New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Colorful fall highlights at Morten Albek’s Shohin bonsai garden NEW ONLINE BONSAI COURSE Morten Albek of Shohin Bonsai Europe and Oscar Jonker at Bonsai Empire have teamed up to create a Brand New Online Shohin Bonsai Course. I am familiar with both of these gentlemen (Stone Lantern published and edited Morten’s Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature – sorry, out of print – and I’ve been borrowing great photos from Oscar for a long time), so if my two cents are still worth anything, I’m betting it’s a winner You’ll need some good tools if you’re going to take the course NEW ROSHI TOOL SPECIAL 30% … Continue reading New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Kimura Playing with Bonsai

One of Masahiko Kimura’s famous juniper rock plantings at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s their caption… “Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” Today’s photos are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. I don’t know who the photographer is, but the results are great, especially the one above with its soft texture and colors. But what really caught my eye is the way the foliage stands out from the rock and shadows in the background All the trees are the work of the world’s most famous Bonsai artist, Masahiko Kimura (The Magician). Here’s a quote from … Continue reading Kimura Playing with Bonsai

Finding a Way to Improve Any Bonsai

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Pemphis acidula that was submitted by Nurul Fajri (the original photo is below). Traveling today, so it’s archive time. We first featured the critique back in November, 2013. The tree is exceptional and worth another look When I opened my email from Robert Steven and glanced at the before photo (below), I thought it was the after photo. But only for a moment. It’s the pot that gave it away. The rest looked pretty good (some of us might trade our entire collections for a tree like this). But not good enough for Robert who always … Continue reading Finding a Way to Improve Any Bonsai

A Bonsai Feast for Tired Eyes

A feast for tired eyes!* Two day ago we featured a photo of Bill Valavanis’ full moon maple. Yesterday Bill sent us this photo of the same tree. The other one was good, but the detail and over all quality is even better on this one Off to see Hamilton in Boston tonight, so we’ll make this one short and sweet… just two photos. Both came via Bill Valavanis. Everything else I know is in the captions Two 30% off TOOL SPECIALS End Tomorrow Night OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS KOYO BONSAI TOOLS specials end Friday, Nov 9th at 11:59pm EST I found this famous little Crabapple on Bill’s … Continue reading A Bonsai Feast for Tired Eyes

Fat Trunks & Small Pots 2

Bright yellow is a strong color, but I think this tree can handle it. The dense foliage and sturdy trunk are the keys. The artist is Tomohiro Masumi. No variety is given A few months ago we featured Tomohiro Masumi in a post titled, Fat Trunks, Small Pots. Now we’ve got more of both. All the photos are from Tomohiro’s timeline. The only text is “Takao Koyo pots at Shuga-ten” 30% off Tool Specials End Friday Night OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS KOYO BONSAI TOOLS specials end Friday, Nov 9th at 11:59pm EST Another bright yellow pot and an even stronger … Continue reading Fat Trunks & Small Pots 2

Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Bill Valavanis’ famous Full moon maple in all its glory I’ve been meaning to knock your socks off (do people still say that?) with these photos of Bill’s Brilliant back yard for a few days now, but wanted to get all the fact straight first. Turns out time isn’t on my side so far this week, so I’ll just put the photos up as I found them on Bill’s fb timeline. If you want more info, feel free to follow the link. Continued below… 30% off Tool Specials End Soon OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS KOYO BONSAI TOOLS – Here’s a note Bill … Continue reading Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Potentilla fruticosa before and after from Lakeshore Bonsai. There’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to styling and caring for Potentilla Yesterday we featured a couple little Potentilla, so let’s stay on theme. This one was styled by Aaron at Lakeshore Bonsai in Toronto. The following is quoted directly from Lakeshore’s site… “This Potentilla is as fragile as a stained glass window and parts of it literally crumble away every time I work on it. It has undergone some pretty radical changes since I acquired it in 2011, and certainly does not look like the tree I initially envisioned it would … Continue reading Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Would you ever guess that these two little gems are Potentilla? Both are sweet in their own way, and so’s the photo; the muted painterly background, the contrasting pot colors and contrasting dead and live wood on both trees. I don’t know what the little companion is, but I like it too. I found it on Roman Stresow’s timeline. His caption is Just two Potentilla When I saw the photo above and then read that the trees were Potentilla (aka Cinquefoil), I felt a little tug of excitement. Not only were both little trees unique, but they’re Potentilla, a type tree I have … Continue reading Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Contrast! This shot has to go in our Bonsai Bark hall of fame photos (if we had such a thing). The big one is a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) and the small one is unidentified, though it looks a lot like a Shimpaku juniper. Both belong to Mariusz Folda Suddenly we’re inundated with fall color bonsai photos. Our colors in northern Vermont peaked three weeks ago and now the rest of the world is catching up. Mariusz Folda, a long time favorite here on Bark is from Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland Two New 30% off Tool Specials Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Koyo … Continue reading Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Tea Time – Best in Show

Here’s the caption that was posted with this photo… “Congratulations Peter Tea, professional bonsai artist and instructor, Auburn, California, for judged bonsai competition winning Best Conifer and Best in Show (California Juniper) at the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) Convention 41, October 24-28, 2018, Sacramento, California – “Creativity Taking Flight”. Photo by Peter Camarena.” I cropped the original photo (see below) to enjoy a closer look I was beginning to think Peter Tea had gone into hiding and then this popped up. Turns out he was hiding in plain sight. I just lost track for a while and that’s too bad, … Continue reading Tea Time – Best in Show