Walter Pall’s Hedge Cutting Method

The Japanese maple that Walter Pall uses to illustrate his ‘hedge-cutting method.’ This photo was taken four years after Walter started working with this tree. The before photo is below. We ran this last year, but it’s so good and the season for bonsai hands on is almost here for most of us (already here for some), so just in case you missed it… Walter Pall’s hedge-cutting method. Our last post presented a radical approach to soil and feeding by Walter Pall, the great bonsai innovator. This post features another of Walter’s radical innovations. This time it’s about pruning broad … Continue reading Walter Pall’s Hedge Cutting Method

Boon Again & Again

Shohin cork bark Chinese elm in its new pot. From Boon Manakitivipart’s facebook feed. Boon is repotting once again. On facebook of all places. Just in case you don’t know who Boon is, well, among other things he’s a famous bonsai artist and teacher who resides in the SF Bay Area. Here’s his home page on facebook, here’s his website and here’s Boon Again, one of many Bark posts where he is featured. There are differing opinions about the practice of washing the roots clean when repotting, but that’s for another time.

Norman Rockwell’s Bonsai Painting

Just got this image from Robert Steven. He sent a whole package of fascinating images as run ups to his International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale in October. We’ll be posting them regularly. Meanwhile, here’s a little known Norman Rockwell painting to get us started…. The image above is to help clue you in to Robert Steven’s International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale in Indonesia. I think it’s going to be a unique and wonderful benchmark bonsai event. See you there! Meanwhile, the image just below has nothing to do with Roberts’ big event, but as long as we’re on … Continue reading Norman Rockwell’s Bonsai Painting

Great Trees, Great Pots

Much of the bonsai in Taiwan seems to pair truly remarkable trees with truly remarkable pots. Not that the best bonsai elsewhere aren’t usually in suitably excellent pots, but still, there’s something both bold and refined about these uniquely beautiful hand-painted Taiwanese pots that create extra excitement and pleasure (something like that anyway). I found these photos on facebook a while back, but now, after spending 30 minutes looking for the source, I’ve given up. This is a little embarrassing because I’m usually a bit of a fanatic about attribution. I guess we’ll just have to wait for Jose Luis … Continue reading Great Trees, Great Pots

Bay Island Bonsai Tonight

I like the way the shari is understated, relative to many juniper bonsai at least. It contrasts nicely with the striking reddish bark, which someone went to a lot to some trouble to clean up. It’s a Sierra juniper, which as you might guess from the name, is native to the Sierra Nevada Mountains (and further north into the Cascades). The photo is from the Bay Island Bonsai’s 15th Annual Exhibit. Aside from the fact that this is an excellent bonsai with potential to become even better, the fact that it’s a native North American species is an added plus … Continue reading Bay Island Bonsai Tonight

Boxwoods? Serissas? Or…?

This unusual and creative arrangement is from Aus Bonsai on facebook. It would be nice to know who the artist is, but they don’t say. In any case, I like the way each planting looks like it could stand alone, and the way they all work together (even given the one with the mismatched rock). Are they Boxwoods? Serissas? Both? Something else? It’s hard to tell from here. Cropped so you can see a little more detail. Closer (fuzzier too). Is that a flower and some buds? Could it be a Serissa? Here’s another one from Aus Bonsai. The … Continue reading Boxwoods? Serissas? Or…?

Raw Energy & Backwards Bonsai

This powerful Nea buxifolia by Nelson Hernandez won 3rd place in the 2013 World Bonsai Federation Bonsai Photo Contest. You don’t see too many Nea bonsai outside the tropics, though they do pop up from time to time. Buxifolia means ‘box leaf ‘or ‘boxwood leaf’ which seems suitable for a variety with such tiny leaves. This one is resides in Puerto Rico. This and the other two photos in this post are from the North American Bonsai Federation. Third first? I’m not trying to make a statement by showing the 2013 WBFF photo contest third place tree first and the … Continue reading Raw Energy & Backwards Bonsai

Our First Fuchsia – It’s About the Flowers

This full-of-flowers Fuchsia turned up on Aus Bonsai on facebook. They don’t say who it belongs to, which unfortunately, is what we’ve come to expect on facebook. This is not to complain about Aus Bonsai, I like what they’re doing and they do bother with the species (genus in this case) which is more than many facebook regulars. Here they are on facebook and here’s their website. A first. We’ve been posting mostly every other day for five years (lately every day) and have never shown a Fuchsia bonsai (I had to search Fushsai just in case, and did turn … Continue reading Our First Fuchsia – It’s About the Flowers

Horst Just Might Be the One

This just turned up on facebook. Horst Heinzlreiter posted it. The tree’s a Hawthorn. It belongs to Hans Van Meer and the pot is by Horst. If I had to name my favorite bonsai potter Horst just might be the one. Especially if the number times his pots have been featured on Bark is any indication. No, I didn’t decide to post this because I wanted to mention our bonsai pots. But now that it’s done…

Santa Nella or Bust

I don’t know who this little pine belongs but I’d bet there are a bunch of people out there who wish it belonged to them. It’s from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai blog. Santa Nella or bust. I guess it’s bust in this case, unless you were there at the The 14th California Shohin Bonsai Seminar, you just missed it. Fortunately, Bill was there and he took some great photos that he just posted on his blog. Here’s another of Bill’s photos. There are a lot more on his blog.