Bonsai Winners, Part Three

The Finest Evergreen Bonsai. San Jose Juniper by Anthony Alario of Providence, Rhode Island. Round three This is our third and final posting of the winners of the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition which was held just over two weeks ago. We’ll give it rest after this, until the book comes out later this year. Night and day and just a tad To repeat myself from the last post; “the photos from the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition are professional and well done. However, the difference between seeing the splendid power of top quality bonsai up close and personal, and … Continue reading Bonsai Winners, Part Three

More Bonsai Winners

Winner of the Yoshimura Award. It’s a Nikko Satsuki Azalea by Robert Blankfield of Rochester, New York. Round two This is our second posting of the winners of the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition which was held two weeks ago. We still have some to show, so stand by for a third posting. Night and day The photos from the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition are professional and well done. However, the difference between seeing the splendid power of top quality bonsai up close and personal, and photos of those same top quality bonsai are, to borrow a common phrase, … Continue reading More Bonsai Winners

Defoliating, Repotting & Other Tricks

Trident Maple (Kaede) at the Kokufu-ten in 1972. It now lives in Washington D.C. at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. The photo is from Capital Bonsai. Back to square one I’m still trying to get back to square one after the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, so I won’t say too much except that I’ve recently come across two excellent posts about Trident maples. The first is at Capital Bonsai and shows the repotting of a famous old Trident that now resides at the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, and the second, which is about defoliation (and more), … Continue reading Defoliating, Repotting & Other Tricks

Bougainvillea Bonsai: Brilliant Or A Little Too Brazen?

You have to use your imagination for the pot, but not much imagination when it comes to color. This photo and the others in this post are from an article on Chinese bougainvillea on Bonsai-Penjing. You be the judge One of the many things I like about southern climes are the colorful bougainvilleas that you often see gracing balconies and draped along buildings and walls. It’s as if bougainvilleas and walls were made for each other. But what about bougainvilleas and bonsai? In some cases the two go together very well. I’ll let you be the judge of the trees … Continue reading Bougainvillea Bonsai: Brilliant Or A Little Too Brazen?

Robert Steven Critique & An Intoxicated Debate

Sake fueled debate? Are these two old Chinese sages engaged in a raging (and perhaps intoxicated) philosophical debate? (Speaking of: Monday’s NYTimes has a somewhat interesting article/debate about Western vs non-Western philosophy for the two of you who might be interested in such things.) But I digress. What you are really looking at is a Robert Steven simulation of a tree that was submitted by Mr Zhang Bing for critique. Singing Robert’s praises We’ve been singing praises for Robert Steven’s bonsai, bonsai simulations and books for a long time. Here’s why; Robert provides insights about bonsai and especially Penjing that … Continue reading Robert Steven Critique & An Intoxicated Debate

Making a Point with Deadwood

Going down? There’s a lot to love about this old tree: that little piece of wood that hangs over the edge of the pot, the remarkable texture and color of the bark and the way the powerful old trunk seems to cling to the pot. There’s also the fact that the tree is a Southwestern White Pine (Pinus strobiformis), not your everyday bonsai species. And then there’s that remarkable jin that seems to be unconcerned if it fits or doesn’t fit with the rest of the tree. The tree belong to Greg Brenden. The photo is from the 2010 2nd … Continue reading Making a Point with Deadwood

Arts of the Earth

Beech with vase. The tree is a Japanese beech ‘Fuji’ by Kazuhiro Ohashi. For more information, including the name of the artist who made the vase, you can visit the Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Arts of the Earth Exhibit Traditions and Transitions: Arts of the Earth Exhibit Digging way back to the early days of this century (2006), we turned up this unique exhibit from Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection. Aside from saying that I very much enjoyed the photos and the concept, we’ll leave the rest to David De Groot, the curator of the collection. In Curator David De Groot’s … Continue reading Arts of the Earth

Wiki Bonsai

The back? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about this tree: “A Dwarf Japanese Juniper (Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’) bonsai on display at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the United States National Arboretum. According to the tree’s display placard, it has been in training since 1975. It was donated by Thomas Tecza. This is the “back” of the tree.” This explanation begs at least two questions: why isn’t this view the front (you can scroll all the way down to see the front and decide for yourself)? and, is this a phoenix graft (isn’t the trunk way too massive … Continue reading Wiki Bonsai

Weekly Wire, Bonsai Comic, Shohin Maffia & A Colorful Bonsai Celebration

Look familiar? You may have seen this most excellent Mario Komsta pine before. In fact, it’s possible that we’ve already featured it right here, though I can’t find when or where. Anyway, if we did already show it; it was good then and it’s still good now. Do you recognize this tree? If so, It’s not too late to enter our Bonsai Detectives $250 Mystery Contest. Shohin Maffia? I guess you know what shohin means and you probably have a pretty good grasp of maffia too (even with the double f). Now you can see what happens when … Continue reading Weekly Wire, Bonsai Comic, Shohin Maffia & A Colorful Bonsai Celebration

Nick’s Bonsai & FREE ITEMS Last Day

I know many of you have already seen this somewhat unruly apple, but many of you haven’t. Either way, it’s a very distinctive bonsai, and it’s flowering no less! You can find it on the back cover of Nick Lenz’ landmark book on collecting, Bonsai from the Wild. Larch master Lenz It seems like high time to return to our old friend Larch Master Nick Lenz. Especially since we just received some new photos of some of Nick’s trees from Candy Shirey, who is now their proud owner. This isn’t the first time we’ve featured bonsai of Nick’s that now … Continue reading Nick’s Bonsai & FREE ITEMS Last Day