Powerful Shari, Brilliant Pot & Upside Down Maple

This old Taxus Baccata (English yew) is dominated by its powerful shari (trunk deadwood) The artist is Stefano Frisoni of Italy. On the road again today, so we’ll take the easy way out. The photos shown here are from a post we did in December, 2015. Continued below… NEW SALE 25% off our large selection of Bonsai Fertilizer well fed bonsai are healthy bonsai plus 10% off orders 100.00 or more and FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00 or more Nice tree. Brilliant pot! Eleven years from stump by Mario Komsta (a regular here on Bark). It’s a Silverberry … Continue reading Powerful Shari, Brilliant Pot & Upside Down Maple

Calligraphy & the Origins of Bonsai

Calligraphy anyone? I don’t know if calligraphy was on Mario Komsta’s mind when he styled this remarkable tree. I do know that there was a time when bonsai that looked like calligraphy was popular and that many scholars agree that bonsai was, in part at least, inspired by the calligraphy of the old Chinese masters. This is especially true of literati style bonsai (bunjin in Japanese). Headed out of town this morning, so we’ll make this quick and easy. This post originally appeared here on Bark in 2013. I started out to continue our Hornbeam series, but got distracted by … Continue reading Calligraphy & the Origins of Bonsai

More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Always nice to lead with a little color. This cheerful full fall color Trident maple belonged to Suthin Sukosolvisit when we first showed it way back in 2009. I don’t know who the lucky owner is now. Continuing with yesterday’s fully fledged admiration of Suthin and his bonsai, here are a few choice trees dug out from our archives. Continued below… A great sale ends tonight Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Sale 25% to 30% off 500 gram Bonsai Aesthetics Wire 25% off 2-5 rolls (10.12 each) 30% off 6 or more (9.45 each) this sale ends tonight, Sunday at 11:59pm EST … Continue reading More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines

This sweet luminous little Japanese white pine belongs to Suthin. A total winner, right down to the perfectly pitched pot and the vivid yellow-green moss. Even given the fresh scar where a branch was just removed, it’s still simply superb (must be alliteration day today). Another reminder of Suthin’s bonsai vision and skills. I don’t usually pour it on quite so thick, but there’s something about Suthin* and his prolific bonsai brilliance, that brings out my adolescent star struck nature. And I’m not the only one. Go to any show where Suthin is vending and watch the bonsai devotees gather … Continue reading Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines

Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine

This magnificent monster yamadori Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) belongs to Andres Alvarez Iglesias. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below Andres Alvarez Iglesias sent the photo above to the Bonsai Focus Golden Concave contest (see the poster just below). Judging from what I see here, there are some other very good trees (including several that we’ve featured here on Bark). They’ll need to be very good to hold up to this one. Continued below… Two New Excellent Japanese Tool Sales 25% off Koyo Bonsai Tools and… 25% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Plus an extra … Continue reading Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine

Daring Combinations

You don’t see pots this ornate everyday. Our source offers no information on the type tree or the artist. At least in English; what text there is, is Vietnamese. Speaking of, you may not know that Vietnam most likely has more bonsai per capita than any other country. Here’s some evidence from a 2014 Bark post. I found this photo while on my daily Facebook adventure. It was posted by Bonsai Nguyen Van Sau. You don’t see that many ornate or colorful pots in the West or Japan. The aesthetic seems to be one of restraint, where the artist is … Continue reading Daring Combinations

Walter’s Massive Forest & Other Hornbeam Bonsai

This massive Hornbeam forest belongs to Walter Pall. Walter doesn’t mention the variety in his gallery section (you might be able to hunt it down on his blog), but given that Walter lives in Germany, You might guess that it’s a European hornbeam (Carpinus betula), but I wouldn’t take it to the bank. The other day someone asked if we would do something on Hornbeams, so here it is, the beginning of a series on the Hornbeam genus (Carpinus). And in case the person who asked is actually reading this (or anyone else is interested), our archives contain several Hornbeam … Continue reading Walter’s Massive Forest & Other Hornbeam Bonsai

A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

After. This impressive and very unusual European olive was styled by Javi Campos Juan. You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t conform to this standard often look unnatural. Still, I like this tree a lot. True, at first glance I thought it was a conifer and was surprised when I read Javi’s Campos Juan’s caption which refers to it as Ullastre (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris). But beauty is as you … Continue reading A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

The Usual Suspects & The Real Mr Kobayashi

This Japanese flowering apricot (Prunus mume) is from the Shunka-en Bonsai Museum. This and the other photos shown here are from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai blog. If you’ve seen the movie The Usual Suspects, you no doubt remember Mr Kobayashi, a smooth and ruthless professional criminal with a Japanese name and a face that doesn’t match. Just another surprise in a very surprising movie. Anyway, I happened to watch Suspects for about the fifth time the other day, and now a day or so later, I just visited Bill Valavanis (his blog that is) and there he was… the real Mr … Continue reading The Usual Suspects & The Real Mr Kobayashi

Bonsai Forests – Turntable, Sieve & Hand Tool Sale

We don’t know the source for this photo (Just heard this from Felix Laughlin…. “Wayne, the top photo of the forest of Chinese elms is from the North American Collection at the NB&PM, and was donated by Susanne Barrymore; it’s been in training since 1988”),but we do know that the trees are Chinese elms (Ulmus parviflora). Most forest plantings have a primary focal point, but in this case there are several trees competing for your eye. But no matter, the overall effect is one of unity, depth and naturalness; reminiscent of Live oaks in the California Coast Range. Forest plantings … Continue reading Bonsai Forests – Turntable, Sieve & Hand Tool Sale