Dazzling Death Threats

This Nikko Satsuku Azalea is from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s Japanese collection. It was donated by Masayuki Nakamura. This post features three azaleas from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and a book about azaleas. Specifically, Satsuki azales. Satsuki means fifth month in Japanese. We’ll let you figure out why they call them that … This and the next paragraph were lifted directly from Wikipedia: Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, particularly sections Tsutsuji (evergreen) and Pentanthera (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under … Continue reading Dazzling Death Threats

Your Chance to Own Top Tier Tree from the Private Collection of a Famous Bonsai Artist

One of North America’s favorite bonsai artists is adding more bonsai to the public offering of some favorites from his private collection, including this prize winning Japanese maple. In his own words: “I have decided to let go of one of my favorite Japanese Maples. Some of you may recognize it from 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition 2012* I have enjoyed it for over 20+ years. It’s now time to move into a new home. If you are seriously interested, please call me.” *Ever modest, Suthin doesn’t mention that it won the Finest Deciduous Bonsai award at the Exhibition. This … Continue reading Your Chance to Own Top Tier Tree from the Private Collection of a Famous Bonsai Artist

There Are Bonsai, and then…

There are bonsai and then there are bonsai. This fluid masterpiece belongs to Isao Omachi. There are other adjectives that come to mind, like elegant, graceful and exquisite, but the problem with writing about bonsai almost everyday is these superlatives get used until they lose their meaning. Oh well. Mr Omachi doesn’t say anything about this tree and I won’t venture any guesses. It’s from his facebook photos. All the trees shown here are from Isao Omachi’s facebook photos. If you’ve been following the international bonsai scene, you know that he’s the one who had his entire bonsai collection (and … Continue reading There Are Bonsai, and then…

Mastering Worlds, Exploring Bonsai & Tribal Art

This ‘living room’ shot (cropped from a larger photo below) is actually a part of an important art exhibition titled Mastering Worlds; Exploring Space and Scale in Tribal and Asiatic Art that is taking place in NYC this weekend. Not too long ago there was a debate in the Western bonsai community about whether bonsai should be recognized as an art. Fortunately, that debate has been put to rest (for most of us, at least). Bonsai at its best qualifies as art in every sense of the word. Now to get the rest of the world and particularly the art world … Continue reading Mastering Worlds, Exploring Bonsai & Tribal Art

Spring Flowers, Fleeting Bliss

Satsuki azalea displaying a perfect blend of white with a touch of pink and the soft green of the new leaves. The flowers dominate right now, but it’s no accident that the color of the pot enhances the not-so-shabby trunk and nebari. An earlier shot of the same tree appears below. On the road again so we’ll resort to our old tricks and plunder our endless archives (from May, 2011). Today it’s the Guggenheim (NYC) and then home to Vermont. Mis Arboles by Andres Alvarez Iglesias The first three photos in this post are part of a photo album by … Continue reading Spring Flowers, Fleeting Bliss

Watering Bonsai by Installing Alarm Bells in Your Head

This Japanese white pine won the Prime Minister’s Award at the 2005 Sakufu Ten Bonsai Exhibition. Though it has nothing more to do with watering than any other bonsai, the photo is from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai, as is the text below. Yet Another Watering Problem… The following is by Michael Hagedorn from his website Crataegus Bonsai. “Probably the worst thing we might encounter when we have a hose in our hand is a tree that, when we think about it, has not dried out in three days of sunny summer weather. That ought to send off all kinds of … Continue reading Watering Bonsai by Installing Alarm Bells in Your Head

Whirlpool Dancer

This wild looking Japanese white pine is called Whirlpool Dancer (no explanation necessary). Like many old top-tier yamadori bonsai, its controted shape and ample deadwood tell a story of hardship and survival . It first appeared in Bonsai Today magazine and later had a whole chapter devoted to it in our Pine book (Jewel to Whirlpool). The artist at the time was Tomio Yamada. It’s called Uzushio which as you might guess, means whirlpool. It currently resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. All three of the tree’s shown here have previously appeared on Bark and all three are so … Continue reading Whirlpool Dancer

Walter’s Powerful Rough Bark Japanese Maple

This powerful Rough Bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Arakawa’) is approximately eighty years old and stands 70cm (almost 28″) high. Walter Pall imported it from Japan this year as semi raw material. Walter has an excellent series of photos on the tree’s transition since he received it. We could devote all of Bonsai Bark to Walter Pall’s trees and seemingly never run out of material. But then, Walter is already doing that with his blog, his website and on facebook, so all we have to do to enjoy his bonsai wizardry, is occasionally touch in. In case you don’t know … Continue reading Walter’s Powerful Rough Bark Japanese Maple

How About Yew?

This rather spectacular, muscular Japanese yew resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan, along with numerous other top tier bonsai. The pot looks like it could be Tokoname. Though you can’t see the back, it’s possible that the single live vein in the front supports all of the foliage in the tree’s impressively massive crown. Apologies for the bad pun in the title. We’ll blame it on faulty wiring (of the physiological type rather than the bonsai type). While we’re at it here’s another bad Yew pun. One of the great thing about Yews (Taxus) is they … Continue reading How About Yew?

Every Day Is Bonsai Day and Today Is Mother’s Day

The sculpted look. This Mugo pine by Mother Nature and Georg Reinhard combines wildness and elegance with its flowing lines and almost perfectly shaped robust live growth. I particularly like the way the deadwood twists and turns all the way back down to soil and the jagged lightening bolt on the left. Though I know that some people take issue with highly sculpted deadwood, this is so well done that I can’t imagine even the most dogmatic proponents of the naturalistic look being too worked up about it. Too much going on today, so we’ll dip back into our archives. … Continue reading Every Day Is Bonsai Day and Today Is Mother’s Day