The Best (& Most Expensive) Bonsai Market

The impressive deadwood looks like something you’d see on a juniper, as does the bark (what you can see of it). But the foliage looks a little spikey, almost like needles. Maybe it’s just my eyes. This photo and the others shown here were taken by Dave DeGroot. Dave is, among other things, the author of Principles of Bonsai Design. The photos shown here were taken by Dave DeGroot at the the Ueno Green Club’s market near the 2016 Kokufu Exhibition. Though these bonsai are notable (and worth a lot of money), they are not the trees that were chosen … Continue reading The Best (& Most Expensive) Bonsai Market

Wildly Expressive Bonsai

Blown up and a little fuzzy, but still… astounding! Some days you just get lucky. Yesterday I stumbled across the wildly expressive bonsai you see here. It was posted by John Romano (of Kaikou School of Bonsai fame). Here’s what John wrote about it: “One of my favorite shohin bonsai. Owned by a private collector in South Korea (bought in Japan). My good Japanese friend maintains this person’s trees. The owner is a collector and doesn’t show his trees (doesn’t care!) but has fabulous trees bought mostly in Japan. Is it really shohin? I don’t care! love it! Recent posts by … Continue reading Wildly Expressive Bonsai

Towering Tamarack Bonsai

This towering Tamarack is too tall for the photo, so the top and a tiny piece of the bottom of the pot are missing (you can see almost all of it below). It belongs to Suthin Sukosolvisit. Tamarack is a local name for the American larch (Larix laricina). Suthin identifies it only as ‘larch,’ a genus of trees that numbers about twelve species; so Tamarack is a guess based on geography. Suthin Sukosolvisit is selling part of his personal bonsai collection (see the Tsukomo cypress below). This is a great opportunity to own a masterpiece bonsai by one of our … Continue reading Towering Tamarack Bonsai

Critiquing a Surrealistic Bonsai

After. Robert Steven’s simulation of a photo submitted by Wayan (see below). Here’s another Robert Steven critique from our archives (July, 2011). I picked this one for a couple good reasons: first the tree is uniquely challenging, with it’s mammoth, mountain-like trunk, and second, there’s a great discussion about it with the original. I invite you to take a look. What a difference a pot makes. Though Robert doesn’t mention it in his critique (below), introducing a shallow pot, rather than the original clunky and rather unattractive pot, instantly transforms the whole tree. Nothing outside the box, just a simple … Continue reading Critiquing a Surrealistic Bonsai

Another Outstanding Bonsai Critique by Robert Steven

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Pemphis acidula that was submitted by Nurul Fajri (the original photo is below). Would you like Robert Steven, renowned bonsai artist, teacher and author to critique one of your bonsai? For free? Just email me a photo and we’ll take it from there. We first featured the critique shown here back in November, 2013. The tree is so exceptional that it’s worth another look. When I opened my email from Robert Steven and glanced at the before photo (below), I thought it was the after photo. But only for a moment. It’s the pot that … Continue reading Another Outstanding Bonsai Critique by Robert Steven

Garden of Tropical Bonsai Delights

Three major components come together in this colorful root-over-rock bonsai. A flowering tree (Malpighia pendiculata), a pot that some of us would die for (hand painted Chinese?) and an extraordinarily craggy rock. This bonsai and the others in this post are by Gede Merta. This isn’t the first time that we’ve featured Gede Merta’s bonsai. Nor will it be the last. If you don’t know Gede Merta, then welcome to his garden of tropical bonsai delights. If you already know Gede Merta, then welcome once again… Do you see it? The Valentine heart? Normally we wouldn’t point that out, … Continue reading Garden of Tropical Bonsai Delights

Fall Color in February?

Japanese maple in full fall color. Though you can only see part of the base of the trunk, still, you can get a pretty good idea just how powerful this tree is; with or without leaves. This photo and all the photos in this post are from Luis Vallejo’s Bonsai Studio (Bonsai Estudio), at the Bonsai Museum Alcobendas. It’s sunny and about five Fahrenheit (-15 celsius) this morning. A little early to get our hopes up, but we can dream. Meanwhile here’s some color to fuel those dreams (fall color, but who’s choosy?). All the photos in this post are … Continue reading Fall Color in February?

Brilliant Bonsai, Brilliant Photo

A little fuzzy when blown up to fit our format, but still… Both the brilliant tree and the equally brilliant photo come to us via Mark Arpag. The original is below. We don’t usually do one tree posts, but it’s already 11am and I’m still trying to catch up from vacation. Not that we ever really catch up, but hope still springs… The original. From Mark Arpag’s facebook feed. He doesn’t say what it is, but my best guess is needle juniper. 25% off Koyo Japanese Bonsai Tool Sale Plus Bonsai Wire and Bonsai Today Sales FREE Shipping on … Continue reading Brilliant Bonsai, Brilliant Photo

Bonsai from the Wild

This famous American larch by Nick Lenz gives you a pretty good idea of why larches are valued for their yellow-golden fall foliage. The photo is from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild, as are all the photos in this post. One more day on the road and one more post lifted from our archives (2009 in this case), though with serious editing and the addition of one photo and more text. Here in northern Vermont the common name for the American larch is Tamarack, though it has several other names along its entire coast to coast North American range, … Continue reading Bonsai from the Wild

Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)

Great tree, great pot. It belongs to Wolfgang Putz. The pot is by Ingrid Kralovec. The tree is a Korean hornbeam. The botanical name is Carpinus turczaninowii, though you’ll sometimes see them referred to as Carpinus coreana. This post didn’t start out to be mostly about Cedars. The three photos and the text you see here are borrowed from a much longer post we did back in March 2013. After eliminating the out of date content, what’s left are a Hornbeam and two Cedars. Boreal Bonsai. This White cedar (Thuja occidentalis) belongs to Paul Chong of the Toronto Bonsai Society … Continue reading Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)