Just Relaxing and Drinking Some Tea

I guess we can live with the lighter. Several of the trees in Lam Ngoc Vinh’s photos also have distracting tags hanging from them. Still, we’ll take what we can get and in this case, what we can get is pretty good. And, speaking of pretty good, check out the facial expression on this very relaxed tea-drinker. I’m also relaxing and drinking some tea this week. In a cabin in Maine (and yes, a cabin with wifi). So, in order to get back to the job of relaxing, we’ll keep it simple and borrow from someone else (the quote below … Continue reading Just Relaxing and Drinking Some Tea

A Mind Bending Transformation

You’ll never guess what happened to this tree (unless you’ve seen our Masters’ Series Juniper book or Bonsai Today issue 21). Here’s a hint: it was flipped upside down somewhere along the way from where it started (below) to where it ended (above). The artist is Masahiko Kimura, aka The Magician. Bonsai Today back issues and our Masters’ Series books present literally hundreds of bonsai techniques. Some are quite simple and suitable for any beginner. Many others are fairly advanced, though doable if you pay close attention and take your time. And then there are the few techniques that no … Continue reading A Mind Bending Transformation

More Root-on-Rock Bonsai & What’s the Difference?

This is what can happen when you have a great rock and excellent plant material to work with (a little skill doesn’t hurt either). It’s by Norboru Kaneko, from our Masters’ Series Juniper book. Last post we featured the development of a root-on-rock planting by Norboru Kaneko from our Masters’ Series Juniper book. Here are two more of his plantings (top and bottom) plus one from Andolfo Bonsai for your enjoyment. If you search for root-on-rock bonsai, what you’ll find, with a few exceptions, are root-over-rock bonsai. I suspect the reason for this is that root-over-rock, though they take longer, … Continue reading More Root-on-Rock Bonsai & What’s the Difference?

Root-On-Rock Bonsai

The result. It’s a Needle juniper (with secondary plants and moss) root-on-rock planting by Noboru Kaneko. All the photos in this post are from our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book. Something I’ve noticed in my countless hours of internet bonsai journeys, is how seldom you see good root-on-rock bonsai (or root-over-rock bonsai for that matter). I don’t know if this is because this style bonsai has fallen out of favor, or if it’s because accomplishing a good root-on-rock is no mean feat, so most people simply don’t try. Or they try and fail. And then there’s the issue of finding … Continue reading Root-On-Rock Bonsai

Drifting a Little Farther Afield

What a great photo. It helps to have such an excellent subject for sure (Japanese black pine). It’s from post titled ‘The Dark Horse’ on the Bjorvala Bonsai Studio blog. The full tree and pot are shown below. There’s really not much of theme going on with this post, other than a digital tour of some bonsai blogs/websites. So we’ll leave it at that… except to say that we’re going a little farther afield than we usually do. I have a soft spot for hand painted bonsai pots. This one is from the ‘for sale’ section of Ryan Bell’s … Continue reading Drifting a Little Farther Afield

Stunning Satsuki & No Slouches

This Nikko Satsuku Azalea is from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s Japanese collection. It was donated by Masayuki Nakamura. See May 25 – June 2 below for an important upcoming event at the Museum. May 25-26: If you’re anywhere near Slovakia next weekend and you like the name ‘Tea House of Good People’ as much as I do, then this one is a don’t miss event, which judging by the photo above (especially the Juniper on the right), should feature some pretty good bonsai. This one is a Korin Satsuki. Like the magnificent Nikko Satsuki above, it … Continue reading Stunning Satsuki & No Slouches

Wire: What’s the Difference?

Like most bonsai, this one has been wired. In fact, there’s visible wire on it right now. It’s a Shimpaku that’s from a chapter in our Masters’ Series Juniper book, titled Keiko Tamaki’s Deft Touch. Most bonsai are wired at some stage in their development. In fact, bonsai that have been around for a long time may have been wired repeatedly over the years. There are very good reasons for this, not the least of which is, it is often very difficult to get decent results without wire. There’s much more that be can said about this but we’ll leave … Continue reading Wire: What’s the Difference?

Bonsai Conspiracies

This strange and wonderful monster resides at Ryan Neil’s International Bonsai Mirai, but the photo is from Aarin Packard’s Capital Bonsai blog. Most of Aarin’s posts are from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, but this one is from a recent visit to Bonsai Mirai. Conspiracies? I probably should have titled this ‘what happens when bonsai artists visit each other’ but my guess is Bonsai Conspiracies got your attention. No matter, it was inspired by four notable bonsai artist/bloggers getting together (in two sets of two). Artisans Cup postponed until 2015. There’s another theme at play here; two of artists … Continue reading Bonsai Conspiracies

Forever Young? How Not to Fertilize

You can bet that this Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) was fertilized with a master’s touch. Speaking of masters, this photo is from our Masters’ Series Pine Book. An American bonsai pro on fertilizing. Whenever Michael Hagedorn writes, I read, and though I am a little reluctant to tell others what to do, you might want to consider it too. Here’s a part of Michael’s latest post on his famous Crataegus Bonsai blog: “For fertilizing bonsai, we can make this one basic distinction: Begin fertilizing a young, unrefined tree when it begins growing early in the spring Wait a bit … Continue reading Forever Young? How Not to Fertilize

Keeping It Close to Home – Upcoming Bonsai Events

This Shimpaku is from the home page of the Suthin Bonsai Studio website. Though magnificent Shimpaku are pretty common (especially in Japan), still, this one is distinctive in at least a couple ways: the lush crown that reaches all way down to the right gives the tree a dynamic flowing movement that adds interest, but just might cause your eye to flow right off the page. But then there’s the irrepressible curlycue jin that serves, among other things as a counter-balance to the crown’s lean to the right and brings your eye right back (too much coffee this morning is … Continue reading Keeping It Close to Home – Upcoming Bonsai Events