A Lifetime of Bonsai Inspiration

This convoluted Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) belongs to Ed Trout of Pembroke Pines Florida. The container is by Sonny Boggs. The photo is from the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album. We always have an eye out for unique, high quality bonsai and this one certainly qualifies. A little over two weeks ago we received our copies of the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album. Since then, I’ve tried to spend a few minutes each day thumbing through and allowing myself to re-experience the initial jolt of excitement from that first day. Now it’s your turn. But we don’t want to spoil … Continue reading A Lifetime of Bonsai Inspiration

Wildly Unique Before & After Bonsai

Before and after by Alfredo Salaccione (Bonsailab.) The after version is so wildly unique that you’ll most likely recognize if you stumble upon it five years from now. And what a dramatic change. The way the branching and foliage has been moved and refined is dramatic enough, but then there’s the deadwood (upper left on the after shot) that has risen to new heights. I’m not sure how this was done. Alfredo Salaccione doesn’t say what the tree is, but based on some other trees on his timeline, and based on the way the foliage looks in the before shot, I’m … Continue reading Wildly Unique Before & After Bonsai

Juniper Bonsai Before & After – Cleanup Day

Before and after on cleanup day. It’s a Tam juniper (Juniperus sabina ‘Tamariscifolia’) that belongs to Michael Hagedorn. It’s finally sunny after interminable and often torrential rains, so it’s time to dig back into our archives so we can get outside asap. This post originally appeared almost exactly a year ago to the day. Here’s copy about the tree shown above that I lifted from Michael Horndorn’s Crataegus Bonsai: “The day these photos were taken was a basic ‘clean up day’ for the juniper—no wire was applied, removing only old and dangling foliage and shortening shoots that were overlong, and … Continue reading Juniper Bonsai Before & After – Cleanup Day

From Wild to Wild – Another Before & After Bonsai

After. This distinctive European spruce, aka Norway spruce (Picea abies) was collected in Switzerland in 1993. It’s now 25cm (10″) high and around 100 years old. The strikingly naturalistic pot (by Mateusz Grobeiny) and those little plants (succulents?) growing around the trunk and flowing down side of the pot add a strong natural touch. So natural that you might imagine stumbling upon the whole planting while hiking in the Alps. The artist and owner of the tree is Walter Pall. You can view the before and after together if you scroll down. Too much going on here today, so we’ll … Continue reading From Wild to Wild – Another Before & After Bonsai

Two More Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

We found these two photos at Bonsai Shikoku. All the text is Japanese and there are no intermediate photos, so what you see is what you get. At a glance you can see that there have been two major changes. First, the foliage has been thinned in order to expose most of the trunk and some of the branching. This allows for an unobstructed view of the deadwood and the lower sections of the living veins. The other obvious change is the result of meticulous cleaning and brightening of the deadwood and living veins. Here’s an excellent video if … Continue reading Two More Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

Still Crazy and an American Bonsai Classic

Michael Levin’s ‘Hatanaka’ Prostrata juniper, June 2015. Even though the foliage hasn’t filled out yet, this shot clearly shows the bones of the tree and seems like a good place to start. Still Crazy. Yesterday we put together a Before and After post that featured three trees by Bonsai Crazy (aka Uchida Yusuki). This jogged my memory and led me back to a November 2015 post about this great old Hatanaka/Levin Prostrata juniper that Bonsai Crazy wired while he was in the States visiting Michael and some other American bonsai growers. Here’s what Michael Levin, owner of Bonsai West and … Continue reading Still Crazy and an American Bonsai Classic

Bonsai Crazy – Before & After x 3

Of the three before and after photos shown here, this is my favorite. The transition from a clunky, overgrown and unbalanced semi cascading bonsai to an elegant fully cascading tree is radical and quite impressive. If you didn’t know, you might never guess it’s the same tree. All three before and after shots shown here are by Bonsai Crazy. If you’d like to see transition shots, you can visit Crazy on facebook. If you’re curious about just who this person is who calls himself Bonsai Crazy, here’s something from his website that will shed some light. NEW LOWEST WIRE PRICE … Continue reading Bonsai Crazy – Before & After x 3

The Whole Bonsai Setup – Trees, Tools & Wire

I like this photo. In addition to the rather spectacular tree, there’s the whole setup, with tools and wire that tells us something about the place where this tree was styled and the means by which it was styled. Here’s the caption with this tree… “What 6 years of work, a beautiful environment and a great photographer Jill Moors can do …” I always get a little jolt when I discover a new (for me) bonsai artist. In this case the artist is Yannick Kiggen. Yannick calls his bonsai endeavor YAMA Bonsai Studio. We’ll just scratch the surface here and encourage … Continue reading The Whole Bonsai Setup – Trees, Tools & Wire

“Keep Calm & Carry On”

Once you get over the fascination with this tree’s gigantic girth – and your reaction (positive, negative or otherwise) – you might notice there’s a lot more going on than simply size. This photo and the others shown here belong to Ignazio Giambrone. European olives and exaggerated trunks are almost synonymous. For some of us, these monsters are worthy of high praise – with their massive girth (and great taper in most cases) – while for others these fat beasts might seem just a tad over the top. Mostly, I count myself in first group. Girth and taper are powerful … Continue reading “Keep Calm & Carry On”

More North American Bonsai Excellence

Winner of the Creative Award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The tree is a Dwarf Japanese garden juniper (Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’) and the artist is Creighton Bostrom. The photo is by Joe Noga, as are all the photos in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album To continue where we left off yesterday… we just got our new 2017 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album and it’s the best yet. We’ll show two more photos here and leave the rest up to you Time to Stock Up on Bonsai Wire 1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading More North American Bonsai Excellence