The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

The play of light and shadow… This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s part of the machine translation… “Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” You can read more and see other masterpiece bonsai photos here Even though I think he’s fallen a little out of favor in some circles, I’m still a fan of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai. For years his wildly innovative techniques and his visionary’s eye, combined with a healthy does of daring, produced results at the cutting edge (so to speak) of bonsai innovation. Now, forty some … Continue reading The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” From this we might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. The trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s fb photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A happy accident as it turns out After yesterday’s post featuring three Sabina (aka Savin) junipers (Juniperus sabina). I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how many there … Continue reading Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

Walter’s Wild Sabina Juniper

A recent photo of Walter Pall’s wild Sabina juniper. There’s a much older photo of this tree below Second leg of our journey to the sun this morning, so once again we’ll take the easy way out and continue with a Walter Pall posts from our archives. This one is from May 2017, with a newly discovered lead photo NEW SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF EVERYTHING A GOOD TIME TO STOCK UP – This photo of the same tree, guy wires and all, dates back quite a few years. We found it on The Art of Bonsai Project. The pot is by Bryan Albright … Continue reading Walter’s Wild Sabina Juniper

Bonsai Adventures, Three Hornbeams

Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis) from Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures blog Staying on track with Walter Pall for at least another day. This time it’s three hefty Oriental hornbeams from Walter’s Bonsai Adventures blog. Time is of essences (leaving for a couple weeks in the sun later today) so we’ll provide the links and you do the research if you’re inclined in that direction NEW SITE WIDE SALE Everything Is At Least 20% off Including items already discounted discounts are computed at checkout – Another beefy Oriental hornbeam from Walter’s blog. No leaves this time so you can see the profusion of small … Continue reading Bonsai Adventures, Three Hornbeams

“These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

This Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 104. It belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. He presented it as an example of a naturalistic bonsai Walter Pall yesterday, Walter Pall today. This one happens to be our first Walter post ever (June, 2009). It was titled The Great Debate part 2: You Be the Judge. I’ve condensed it to accommodate our shorter attention spans The following quote by Walter is from the same 2009 post (it originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 104)… “I have seen that the trend in styling is toward more and more … Continue reading “These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

FOUR GREAT SPECIALS End Sunday Night – Bonsai Books, Koyo Tools, Okatsune Tools & Tie Pots

BONSAI BOOKS, KOYO BONSAI TOOLS, OKATSUNE BONSAI TOOLS & TIE POT SPECIALS ALL END SUNDAY, JANUARY 6TH AT 11:59PM JAPANESE TOOL SPECIALS End Sunday, Jan 6th at 11:59pm EST 25% OFF KOYO BONSAI TOOLS 25% OFF OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS EXTRA 10% OFF ORDERS 150.00 OR MORE – DISCOUNTS ARE APPLIED AT CHECKOUT 25% OFF BONSAI BOOK SPECIAL Ends Sunday Jan 6th at 11:59pm EST EXTRA 10% OFF ORDERS 150.00 OR MORE –DISCOUNTS ARE APPLIED AT CHECKOUT – TIE POT SPECIAL ALSO ENDS SUNDAY NIGHT GROW YOUR OWN WITH THE ULTIMATE TRAINING POT SPECIAL PRICE 18.00 ONLY 16.00 … Continue reading FOUR GREAT SPECIALS End Sunday Night – Bonsai Books, Koyo Tools, Okatsune Tools & Tie Pots

One Famous Bonsai Artist, One Tree & One T-Shirt

I love this tree with its gently flushed little apples (crabapples), its muscular trunk, subtle movement, gradual taper and well-aged bark. I even love its handlebar branches.* Today it’s The Venerable** Walter Pall, famous bonsai artist, entertainer and entrepreneur. We’ll keep it short and sweet with just one tree and one photo of the man himself (the tree is worth a whole post to itself and needless to say, the same goes for Walter) STONE LANTERN’S SPECIALS END TOMORROW NIGHT see below – Walter in his American Bonsai T-shirt *Thanks to joakimthoresen **If you’re really good at something and you live long enough, you might become … Continue reading One Famous Bonsai Artist, One Tree & One T-Shirt

Bonsai Display Stands & their Trees

Here’s David Knittle’s caption for this remarkable display: “Honduras rosewood table, 20″ x 8.5″ x 4″ high. It was built for this juniper rock planting displayed at the San Diego Bonsai Club’s Fall 2016 show.” Still wrapping up year end stuff, so we’ll take the easy way out and show you one from our archives (Feb, 2017). It’s a good follow up to yesterday’s post on David Knittle’s stands and some of the bonsai that have been displayed on them. All these photos show here (and yesterday) are from David’s fb timeline. There’s a lot more where these came from 2019 JAPANESE BONSAI CALENDAR SPECIAL … Continue reading Bonsai Display Stands & their Trees

Quality Bonsai Deserves Quality Stands

Closeup of a Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) that was exhibited by John Kirby at the 2018 National Bonsai Exhibition. The display table was built by David Knittle (details are below with the uncropped photo) Flashing back to the 2018 6th National Bonsai Exhibition, here are a couple trees from the Exhibition that we haven’t shown yet, and one other tree that was shown at the 2018 Mid Atlantic Bonsai Festival. All three are on display tables that were built by David Knittle 20% OFF BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL ENDS tonight Choose from our vast array of sizes & types of … Continue reading Quality Bonsai Deserves Quality Stands

Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival

This Satsuki azalea with its powerful trunk and nebari would be a remarkable even without its brilliant flowers The bonsai featured here are from the 2018 Satsuki Azalea Festival in Ueno, Tokyo (even though they are from last year, this is the first time we’ve shown them). You can see these and more flowering Satsuki on Naoi Kenichi’s fb timeline. Continued below… 20% OFF BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL ENDS SOON Choose from our vast array of sizes & types of wire Special ends Thursday, Jan 3rd at 11:59pm EST Here’s something from Wikipedia on Satsuki azaleas… “Satsuki azaleas have a diverse rnge of flower forms and color patterns with multiple patterns … Continue reading Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival