Precision, Power & that Natural Feel

I don’t think there are many trees in our bonsai universe this powerful and that are styled with such precision (and without sacrificing the natural feel). It’s a Ficus by Min Hsuan Lo (Min doesn’t give the variety, but does say there are details in his book, Bonsai Journey). You don’t see many defoliated Ficus either. The absence of leaves allows you to better see the structure and fine branching, both of which are exquisite (in case you didn’t notice). I like the pot too. Its dark reddish-brown helps bring out the texture of the trunk and also highlights the … Continue reading Precision, Power & that Natural Feel

Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

I borrowed this mesmerizing ancient black pine trunk from Andy Rutledge’s ‘the bonsai journal.’ I’m traveling again for awhile. I’ll try to find the time put together some new posts, but meanwhile, a little digging into our archives provides an easy way out. This post originally appeared almost three years ago (May 2011). I picked it for a couple reasons: I am enamored of the lead photo (above) and, we don’t do many ‘how-to’ posts. There’s a reason for the dearth of ‘how-to’ posts; people don’t seem that interested, at least based on comments (which is all we have to … Continue reading Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

Nest of Cranes, Whirlpool Dancer

Mulitple trunk, raft-style Japanese white pine. This is a truly spectacular example of raft style bonsai. It’s mature and abundant, with a flowing natural feel that is the result of bonsai artistry at its best (nature too). In fact, it’s so spectacular that it has a name (Maiko – Dancer). In Japan, names are usually reserved for the best bonsai. This tree resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, as do all five trees in this post (from Omiya’s timeline on facebook). All the trees in this post are Japanese white pines that reside at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum … Continue reading Nest of Cranes, Whirlpool Dancer

$100 Contest: Choosing the Right Pot

The idea for choosing the best pot for this tree belongs to Boon Manakitivipart, as do all the photos in this post. The idea for turning this into a contest belongs to me. This is our second post on Choosing the Right Pot in the last few weeks (December 14. 2013). The tree is a Chinese cork bark elm. All the photos were borrowed from Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon). The Contest: To to eligible to win the $100 Stone Lantern gift certificate you must do the following three things. 1. Choose your favorite pot & tree combination from the … Continue reading $100 Contest: Choosing the Right Pot

Bonsai Meets Pop Music

This old triple trunk Japanese white pine (aka Japanese five needle pine, aka Pinus parviflora or parvifolia) resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Musem in Saitama Japan. There’s a lot to like here, including the ancient bark, a great pot and a nice play of shadows and light as a little bonus. First a confession. The title of this post ‘Bonsai Meets Pop Music’ has little if anything to do with the bonsai shown here. However, if you scroll down, you’ll see that it wasn’t made up out of thin air, and if you read Japanese, some light may be … Continue reading Bonsai Meets Pop Music

Year Round Bonsai

Dien Dàn Cây Canh Viet Nam is what the caption says. Both the tree and the language are Vietnamese, even though the photo and the other two in this post are from Indonesian Bonsai. It’s the tree above that caught my attention while scrolling through reams of facebook photos (part of the advantage of having several thousand facebook friends – there are disadvantages too, as you might imagine). Aside from the fact that it’s a dynamic tree with its powerful well-tapered trunk full of texture and movement, three staggered crowns and all the rest, there’s that thought that keeps popping … Continue reading Year Round Bonsai

Old Kuromatsu for a New Year

This trunk is so heavy that you could imagine it supporting a huge mass of foliage, yet this humble crown works to perfection. There’s a lot more that could be said about this great old tree, but I’ll stop at pointing out the luminous color and texture of the trunk (not that you could miss it). The tree is around 50-years-old and was grown from seed. It belongs to Kiyoshi Hiramatsu (great name for someone who grows pines) owner of the Hiramatsu Seijuen bonsai garden in Takamatsu’s Kokubunji area in Japan. We just ended 2013 with three great Kuromatsu (Japanese … Continue reading Old Kuromatsu for a New Year

King of Bonsai

This has to be one of the most unique Japanese black pines anywhere. I can’t help but think of a monster with two gnarled feet lurching along. Now, if you can put that image out of your mind, you might enjoy the ancient bark and wonderfully confusing movement of the trunks. This is our last post of the year, so why not end 2013 with three great Kuromatsu (Japanese black pines), considered by many to be the king of bonsai? All three belong to Fumio Ideue, owner of Ideue Kikkoen Bonsai Garden in Shikoku, Japan. I originally saw the photos … Continue reading King of Bonsai

Pot Master

I don’t know who styled this wonderfully crazy azalea (I don’t read Japanese) but I do know that Master Potter Gyozan Nakano made the pot. Still out of town so we’ll continue borrowing from our illustrious past. We’re on a pot roll, so let’s just keep rolling. And as long as we’re delving into the archives, why not go all the way back to our first pot post. It’s from July, 2007. A remarkable book about a remarkable potter Four years ago (ten years ago now) I was given a most remarkable book by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation, who … Continue reading Pot Master

Bonsai in Brooklyn

Cork bark Chinese elm in full fall brilliance at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You don’t see that many good Chinese elm bonsai. At least I don’t. I like this one a lot; its color, the heavy trunk with its corky bark, the handsome Tokoname pot. This photo and the others in this post are from the bonsai collection on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens website. I think the quality of the Brooklyn Botanic bonsai collection has been improving for a while now. Still not a world class collection, but getting there. Speaking of world-class collections, I think the U.S. lags a … Continue reading Bonsai in Brooklyn