Cuttings

Dan & Roy – Picasso & a Bonsai Grafting Master

Roy Nagatoshi grafted the Shimpaku foliage onto this masterpiece 700 year old yamadori California juniper that Dan Robinson collected and continues to grow and develop (provided Dan still owns it). You can find a lot more about this and dozens of other ancient masterpieces in Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, Will Hiltz wonderful book about Dan (the Picasso of bonsai) and his on going love affair with bonsai and nature. This post started out to be about the bonsai and grafting skills of Roy Nagatoshi (here’s a good example of Roy’s work from a 2014 Bark post). But somewhere along the … Continue reading Dan & Roy – Picasso & a Bonsai Grafting Master

Bonsai Aficionados, Artists & Visionaries…

I love this powerful old mountain monarch with it’s massive swirling deadwood and undeniable sense of great age. It’s a Rocky mountain juniper that I lifted from Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai. One of dozens of equally impressive North American bonsai in Ryan’s collection. The title of this post, Bonsai Aficionados, Artists & Visionaries… is borrowed from Mirai Live, “a revolutionary online teaching platform where enthusiasts can access a lifetime’s worth of bonsai knowledge and engage in real time with bonsai professional Ryan Neil and artists from around the world.” I won’t say much more in this post about Mirai Live, … Continue reading Bonsai Aficionados, Artists & Visionaries…

Two Colorful Little Trees & Three NEW Sales

No identification or attribution is given with this sweet little tree, but it’s got to be a Crab apple. The artist shall remain a mystery for now. I started the day with the intention of doing something on Roy Nagatoshi, until I realized that I’d have to do more research than there’s time for today. So we’ll save Roy for another day (soon). Meanwhile, here are a couple shots that caught my eye. Both were put up on on Roy’s facebook feed by Carol Goehausen. Continued below… 3 NEW Sales 25% off Bonsai Aesthetics Tools the other 2 NEW Sales … Continue reading Two Colorful Little Trees & Three NEW Sales

One Tree, Seven Pots – Which One Would You Choose?

Seven pots for one Chinese cork bark elm (the seventh pot is below – it didn’t fit that well in the photo). Which one would you choose? Most of this post was borrowed from our archives (January, 2014). At that time the choices you see were presented as a contest. Now we’ll dispense with the contest and just show the photos and let you choose if you please. If you would like to post your comments, visit Bonsai Bark on facebook. All the photos shown here belong to Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon), our source for almost all of our … Continue reading One Tree, Seven Pots – Which One Would You Choose?

Spring Bonsai in Full Bloom – NEW Bonsai Soil

You don’t see cascading Azalea bonsai all that often. This flowing full flowering favorite (sorry about that) is by Teunis Jan Klein. Speaking of Azaleas, we just put up our new Kanuma azalea bonsai soil I’m in the process of putting up some new bonsai soil that just arrived. So far the Akadama is up with more to follow. Anyway, it’s spring, our busiest season, in much of the U.S. now. So we’re swamped and need to keep moving. Still. I try to post every day and here’s my quick and easy one for today. All the photos shown here are from a post by Bonsai … Continue reading Spring Bonsai in Full Bloom – NEW Bonsai Soil

Powerful Shari, Brilliant Pot & Upside Down Maple

This old Taxus Baccata (English yew) is dominated by its powerful shari (trunk deadwood) The artist is Stefano Frisoni of Italy. On the road again today, so we’ll take the easy way out. The photos shown here are from a post we did in December, 2015. Continued below… NEW SALE 25% off our large selection of Bonsai Fertilizer well fed bonsai are healthy bonsai plus 10% off orders 100.00 or more and FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00 or more   Nice tree. Brilliant pot!  Eleven years from stump by Mario Komsta (a regular here on Bark). It’s a Silverberry … Continue reading Powerful Shari, Brilliant Pot & Upside Down Maple

Calligraphy & the Origins of Bonsai

Calligraphy anyone? I don’t know if calligraphy was on Mario Komsta’s mind when he styled this remarkable tree. I do know that there was a time when bonsai that looked like calligraphy was popular and that many scholars agree that bonsai was, in part at least, inspired by the calligraphy of the old Chinese masters. This is especially true of literati style bonsai (bunjin in Japanese). Headed out of town this morning, so we’ll make this quick and easy.  This post originally appeared here on Bark in 2013. I started out to continue our Hornbeam series, but got distracted by … Continue reading Calligraphy & the Origins of Bonsai

More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Always nice to lead with a little color. This cheerful full fall color Trident maple belonged to Suthin Sukosolvisit when we first showed it way back in 2009. I don’t know who the lucky owner is now. Continuing with yesterday’s fully fledged admiration of Suthin and his bonsai, here are a few choice trees dug out from our archives. Continued below… A great sale ends tonight Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Sale 25% to 30% off 500 gram Bonsai Aesthetics Wire 25% off 2-5 rolls (10.12 each) 30% off 6 or more (9.45 each) this sale ends tonight, Sunday at 11:59pm EST … Continue reading More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines

This sweet luminous little Japanese white pine belongs to Suthin. A total winner, right down to the perfectly pitched pot and the vivid yellow-green moss. Even given the fresh scar where a branch was just removed, it’s still simply superb (must be alliteration day today). Another reminder of Suthin’s bonsai vision and skills. I don’t usually pour it on quite so thick, but there’s something about Suthin* and his prolific bonsai brilliance, that brings out my adolescent star struck nature. And I’m not the only one. Go to any show where Suthin is vending and watch the bonsai devotees gather … Continue reading Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines

Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine

This magnificent monster yamadori Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) belongs to Andres Alvarez Iglesias. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below Andres Alvarez Iglesias sent the photo above to the Bonsai Focus Golden Concave contest (see the poster just below). Judging from what I see here, there are some other very good trees (including several that we’ve featured here on Bark). They’ll need to be very good to hold up to this one. Continued below… Two New Excellent Japanese Tool Sales 25% off Koyo Bonsai Tools and… 25% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Plus an extra … Continue reading Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine