s hard to tell the difference with wire that costs twice as much. Which brings us back to the price… 100 gram rolls are only 2.95 each with easy to achieve volume discounts of 10% to 30% 1 Kilo rolls are only 21.00 each also with easy to achieve volume discounts of 10% to 30% … Continue reading Why Our New Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Is Such A Great Deal

Selling Out: Bonsai Today & More

Bonsai Today issue 94. We’ve still got some of this one, but moment to moment they are disappearing. America’s premier bonsai magazine is slowly disappearing Every couple weeks or so we sell out of a back issue of Bonsai Today. Now we’ve decided to accelerate the process to make space for other new bonsai products (stay posted). 60% off and rising, but don’t wait We’ll start at 60% off and increase that discount every few weeks. But don’t wait, some issues are almost gone. Kenzans too We’ve decided to do the same with our kenzans (flower frogs). We’ll start at … Continue reading Selling Out: Bonsai Today & More

More Than $1,000 In Prizes

This Nick Lenz pot is being donated by Todd Hansen of Sanctuary Bonsai. It is one of many prizes that will be awarded to entrants in our $1,000 (plus) Bonsai from Scratch Contest. Pot dimensions: 16 1/2″ x 13″ x 2″ Donate and your fame will spread like wild fire If you donate a prize for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest, your name (and your business name) will be listed with links in the following places (at least two times each): Bonsai Bark (average 1,800 over 800 visitors per post) and our Stone Lantern Newsletter (over 8,200 recipients). Please contact … Continue reading More Than $1,000 In Prizes

Mystery Bonsai Contest

Tree number 1. This one’s a mystery to me. Win a $100 gift certificate The first person to identify the artist and the species of all 6 trees will win a $100 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. If no one identifies all six, then the first person to identify five of the six will win an $80 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. If the winner identifies only 4, then the prize is a $60 gift certificate to Stone Lantern (and so forth). Email you answers to me! wayne@stonelantern.com. Answers posted in comments below WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED! Contest end September … Continue reading Mystery Bonsai Contest

At Bonsai’s Edge

Mosses etc in a stone container. All the photos in this post are from Moss and Stone Gardens. If it’s in a bonsai pot You can plant almost anything in a bonsai pot. If it’s woody, you can call it a bonsai. If it’s not, you can call it a companion or accent plant; a planting that’s designed to enhance a bonsai display. Or it could be designed to stand on its own, in which case you can call it a kusamono (for more on this, you can check out Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, or this earlier post). No … Continue reading At Bonsai’s Edge

High Energy Bonsai

Premna serratifolia (Wahong) by Robert Steven. Two years in training. All the photos in this post are from Robert’s ‘My Studio’ on facebook. If you don’t do facebook, you can visit Robert’s blog (though it’s not very up-to-date), or you can just peruse Bonsai Bark for a large range of posts on Robert’s bonsai. Mr. High Energy Bonsai I’ve been watching the bonsai scene for close to thirty years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more prolific bonsai artist than Robert Steven. Prolific at a very high level at that. Or, for that matter, prolific at any level. … Continue reading High Energy Bonsai

$1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest

Pomegranate from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 83. Of all the Bonsai Today covers, this one seems most like a bonsai from scratch; though you’d be lucky to find untrained nursery stock this good at your local garden center. It’s not too late There’s still time to enter our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch contest. True, mid-summer is tricky and you might not be able to put your tree into a bonsai pot, but that’s okay, you can enter it in a nursery container if you’re not comfortable root pruning. Or, you can gamble and stick it into a pot. … Continue reading $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest

Rilke & Bunjin, A Literati’s Literati

Deeper in debt. I’ve been borrowing from Michael Hagedorn (Crataegus Bonsai) for years. It’s a debt that can only be repaid by appreciation. This strange and wonderful bunjin Sierra juniper was restyled by Michael’s students at one of his Seasonals. Rainer Maria Rilke I know that Rilke departed this earth long ago, and that he most likely never heard of bonsai, still, this quote (also borrowed from Michael) captures something sweet and true that might apply to how we approach our bonsai: “If you will love what seems to be insignificant and will in an unassuming manner, as a servant, … Continue reading Rilke & Bunjin, A Literati’s Literati

Still the Best Bonsai Show

Not a prize winner, but still a mind stopper. Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about this remarkable quince: “An unusual cultivar of Japanese flowering quince. This is NOT the Toyo Nishiki cultivar, but rather ‘Takane Nishiki’. Beautiful flowers, unusual container, but I personally do not like the design of the bonsai, so enjoyed the blossoms.” Bill does Kokufu I don’t know why we didn’t feature this earlier; it’s one of the most interesting pieces of bonsai news I’ve seen for a while. It’s by Bill Valavanis, from his visit earlier this year to the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition in … Continue reading Still the Best Bonsai Show