Reviving a Neglected Bonsai

After. The fresh lime sulfur causes the deadwood to be a little too white, though it will fade in time to create a more natural look. If you look closely, you can see some of the foliage is still recovering from stress. Today we’ve got just one tree for you. A dramatic before and after. Well actually, after, before and then after again. The artist is Naoki Maeoka. His short caption reads Styling a Tosho (Needle juniper). Continued below… Last Day! 30% off Roshi Bonsai Tool Sale ends tonight Roshi Tools are known throughout the world bonsai community for exceptional … Continue reading Reviving a Neglected Bonsai

The Smoke of the Volcano

The Smoke of the Volcano. This famous old collected Shimpaku juniper is called Noble Satake’s Shimpaku. When it was collected it was given the name The Smoke of the Volcano because of its unusual twisting trunk. The fuzzy photo is what happens when you blow an image up from 300 to 770 pixels (see below for the original). I just discovered an excellent article on Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai blog (thanks to Bonsai Mary). It’s a history of a particular collected Shimpaku juniper and collecting Shimpaku juniper in general. This article was written by Kazuki Yamanaka and published in Japanese … Continue reading The Smoke of the Volcano

More Bonsai by Harry & Our Big Book Sale Ends Tonight

I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen Privet bonsai quite as spectacular as Harry Harrington’s. We’ve shown a number of Harry’s over the years, including this one, but it’s certainly worth another look. It’s in a handmade pot that was designed and built by Swedish potter Thor Holvila. Just wanted to give those of you who have pre-ordered Harry Harrington’s The Foundations of Bonsai a heads up. We expect it this coming week (but then we also expected it last week… international shipping has its quirks). By the way, we are still excepting pre-orders and now is the time… today is … Continue reading More Bonsai by Harry & Our Big Book Sale Ends Tonight

A Bonsai Pot that Set the Armies Marching

This powerful little Trident maple with its massive trunk and distinctive mottled soft blue pot deserves top billing. The photo is from a section on Takao Koyo in the Japanese Bonsai Pots Blog. This all started with a couple pots by Takao Koyo on Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai Blog. A quick search lead to a Takao Koyo jackpot at Ryan Bell’s Japanese Bonsai Pots blog, and from there a link to Takao Koyo’s blog, where you can enjoy an abundance of great pots and trees. This post originally appeared two years ago (Jan, 2015). I’ve done some editing but the … Continue reading A Bonsai Pot that Set the Armies Marching

Don’t Starve Your Bonsai!

This radiantly healthy, well-fed Japanese black pine is from our Masters Series Pine Book. Spring is coming. For many of you it will arrive over the next few weeks. For those of us in northern Vermont and other such brutal locations, it’s still about 12-14 weeks away. For most of you, it’s somewhere in between. Time to start fertilizing isn’t that far off. Many people underfeed their bonsai. Sometimes the mistaken notion that starvation is essential to keep trees small, wins out over the common sense understanding that regular nutrition is essential for health. In the case of bonsai (and … Continue reading Don’t Starve Your Bonsai!

Bonsai on the Rocks

It would be nice to know the size of this powerful Penjing. Experience teaches that these type plantings are often much bigger and more impressive than you can tell with just photos. This masterful work of bonsai art, was posted by our friend and associate Robert Steven. There’s no translation for Robert’s text, so I can’t say much about it, except that it reminds me of the powerful rock mountains that jut out of the water in Viet Nam’s Halong Bay… and that just seeing these remarkable photos made my day. Continued below… 25% off All Bonsai Books Choose from … Continue reading Bonsai on the Rocks

Bonsai in an Unusual Setting, a Wavy Drum Pot & Others

It’s a little surprising that there are so few good shots of bonsai in creative settings. This one was borrowed from Peter Warren’s Surayama, as were all the photos in this post. Spent most of the day trying to catch up the books. Not that much fun, but even less fun if you let things get too far out of control. Anyway, I didn’t leave enough time to put together a new post, so we’ll plunder our archives. This one is from June 2015. It was titled ‘Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others.‘ Continued below… NEW SALE 25% off … Continue reading Bonsai in an Unusual Setting, a Wavy Drum Pot & Others

Taking Out the Makita & Dremels & Adding Some Interest

Close up of another Harry Harrington Privet bonsai. Here’s Harry’s caption: “Another job for the new year has been carving and staining an old Privet bonsai of mine. Part of the original live vein had died back over the years, leaving behind a blank wall of deadwood behind, so last week I took out the Makita and Dremels and added some interest! Bonsai pot by none other than Mr Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.” We’ve been featuring Harry Harrington’s bonsai a lot lately. The North American addition of his book The Foundations of Bonsai is due in our warehouse any … Continue reading Taking Out the Makita & Dremels & Adding Some Interest

Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

I found this gnarly old European yew (Taxus Baccata) on Francesco Santini’s website. We’ve been featuring yews a lot these days. They make excellent bonsai and there are countless old specimens in temperate zone gardens (and in the wild) in Europe, North American and elsewhere (not all are T baccata however, as there are several other species scattered around the world). It’s been a long time. Way back in February of 2010 we featured a couple trees that belong to Francesco Santini. Now, seven years on, he’s still at it and so are we. This time however, we’ll double down … Continue reading Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

The Finishing Touches that Make a Tree Stand Out

Is this a Yew (Taxus)? Thanks to Walter Pall we now know that this is a plastic sculpture (a very good one at that). “This tree was exhibited at Noelanders Tropyh 2012 ouside the bonsai exhibit. It is a PLASTIC tree wanting to show the ideal bonsai. There is a tree looking similar which is owned by Enrico Savini in Italy as far as I remember. it is still in the making. Enrico’s tree is alive and for real.” I don’t know much about this tree; its variety, its owner, where it resides…. What I do know is, some highly … Continue reading The Finishing Touches that Make a Tree Stand Out