Superior Bonsai Deserve a Superior Turntable

Everything looks good on a Green T turntable and this luscious azalea in full flower is no exception (it will look even better on with the new green rims – see below). Here’s part of the caption that the folks at Green T wrote with this photo… “@bonsaiwarsaw loves azaleas! This variety of bonsai require lots of special care and dedication and we are glad that such a young innovative bonsai artist is trusting Green T to do his best!” I cropped the original photo to feature just the tree. The uncropped version is below. Just in case you missed … Continue reading Superior Bonsai Deserve a Superior Turntable

The Tallest Trees in the World Brought Down to Bonsai Size

Closeup of a California Coast redwood from Bonsai Mirai’s collection. It’s interesting that most Redwood bonsai tend to be so stocky, given that that they are the tallest trees in the world. You can see the photo of the whole tree below Continuing from yesterday with Bonsai Mirai,the home of what must be the largest and most impressive collection of collected bonsai (yamadori) in the country. Today it’s California’s Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) There are so many iconic North American trees. In fact, and at the risk of just a little chauvinism, our rich array of trees just might be the most … Continue reading The Tallest Trees in the World Brought Down to Bonsai Size

Cross Country Bonsai Wagon

One of several bonsai recently posted by Bonsai Mirai. No varieties were given for any of the trees shown here (on social media*), but we do know that they belong to Ryan Neil. If you’d like to know more about these trees and you have time, you can sort through the Mirai website. Even if you don’t find all the ones shown here, you’ll see many of the very best American yamadori (collected from the wild) trees. *Bonsai Mirai’s fb timeline Just in case you forgot, this post can serve as another reminder about the rapidly approaching 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s the one bonsai event … Continue reading Cross Country Bonsai Wagon

Bonsai at the Intersection of Environmental Art, Durational Art, Performance, Architecture, and Design

There’s more than the tree to bonsai. This photo with the brilliantly conceived pot and stand – and the way they both emphasize and elevate (literally) the tree – perfectly illustrates this point. It’s from a special event flyer posted by Pacific Bonsai Museum titled LAB, Living Art of Bonsai. The date is August 4th. The rest of the details are here This event looks and sounds so compelling that if it weren’t for previous unbreakable commitments, I’d be making my reservations right now. But perhaps you can be lucky! Here’s part of the copy from the Pacific Bonsai Museum about the upcoming LAB… “In … Continue reading Bonsai at the Intersection of Environmental Art, Durational Art, Performance, Architecture, and Design

Bonsai Pioneer Mas Ishii & Michael Bonsai

Here’s Michael’s (Michael Bonsai) caption for this tree… “I was “craving” to style my 80 year old Masaru-Ishii grafted juniper. I’ve never been really happy how it was prior styled. – This is the first time I really like the outcome, because I styled it myself and was motived after a long stretch of engineering and work and not being able to do “hands on” bonsai.” I cropped Michael’s photo (see below) for a closer look I’ve long appreciated the quality of Michael Bonsai’s photos. And his trees. This one originated with Mr Masaru Ishii (now deceased), grafting master (especially … Continue reading Bonsai Pioneer Mas Ishii & Michael Bonsai

Heavenly Bonsai, an Old Larch, a Tree that Never Gave Up & a Terrific Subtext

American Larch (Larix laricina – aka Tamarack) by Larch Master Nick Lenz (from our archives). This brings us to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (September, 8th and 9th in Rochester). We will bring some field grown larches of our own. Nothing like this masterpiece. Just some rough stock, mostly 15 to 25 year old that originally came from a friend’s land. We have been digging some every year and growing them on here at my place, for the last 14 years or so. We’ve been pruning for taper, so we’ve got some pretty good trunks. We’ll try to have some … Continue reading Heavenly Bonsai, an Old Larch, a Tree that Never Gave Up & a Terrific Subtext

Backyard Bonsai 14 – “A Little Bit Above Average”

Bird’s eye view of Dan Dolan’s backyard. It’s Monday Monday and I’ve been at work since 7:00am, mostly answering emails and putting out small fires. Given that time is of essence, we’ll get out our tools and dig back into our archival mine. This one, Dan Dolan’s backyard, originally appeared in September, 2015. It fits well with our recently resurrected backyard theme Dan Dolan sent along some of his thoughts on bonsai and bonsai display… “Unlike many enthusiasts who heed the remonstrance of American bonsai masters to acquire only the best material upon which to work…… I take only the least promising … Continue reading Backyard Bonsai 14 – “A Little Bit Above Average”

Bonsai Folk Art

Bonsai folk art. There’s so much that’s unusual and delicious about this one, that I won’t bother to say much, except that the tree looks like an Olive (talk about asleep at the wheel, and thanks to a couple astute readers, we’re going have to revise this to Rosemary), I love it and Juan Antonio’s caption says… “Otro listo. Romero Palaui.” I don’t know who Romero Palaui is, but his name comes up on Pinterest a lot. The World Cup Finals start in about 80 minutes, so we’ll save researching him for another time Continuing with our newly discovered Juan Antonio Pérez (see … Continue reading Bonsai Folk Art

Grape Bonsai, in a League of Its Own

We don’t see grape bonsai that often and of the ones we have seen, this one is in a league of its own. Even if it weren’t a grape, the well-tapered trunk with its powerful base, beautifully carved deadwood, undulating live vein* and long cascading branch present an impressive picture. And then there are the grapes! The artist is Juan Antonio Pérez. He doesn’t list the varietal I’m always a little stoked when we discover a new bonsai artist (new to me and Bonsai Bark, that is). His name is Juan Antonio Pérez and he lives in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain. The discovery started … Continue reading Grape Bonsai, in a League of Its Own

Revisiting the Great Bonsai Debate

A naturalistic Norway spruce (Picea abies) by Walter Pall (from Bonsai Today issue 106) A blast from the past. This post originally appeared here in July, 2009, our 6th month Barking (this means we’ve been doing this for almost ten years). I don’t know if the topic is still relevant to any of you, but there was a time when it created a bit of a buzz and I think many of us can learn something by reading what Walter Pall has to say about the topic (below). As always with reruns, I’ve made a few changes. In the expanding galaxy of … Continue reading Revisiting the Great Bonsai Debate