Cuttings

Bonsai & Penjing, Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty

This brand new book tells the awe-inspiring stories of bonsai and penjing trees in the collection of the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. A must for any red-blooded American bonsai lover and really, any bonsai lover anywhere. We are delighted to offer a beautiful new bonsai book for all of you who love our wonderful U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing collections (even if you don’t know it yet). It’s the next best thing to being there and as a bonus you get the awe inspiring stories of the trees, with some international diplomacy thrown in for good measure. A spread … Continue reading Bonsai & Penjing, Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty

Power, Brilliance and a Sweet Ficus Forest

This Bougainvillea from Wigert’s Bonsai exhibits a striking combination of power and brilliant color. You can visit Wigert’s Bonsai Gallery to see another shot in a different setting. Up against it today, so it’s back to the archives. This one originally appeared April 2011. Continued below…. 25% off Bonsai Fertilizer & Soil Sale ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT Other current Sales at Stone Lantern 20% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools 20% off Watering Cans & Implements 30% to 40% off Bonsai Today Back Issues an Extra 10% off orders 100.00+ FREE Shipping for U.S. orders 50.00+   Too Little … Continue reading Power, Brilliance and a Sweet Ficus Forest

Three Robust Shimpaku on a Stupendous Rock

Three robust Shimpaku junipers on a stupendous rock. From the Omiya Bonsai Museum via Empire Bonsai. Yesterday we featured a type of bonsai forest, so let’s keep going with another type. Though some people might not call these rock plantings forests, they do share the multiple tree and the landscape features with more conventional bonsai forests. This post (with a few changes) first appeared August 2015. That’s Ryan Neil’s hand posing for a professional photo with a one of the largest root-on-rock plantings you’ll ever see. Here’s his caption: “In the studio today with @hornbecker shooting for the Artisans Cup … Continue reading Three Robust Shimpaku on a Stupendous Rock

The Best in Bonsai Design

This has got to be one of the most magnificent Chinese hackberry (Celtis sinensis) bonsai anywhere. Though the distinctive split trunk needs no comment, you might also notice the highly developed ramification (fine branching). The tree was donated to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection (now the Pacific Bonsai Museum) by Ben Oki. It has been over a year now since we posted our glowing introduction to Dave DeGroot’s indispensable Principles of Bonsai Design. With the slow inexorable erosion of print media in this digital age, we never thought we would see another bonsai book this popular. But popular it is. … Continue reading The Best in Bonsai Design

Another Great Bonsai Show & a Scary Device

When I first glimpsed this photo, I though maybe it was a painting. In addition to being a great bonsai, it’s a good example of what fall color looks like on a Larch (larch are one of only four deciduous conifers). Also a good example of what larch cones look like. I’ll take a not-so-wild guess that it was collected somewhere in Europe. Which would make it a European larch (Larix decidua). The photo is from the National Exhibition in Switzerland (Mostra Nazionale Svizzera 2016). Still traveling and busy, so we’ll just show you two trees from the recent National … Continue reading Another Great Bonsai Show & a Scary Device

Highly Unusual & Undeniably Lush

This Hinoki forest is from the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 2009 Annual Show. It’s a very unusual planting and quite compelling in its lush naturalness. I’ve come across spruce groves while hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire that look something like this. You find them near the mountain tops, where the harsh climate causes the trees to dwarf and huddle together. Traveling again so it’s back to our archives. The photo and caption above are from a post way back in 2010. It’s hard to miss the canopy’s lush and luminous emerald green color. This is characteristic of Hinoki foliage … Continue reading Highly Unusual & Undeniably Lush

A Steady Stream of Excellent and Often Unusual Bonsai

An impressively complex cascading juniper by Isao Omachi. Is it too busy, or would it diminish the tree’s magic if you tried to simplify it? We can count on Isao Omachi for a steady stream of excellent and often  unusual bonsai. As a result of this steady stream, we’ve featured his trees well over a dozen times here on Bonsai Bark and I suspect we’ll continue to feature them for as long as we keep posting (going on eight years and still counting). This time it’s three trees from Isao’s recent facebook photos. Two of them are full cascade junipers … Continue reading A Steady Stream of Excellent and Often Unusual Bonsai

Dramatic Bonsai & Mixed Media Presentations from Lithuania

Though there are ample shots of unusual bonsai and mixed media presentations from the recent 2016 Lithuania – International Black Scissors Bonsai Convention, this wonderfully eccentric bonsai jumped out at me. I cropped the photo to bring us in a little closer. The original photo is below. The photos shown here are from the recent 2016 Lithuania – International Black Scissors Bonsai Convention that was held in Alytus, Lithuania September 2-4. It was presented in collaboration with the 5th Japanese Culture Festival. Thanks to our old friend and business associate, Robert Steven for providing the link and encouragement to visit … Continue reading Dramatic Bonsai & Mixed Media Presentations from Lithuania

Johnny’s Stellar Saikei

This stellar Saikei by Johnny Uchida was sent to us by Noah (no last name). Johnny Uchida is the owner of Grove Way Nursery in Hayward, California. Still recovering from my all too short (one week) vacation, so we’ll dig back into our archives. This one is from all the way back to 2010. Here what Noah (see caption above) has to say about this planting: “This saikei was done by Johnny Uchida of Grove Way Bonsai as an example for beginning students. Mr. Uchida is the sensei of Yamato Bonsai Kai in Northern California. The trees are cryptomeria and … Continue reading Johnny’s Stellar Saikei

A Great Bonsai Story & the Tree Isn’t Half Bad Either

Shimpaku juniper from a Peter Tea post, titled Shimpaku, The Unexpected Surprise. My apologies to Peter for cropping the bottom of the pot to get rid of a distracting white band that appears in the the original (it’s below so you can decide for yourself if my pickiness has gotten out of control). Just back from a total non-working vacation/ retreat. I usually work some during so called vacations, but this time I went whole hog and almost completely avoided work. I mention this as an excuse for resurrecting this old Bark post from 2013. If you’re not familiar with … Continue reading A Great Bonsai Story & the Tree Isn’t Half Bad Either