Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

A great tree with a long story of a rugged life spent on the side of cold snow burdened mountain. Somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai A little change of pace today; a rugged mix of yamadori (collected from the wild) pines. We originally found them at Amics Del Bonsai Corbera and featured them here last December. None are identified. Nor are their owners. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received by noon EST today (Monday) will be shipped today HOME STRETCH SALE Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices Order Now for … Continue reading Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Though it’s usually considered bad form to lop off part of the pot, in this case it’s all about the color (and the wildly expressive trunk). The variety is listed as Issho-no-haru. This and the rest of the photos in this post are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! No matter what you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), may you and your loved ones enjoy the Season and have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. This post is borrowed from our 2014 archives, so I’m cheating just a bit. But I like it so much and believe that you … Continue reading Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

This berry-laden Cotoneaster belongs to David DeGroot, long time bonsai artist, teacher, museum curator and author (Principles of Bonsai Design). Here’s Dave’s caption… “In honor of the approaching holidays I posed a cotoneaster that is decorated with its own red berries before a celebratory gold screen. The bonsai was originally developed by the late Ann Spencer of Portland, OR. The pot is by Sarah Rayner.” I took the liberty to crop this photo. The original is below I’ve long respected David DeGroot for his bonsai skills and for his contribution the American and world bonsai communities; as teacher, author and as … Continue reading Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

Mammoth Masterpiece

This monster Japanese beech is so massive and so masterful, that once you see it, you’ll never forget it. Continuing with our Japanese beech theme from a few days ago, I couldn’t resist this one. It’s from a post we did back in March, 2016. There was no attribution with our source and we still don’t know who it belongs to. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received before noon EST will be shipped the same day orders receive after noon will be shipped the same day or the next day SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything 30% – 70% off List Prices Order Now for Immediate … Continue reading Mammoth Masterpiece

Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Strikingly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai & Paintings – Part 2

The tree is a Sierra juniper and the painting is Yosemite Valley (Half Dome gives it away). From the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s video tour (as are all the photos in this post) Continuing where we left off yesterday with the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s ecstatically beautiful video bonsai tour. And by the way, whoever place the painting and trees together is a brilliant artist… Continued below… It’s not too late… orders received before noon EST will be shipped the same day orders receive after noon will be shipped the same day or the next day SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything 30% – 70% off List Prices … Continue reading Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Strikingly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai & Paintings – Part 2

A Stunningly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai, Paintings, Natural Backdrop…

This shot was lifted from the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s video tour. Continuing with our Pacific Bonsai Museum theme… I finally took the time to stop and view (again and again) their video tour. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you take a couple minutes and treat yourself. It’s stunningly beautiful with it’s mix of bonsai, paintings, natural backdrop and ecstatic music that captures the soaring feeling of the surroundings. Hats off to Curator Aarin Packard, Executive director Kathy McCabe and the rest of excellent staff for helping to create and maintain such a brilliant bonsai treasure . This just might be the largest and best Sale we’ve ever … Continue reading A Stunningly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai, Paintings, Natural Backdrop…

Arts of the Earth & The Principles of Bonsai Design

Beech with vase. The tree is a Japanese beech ‘Fuji’ by Kazuhiro Ohashi. The photo is from Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Arts of the Earth Exhibit. This exhibit took place in 2006. In 2013 the Weyerhaeuser corporation gifted its entire bonsai collection to what is now know as the Pacific Bonsai Museum. You can read the whole story here. Continuing with our Japanese beech theme (see the tree above), we’re going to journey back to the early days of this century and revisit a unique bonsai and ceramic art exhibition from 2006. I think you’ll like the photos and the commentary by David DeGroot, who was the curator at the WeyerhaeuserPacific Rim Bonsai Collection (now … Continue reading Arts of the Earth & The Principles of Bonsai Design

Bare-Boned Beech

This tipsy planting in its curvy slab has to be one of the most distinctive deciduous forest bonsai anywhere. Like all the trees in this post it’s a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata), a species prized for its brilliant white bark. Japanese beech, with their striking white bark and strong trunks (often with excellent nebari) are a favorite of bonsai artists, especially in Japan. Unfortunately, they aren’t that easy to find here in North America and our native beech (Fagus grandifolia) is too rangy and large-leafed to make for very good bonsai (the European beech, Fagus sylvatica, which you can find here, is a … Continue reading Bare-Boned Beech

California Bonsai Beast

The beast. Here’s Mauro Stemberger’s caption… “California Juniper called ‘the Beast’ after one more step – this time we worked to make it more compact; bending down 15 inches the top and removing the lower branch. Pictures show the evolution in the last 3 years. Collection: Hank Fawcett” We’ll just show a few photos of this magnificent old California juniper and encourage you to visit Mauro Stemberger and Hank Fawcett for more on the evolution of this aptly named Beast. Speaking of Beasts Our Site Wide Sale Includes ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS & TOOL KITS 30% to 40% off Numerous other tools & bonsai items also deeply discounted 30% … Continue reading California Bonsai Beast

The Ultimate Gift for Any Bonsai Lover

A brilliant Trident maple bonsai resting regally on its Green T Hydraulic Lift Turntable this photo is cropped to fit on social media the original showing the full Green T is just below Order your amazing Green T Turntable now and we will ship immediately and by the way, we’ve got two models now the Green T Basic model and the New Green T Plus both are now discounted see below The original photo Perfection. A brilliant Trident maple bonsai on a brilliant Green T Plus Hydraulic Lift Turntable GREEN T BASIC YOU PAY ONLY 347.00 list price 385.00 – Special 365.00 Only 347.00 with your extra 5% over 150.00 … Continue reading The Ultimate Gift for Any Bonsai Lover