Cuttings

Hanging Out Somewhere on Planet Earth

Unknown type tree on an unknown cliff somewhere on planet earth I found the amazing photo above on Kuanghua Hsiao’s facebook feed. From there I was led to Jorge M. Suzuki and finally to Jean-Christophe Nef’s Arbres et plantes exceptionnels. None of these people and places yielded anything about what, where or who, though Mr Nef’s  Arbres et… did yield some other astounding photos (below). Continued below… Two Brand New Japanese Tool Sales 25% off Koyo Bonsai Tools and… 25% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Plus an extra 10% off orders 100.00 or more   More cliffs and more stubborn … Continue reading Hanging Out Somewhere on Planet Earth

Daring Combinations

You don’t see pots this ornate everyday. Our source offers no information on the type tree or the artist. At least in English; what text there is, is Vietnamese. Speaking of, you may not know that Vietnam most likely has more bonsai per capita than any other country. Here’s some evidence from a 2014 Bark post. I found this photo while on my daily Facebook adventure. It was posted by Bonsai Nguyen Van Sau. You don’t see that many ornate or colorful pots in the West or Japan. The aesthetic seems to be one of restraint, where the artist is … Continue reading Daring Combinations

Fertilizing, Back-Budding & One More Hornbeam

This shohin Carpinus coreana* (Korean hornbeam) by Mario Komsta has appeared here before. As a companion plant no less (see below). No problem though. Any tree this good deserves to be shown more than once. As a companion or by itself. A few days ago I mentioned we were starting a series on the Hornbeam genus (Carpinus). There are approximately 40 species of Hornbeams on the planet and many, if not most of them are suitable for bonsai. In this case we’re showing just one by Mario Komsta. Unrelated to Hornbeams, but also by Mario is a piece on the … Continue reading Fertilizing, Back-Budding & One More Hornbeam

Somewhere North of Magnificent

I’m running out of superlatives. How about ‘somewhere north of magnificent?’ My only question is; could the pot be a little bigger? It’s a Ficus by Hsieh, Shun-Chin. This is at least the third time we’ve featured the ‘north of magnificent’ tree above. My guess is we’ll show it again before we chuck it all in. Though the Taiwanese aren’t alone, a large dose of creative bonsai energy seems to be emanating from that unique island. And it’s not just Min Hsuan Lo and Cheng, Cheng-Kung, they have plenty of talented company. If you want some evidence, check out the … Continue reading Somewhere North of Magnificent

A Golden Opportunity to Refine Your Bonsai Skills and Deepen Your Understanding

This striking shot was lifted from Bonsai Empire’s video on Bonsai Fundamentals, an upcoming course by Michael Hagedorn. This post is to unreservedly and enthusiastically encourage you to take Michael Hagedorn’s upcoming Bonsai Fundamentals Course. Here’s some copy borrowed from the host of the course, Bonsai Empire: “Bonsai Fundamentals is an online tutorial offering unique insights into the fundamental concepts of Bonsai design and techniques. It provides important but often neglected instruction of plant-physiology and Japanese aesthetics, deepening your understanding of the living art of Bonsai. Available from March 11th.” If you know Michael Hagedorn you don’t need any more … Continue reading A Golden Opportunity to Refine Your Bonsai Skills and Deepen Your Understanding

Bonsai Art… As Art

Bonsai Art Magazine living up to it’s name… Not many words today. We’ll just show you some covers of Bonsai Art (and some of our sales, of course). As far as the aesthetics of bonsai goes, it’s my favorite magazine. Continued below… As long as we’re on the topic of quality bonsai magazines… Bonsai Today Sale Ends Tomorrow 40% to 50% off Bonsai Today Back Issues Each issue is rich in step-by-step how-to articles by the old masters 40% off 1-9 Bonsai Today back issues 50% off 10 or more back issues This may be your last chance for certain … Continue reading Bonsai Art… As Art

Walter’s Massive Forest & Other Hornbeam Bonsai

This massive Hornbeam forest belongs to Walter Pall. Walter doesn’t mention the variety in his gallery section (you might be able to hunt it down on his blog), but given that Walter lives in Germany, You might guess that it’s a European hornbeam (Carpinus betula), but I wouldn’t take it to the bank. The other day someone asked if we would do something on Hornbeams, so here it is, the beginning of a series on the Hornbeam genus (Carpinus). And in case the person who asked is actually reading this (or anyone else is interested), our archives contain several Hornbeam … Continue reading Walter’s Massive Forest & Other Hornbeam Bonsai

A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

After. This impressive and very unusual European olive was styled by Javi Campos Juan. You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t conform to this standard often look unnatural. Still, I like this tree a lot. True, at first glance I thought it was a conifer and was surprised when I read Javi’s Campos Juan’s caption which refers to it as Ullastre (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris). But beauty is as you … Continue reading A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

Backyard Bonsai – #15

Bonsai with Koi. This shot is from Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunkaen Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. The concrete display poles are made to look like tree trunks. All but one of the photos in this post are borrowed from Bonsai Empire. Yesterday we featured Kunio Kobayashi’s bonsai, so why not keep going on the same track (more or less… just the first two photos are from his Shunkaen Bonsai Museum)? This post originally appeared in November, 2015. This is the fifthteenth post in our long-standing Backyard Bonsai series. However, if memory serves, this is the first time that we’ve shown commercial gardens … Continue reading Backyard Bonsai – #15

The Usual Suspects & The Real Mr Kobayashi

This Japanese flowering apricot (Prunus mume) is from the Shunka-en Bonsai Museum. This and the other photos shown here  are from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai blog. If you’ve seen the movie The Usual Suspects, you no doubt remember Mr Kobayashi, a smooth and ruthless professional criminal with a Japanese name and a face that doesn’t match. Just another surprise in a very surprising movie. Anyway, I happened to watch Suspects for about the fifth time the other day, and now a day or so later, I just visited Bill Valavanis (his blog that is) and there he was… the real Mr … Continue reading The Usual Suspects & The Real Mr Kobayashi