A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Succulent with flowers. Such brilliant colors are hard to argue with. All the companion plantings shown here are succulents that belong to Eraydin Erdogan, a bonsai potter living in Turkey (the pots are his creations). The great thing about succulents is that anybody can grow them. All you need is a nice pot, a little soil and a juicy little plant or two. No green thumb or amazing sense of aesthetics necessary. You can even forget to water (up to a point at least). The following three paragraphs are from earlier Bonsai Bark posts (from 2011 and from 2009). If … Continue reading A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Kokufu: More of the Very Best Bonsai

2012 Kokufu Prize wining informal upright Osakazuki Satsuki azalea (Rhododendron lateritium var. Osakazuki). This and the other images in this post are from Phoenix Bonsai. As long as we’re stealing images from Phoenix Bonsai Society we might as well pillage their text: “This now eight-day February national exhibit of bonsai is the largest and most prestigious of all bonsai shows worldwide. The Nippon Bonsai Association (NBA), the official sponsor of the event, has worked diligently over many years to insure that only the finest bonsai in Japan are displayed. To win one of the several prizes or sho awarded greatly … Continue reading Kokufu: More of the Very Best Bonsai

A Steady Stream…

Premna serratifolia by Robert Steven. Aside from the immediate impact of the old wood with all the trunks popping up everywhere, there’s the counter-balance provided by the sturdy little trunk on the far left and the way the two tiny trunks at the base provide subtle accents. And then there’s that teetering trunk on that tiny tip that sticks out on the far right at the very end of the planting (six years of government-funded college down the drain on two mangled sentences). The beat goes on. If you take the time to go back through our 700-plus previous posts, … Continue reading A Steady Stream…

Rainbow & Bonsai Shadows

Couldn’t resist this great photo. It’s from David Benavente’s facebook photos (just slightly cropped). I think David Benavente is one of our most accomplished bonsai artists (by our, I guess I mean Westerners, but maybe you could just extend that to the whole world). You can check out David’s bonsai on facebook and on his website. His Before and After (Antes y Despues) series is particularly good (and instructive), but really, I’d recommend spending time and exploring all of his photos. Many tell stories, some with a little humor thrown in. Here’s one of David’s ‘Before and After’ series. Here’s … Continue reading Rainbow & Bonsai Shadows

Hustling to Keep Up

I don’t think you’ll see plantings quite this distinctively unusual very often. Not that all good bonsai aren’t unique, just that this one is very unique (and no doubt very heavy too). It’s by Colin Lewis, who happens to be one of the featured artists at the LSBF 2013 convention (below). Bonsai Calendar. We seem to be featuring bonsai events almost weekly now. It’s never was our intention to turn Bark into a bonsai calendar, but still, reminding you of events (and maybe even encouraging you to take the leap and attend one or two) seems like a good thing … Continue reading Hustling to Keep Up

World Famous Masterpiece Bonsai

I like this tree. It has great movement and wild, wonderful deadwood that runs all the way up the trunk, plays peekaboo in the crown and then finishes with a flourish at the top. If you removed the hanging branch that reaches down almost to the base of the trunk, it would still be an interesting tree (even though the remaining crown would be an inverted bowl)… but with that branch and the aforementioned deadwood, the tree is elevated to bonsai masterpiece. If you don’t believe me, you can check out Takahashi Iura’s facebook page, where it says: “My important … Continue reading World Famous Masterpiece Bonsai

It’s Free!

Maybe someone can help identify the owner of this most excellent swirling cascade juniper. It’s from the Noelander’s Trophy, 2013. You can see more photos from the show on Crataegus bonsai (and various other places). Speaking of the Noelanders’ Trophy, Marc Noelanders will be one of the featured artists at Brussel’s Rendezvous (see below). Why isn’t your event featured here? In March Bonsai Bark was visited 56,000 times (19,000 of those were unique). This being the case, Bark is probably a pretty good place to advertise your upcoming bonsai event. Especially considering it’s free. The best way to do this … Continue reading It’s Free!

High on the List

Great tree (nice pot too) but I can’t find any identification on the Isabelia site. I’ll go ahead an venture one of my oft-mistaken guesses and say it’s a Hornbeam of some sort (Korean?). I’ve never been to the Czech Republic, but it’s definitely high on the list. High enough where 2014 looks like a possibility. In addition to Prague, a city that most people rave about, I plan on visiting the gardens (featured in an earlier post) and bonsai museum at Isabelia. Meanwhile, here are few photos from their collection. Maybe we’ll see you there. Reclining Shimpaku (another … Continue reading High on the List

It’s Not Everyday…

One side of a brilliantly artistic bonsai pot by Miyazaki Isseki. The other three sides and two corner views are below. All the photos in this post are from Sam & KJ’s Suiseki blog, which BTW is one of the better blogs around and well worth a visit. I don’t think we’ve ever devoted a whole post to just one pot. But then, it’s not everyday you see a pot quite like this. The way the bright white glaze sets off the brilliance of the colors and artistry of the scenes has made such an impression, that I don’t think … Continue reading It’s Not Everyday…

A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events

It has been a while since we’ve featured the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum‘s world-class bonsai collection. This Korean hornbeam (Carpinus tschonoskii ) donated by Minoru Koshimura, has been in training since 1935 and it’s not even one of the oldest at the museum. Not by a long shot. But it is undeniably a venerable tree with a majestic dignity that you just don’t find every day. And of course, it’s just one of hundreds of powerful bonsai and bonsai events you can enjoy while visiting our nation’s capital. Here we go again in our quest to keep you up … Continue reading A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events