Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance

Stephen Vos’ upcoming book, In Training is generating buzz all over the place, including at Slate magazine (the photos and captions shown here were all lifted directly from Slate, as was the title, Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance ). But just remember, before you saw it on Slate, you saw it right here (and here) on Bonsai Bark. Enough said. Enjoy the photos and feel free to join us in support of Stephen’s worthy project. NEW Bonsai Wire Special Kilo coils of Bonsai Aesthetics Wire marked down from 19.50 now only 15.50 each plus … Continue reading Zen & the Art of Bonsai Maintenance

Fat Guy & Tall Guy

Tony Tickle, a man with a sense of humor worthy of his name, calls this Hawthorn ‘Fat Guy’ and the one just below ‘Tall Guy.’ Yesterday we featured some of Tony Tickle’s wild and wonderful yamadori bonsai, with a little confusion thrown in (courtesy of yours truly). Today, it’s Tony’s trees again, but this time we’ll do our best to limit the confusion. So much for limiting confusion… I just noticed that the links from yesterday’s post don’t go to Tony’s website, but instead to an interview with Tony on ABC’s website. However, I distinctly remember copying http://yamadori.co.uk, from Tony’s … Continue reading Fat Guy & Tall Guy

A Range of Bonsai Varieties & Styles, Along with a Flair for Experimentation…

This raft style bonsai belongs to Tony Tickle. Most of Tony’s trees are labeled by variety, but this one simply says ‘Raft’ (I spent some time searching Tony’s site for more on this remarkable tree, to no avail). I’m guessing it’s a Larch (Larix) or maybe not (see below). We could go further and guess European larch as the U.K. where Tony lives and works is considered part of Europe (by most people, at least) and Tony seems to favor yamadori that are collected in Europe (he calls his site Bonsai & Yamadori from Tony Tickle). Looks like I might … Continue reading A Range of Bonsai Varieties & Styles, Along with a Flair for Experimentation…

Paradise Found

A Japanese white pine after it was wired by John Milton. The before photo is below. The title Paradise Found is a reference to John Milton’s famous poem Paradise Lost (famous at least on college campuses, if nowhere else). Now we have another John Milton who writes that he’s “currently following (his) dreams and studying as an apprentice at Aichi-en in Nagoya, Japan under Junichiro Tanaka-San” (in addition to the John Milton Paradise connection, the Aichi-en apprenticeship connects nicely with our last post as do the Japanese white pine before and after photos). What I really wanted to show you … Continue reading Paradise Found

Before & After – What Would You Do?

Before you look at the after picture below, consider this: you are visiting Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery in Japan for two weeks and you’re tasked with wiring and styling this Japanese white pine. What would you do? The photos shown here are from Jeremiah Lee’s Yenling Bonsai Blog. In Jerimiah’s own words… “Over the past two weeks I did a visiting apprenticeship at Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery in Nagoya, Japan. Nothing but eat, sleep and Bonsai for two weeks.” Jerimiah goes on to say… “With this tree I’m going to show a useful technique I learned for creating a good anchor point … Continue reading Before & After – What Would You Do?

The King of Bonsai

Full cascade Japanese black pine (Pinus thumbergii). Japanese for Black pine is Kuromatsu (kuro is black and matsu is pine). Japanese black pines are sometimes referred to a the king of bonsai. This may be in part due to their natural strength; they tend to have powerful trunks and thick lush foliage. Rugged bark doesn’t hurt either. King or not, the best of the black pines are undeniably among the most powerful bonsai in the world. All the photos shown here are from the 89th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition that took place February 2015 in Tokyo. We found them at Michael … Continue reading The King of Bonsai

Spinning Through the Seasons with a Magnificent Maple

Even though Sergio Cuan (the artist behind this magnificent tree), wrote that “out of the group, the two photos of the tree leafless are probably the most interesting and show off the tree at its best,” still, I couldn’t resist leading with this full-fall-splendor photo (it’s about grabbing your attention). The tree is a Sharps pygmy Japanese maple. You may have seen it at the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (or in the Exhibition Album) where it was the winner of the Finest Deciduous Bonsai award. The still shots you see here are of Sergio Cuan’s now famous Sharps pygmy … Continue reading Spinning Through the Seasons with a Magnificent Maple

Copper Wire & Bonsai Books

This luscious Satsuki azalea is one of a multitude of remarkable bonsai photos from the very aptly named, Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. This post, which happens to be a near perfect way to roll out a new book sale, is borrowed from February of this year. There’s a theme to this large gallery and a method to our madness. Most of the photos are from bonsai books that we sell and all our books are currently 25% off (plus and additional 10% orders 100.00 or more). Gardening books are also 25% off. You can find this somewhat unruly … Continue reading Copper Wire & Bonsai Books

Caught in the Act

Caught in the act of flowering. This ubiquitous little Hawthorn belongs to Morten Albek, shohin bonsai artist, author and teacher. The display appeared during a visit to Denmark by Tomohiro Masumi. Still out of the office. This one originally appeared in 2011. It was titled ‘Small Is Beautiful.’ Tomohiro Masumi, Morten Albek & Shohin bonsai Rather than bore you with my take on things, I’ll just post a few photos I think you might appreciate. If you want more (photos and information), you can visit Morten’s facebook post on Tomohiro Masumi’s visit to Denmark, or you can go directly to … Continue reading Caught in the Act

Masterpiece Shohin & Mame Bonsai

There are few things more delicate and beautiful than fresh spring Maple leaves (Trident maple in this case). This exquisite tree and exquisite pot are perfect expressions of the artistry of Haruyoshi. Still out of the office (working at my unpaid job through the weekend) so we’ll continue borrowing from our illustrious past. This one is from April of last year. I won’t bore you, except to say that Haruyosi does a couple things that set him apart. First, he puts up a very large number of masterpiece shohin and mame bonsai and pots; and second, he puts up a … Continue reading Masterpiece Shohin & Mame Bonsai