Cuttings

Brilliant Fall Bonsai Color

Brilliant fall color. Sweet tree too. It belongs to Harry Harrington. Here’s his caption: “A quick shot of my English or Field Elm bonsai today (Ulmus minor), showing autumn colour. Height 17″/42cm. Developed from an airlayered branch 12 years ago, some of you may recognise from my book Bonsai Inspirations 1. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Bonsai.” Got a couple Harry Harrington beauties in fall color for you today. I lifted them from Harry’s facebook feed. Harry also has an excellent website, bonsai4me.com and three books in print in England. You can look for the U.S. edition of Foundations … Continue reading Brilliant Fall Bonsai Color

Scary Bonsai

Halloween? At first glance you might just see the tree and the cobwebs and miss the hands. This photo and the one just below are from Robert Steven’s 2014 International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale. This special Halloween post first appeared one year ago today. There’s something about those ‘severed’ arms that’s just a little ominous. Is this where the recent ‘Black Scissors’ rage started? NEW Bonsai Wire Sale 20% off 500 gram rolls of Bonsai Aesthetics Wire plus an extra 10% off orders 100.00+ and FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00+ I think this contorted little gem makes for … Continue reading Scary Bonsai

Four Sturdy Bonsai & One Very Sturdy Turntable

Old European olives are often full of character as well as muscle, and this one is no exception. I believe the tree belongs to Luis Vallejo, though I couldn’t find evidence on his website. Taking some time off today, so we’ll resurrect an old favorite from our archives. While we’re at, we’ll give a nod to our powerful Green T Turntable. There’s something compelling about bonsai with powerful trunks. Assuming that I’m not the only one so compelled, below are three more very sturdy bonsai and one very sturdy turntable for your enjoyment. Myrtus communis by Rui Ferrreira. I’ve never … Continue reading Four Sturdy Bonsai & One Very Sturdy Turntable

An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

Boon Manakitivipart’s transformed Sierra juniper. If you go to Styling on Bonsai Boon you can see how Boon took this tree through an eight year bonsai journey. Yesterday’s post was about a magnificent old California juniper, so we’ll just stay right there in the Golden State and take a look at another native, a Sierra juniper, a very close cousin to the California juniper. I borrowed the photos and some of the text from way back in the first year of Bonsai Bark. We’ve featured Boon Manakitivipart on this blog before, and for good reason. He’s a highly accomplished bonsai … Continue reading An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

California Bonsai Dreaming Again, but this Time in the Right Sequence

It would have been better (and correct) if I had used this as the lead (and final) photo in this morning’s post. Had I been paying attention, I could have figured out that I had the third and forth iterations backwards in this morning’s California juniper post (if you don’t like humiliation, be careful what you say and be doubly careful what you write. Especially on the internet). Michael Andrews just emailed me to gently help clear things up (and to mention that the tree is ‘huge’). Though the tree does belong to Mauro Stemberger, Michael recently worked on it … Continue reading California Bonsai Dreaming Again, but this Time in the Right Sequence

California Bonsai Dreaming

This rather impressive California juniper has come a long ways in about three years (based on the Mauro Stemberger’s caption – see below). It still needs to find a massively large pot, but otherwise it looks like it’s getting ready for showtime. The only caption Mauro Stemberger lists with the photos shown here is: CA juniper / 2016-2015-2014 (facebook). I was hoping to flesh out the story with a visit to Mauro’s website, Italian Bonsai Dream, but no such luck. Still, just the photos tell a pretty good bonsai story.   Before. There’s lots of character in this old yamadori … Continue reading California Bonsai Dreaming

Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess spectacular will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. After three straight new posts it’s time to delve into our archives . This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come. The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that … Continue reading Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

More Spectacular Full-Bodied Bonsai from Europe

This wild Sabina juniper (Juniperus sabina) belongs to Gabriel Romero. The pot is from Japan. The photo is courtesy of Harry Harrington, as are all the photos in this post. Yesterday and the day before we featured some of Harry Harrington’s photos from this month’s spectacular European Bonsai San Show. However, with the exception of one shot, none showed the whole tree. Fortunately, Harry offers several shots of each tree, including ‘whole tree, full-bodied’ shots. Continued below… This Itoigawa juniper (Juniperus Chinensis Itoigawa) belongs to Noel Suarez Garcia. The pots a Yamaaki Visit Stone Lantern for NEW Sales on Bonsai … Continue reading More Spectacular Full-Bodied Bonsai from Europe

‘Art Shots’ from the European Bonsai San Show

Here’s a great trunk shot of an old English yew (Taxus baccata) that belongs to Andres Alvarez. The pot is listed as Chinese, which most likely means it’s Yixing. This shot makes it look like a short muscular tree, but it’s actually quite tall. You’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s post or visit Harry Harrington’s site for a photo of the whole tree (the same goes for the other photos in this post). Yesterday’s post was devoted to Harry Harrington’s photos from the recent European Bonsai San Show. Today we’re going to continue with Harry’s photos from the show, only … Continue reading ‘Art Shots’ from the European Bonsai San Show

“An Incredibly High Standard” at the Recent European Bonsai San Show

I’m pretty sure this tree is a Persimmon (otherwise, why the persimmons?). The photo was taken by Harry Harrington at the recent European Bonsai San Show in Saulieu (Burgundy), France. The tree belongs to German Gomez Soler. Bonsai artists that happen to be accomplished photographers can provide an illuminating peek into the heart of the art of bonsai. In this case, the artist/photographer is our friend Harry Harrington. Harry is also the author of several bonsai books that are quite popular in Europe (you can expect the U.S. edition of his Foundations of Bonsai soon). Continued below… This rather spectacular … Continue reading “An Incredibly High Standard” at the Recent European Bonsai San Show