Fairy Tale Bonsai

This wild and wooly Honeysuckle belongs to Walter Pall. Here’s his caption: “Tatarian honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica, collected in Norway in 2010.. This species is quite interesting and very rare as bonsai. It throws hundreds of shoots in early spring. But after wiring most of them die – in my garden at least. Anyway, slowly but gradually the tree starts to look decent. This may be classified as Fairy Tale Style.” We usually go for a more finished look, but these rough lightly-styled collected trees are too good to pass up. They are from Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures. I’ll just mention … Continue reading Fairy Tale Bonsai

Trout Fishing in America (off the Bonsai Mainstream)

I like this full cascade with its flowing lines and unusual perspective. It’s from Ed Trout’s facebook photos as are the other four bonsai photos in this post. I’m going to guess that it’s a Lantana, but my guessing record isn’t all that good. Ed Trout’s bonsai are unique. Distinctive is another word that comes to mind. It’s as though he branched off from the bonsai mainstream (please accept my apologies – twice) years ago and followed his own inclinations and now those inclinations have borne fruit. You might have to see more of his bonsai to get a feel … Continue reading Trout Fishing in America (off the Bonsai Mainstream)

A Wild Weather Beaten Story

After styling. This wild looking tree is a Phoenician juniper. The artist is Salvatore Liporace. All three images in this post are from Salvatore’s facebook photos. Several things caught my attention when I first saw this tree. First, it’s a Phoenician juniper, a tree you don’t see very often, especially here in North America (we’ve only featured one in all our years of posting). Second, it’s a compelling bonsai styled by an accomplished bonsai artist (Salvatore Liporace). Third, there’s the almost scary deadwood. Like a tree you might see at a haunted house in a spooky movie. One thing that … Continue reading A Wild Weather Beaten Story

Walter Pall’s Hedge Cutting Method

The Japanese maple that Walter Pall uses to illustrate his ‘hedge-cutting method.’ This photo was taken four years after Walter started working with this tree. The before photo is below. We ran this last year, but it’s so good and the season for bonsai hands on is almost here for most of us (already here for some), so just in case you missed it… Walter Pall’s hedge-cutting method. Our last post presented a radical approach to soil and feeding by Walter Pall, the great bonsai innovator. This post features another of Walter’s radical innovations. This time it’s about pruning broad … Continue reading Walter Pall’s Hedge Cutting Method

Boon Again & Again

Shohin cork bark Chinese elm in its new pot. From Boon Manakitivipart’s facebook feed. Boon is repotting once again. On facebook of all places. Just in case you don’t know who Boon is, well, among other things he’s a famous bonsai artist and teacher who resides in the SF Bay Area. Here’s his home page on facebook, here’s his website and here’s Boon Again, one of many Bark posts where he is featured. There are differing opinions about the practice of washing the roots clean when repotting, but that’s for another time.

Great Trees, Great Pots

Much of the bonsai in Taiwan seems to pair truly remarkable trees with truly remarkable pots. Not that the best bonsai elsewhere aren’t usually in suitably excellent pots, but still, there’s something both bold and refined about these uniquely beautiful hand-painted Taiwanese pots that create extra excitement and pleasure (something like that anyway). I found these photos on facebook a while back, but now, after spending 30 minutes looking for the source, I’ve given up. This is a little embarrassing because I’m usually a bit of a fanatic about attribution. I guess we’ll just have to wait for Jose Luis … Continue reading Great Trees, Great Pots

Bay Island Bonsai Tonight

I like the way the shari is understated, relative to many juniper bonsai at least. It contrasts nicely with the striking reddish bark, which someone went to a lot to some trouble to clean up. It’s a Sierra juniper, which as you might guess from the name, is native to the Sierra Nevada Mountains (and further north into the Cascades). The photo is from the Bay Island Bonsai’s 15th Annual Exhibit. Aside from the fact that this is an excellent bonsai with potential to become even better, the fact that it’s a native North American species is an added plus … Continue reading Bay Island Bonsai Tonight

Raw Energy & Backwards Bonsai

This powerful Nea buxifolia by Nelson Hernandez won 3rd place in the 2013 World Bonsai Federation Bonsai Photo Contest. You don’t see too many Nea bonsai outside the tropics, though they do pop up from time to time. Buxifolia means ‘box leaf ‘or ‘boxwood leaf’ which seems suitable for a variety with such tiny leaves. This one is resides in Puerto Rico. This and the other two photos in this post are from the North American Bonsai Federation. Third first? I’m not trying to make a statement by showing the 2013 WBFF photo contest third place tree first and the … Continue reading Raw Energy & Backwards Bonsai

Our First Fuchsia – It’s About the Flowers

This full-of-flowers Fuchsia turned up on Aus Bonsai on facebook. They don’t say who it belongs to, which unfortunately, is what we’ve come to expect on facebook. This is not to complain about Aus Bonsai, I like what they’re doing and they do bother with the species (genus in this case) which is more than many facebook regulars. Here they are on facebook and here’s their website. A first. We’ve been posting mostly every other day for five years (lately every day) and have never shown a Fuchsia bonsai (I had to search Fushsai just in case, and did turn … Continue reading Our First Fuchsia – It’s About the Flowers

Pot Contest – We Have a Winner!

Pot #2 finished first. Just over three weeks ago we started a contest called Choosing the Right Pot. Here’s the link if you’d like to recharge your memory. A total of 139 people entered the contest. It turned out to be a neck and neck race between two pots. Pot #2 started very strong and looked like it would win going away. Then in the last week or so, pot number 5 gave a valiant chase, finishing a mere one vote short. The breakdown on the favorite pot-tree combination is as follows: 32 chose Pot #2 31 chose Pot #5 … Continue reading Pot Contest – We Have a Winner!