Styling

Meandering Lines

This Myrtle (Myrtus communis) belongs to Andrea Albergo. The pot is by Greg Ceramics and the photo is by Harry Harrington. I chose it for the lead tree for several reasons; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Myrtle with such a massive trunk, deadwood on most non-conifers isn’t all that common (though becoming more common) and I like the loose abstract meandering lines of the deadwood and living veins. I can’t stop showing you Harry Harrington’s photos from the recent European Bonsai San Show in Saulieu, Burgundy, France. Short of Kokufu (and maybe one or two others) I can’t … Continue reading Meandering Lines

An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

Boon Manakitivipart’s transformed Sierra juniper. If you go to Styling on Bonsai Boon you can see how Boon took this tree through an eight year bonsai journey. Yesterday’s post was about a magnificent old California juniper, so we’ll just stay right there in the Golden State and take a look at another native, a Sierra juniper, a very close cousin to the California juniper. I borrowed the photos and some of the text from way back in the first year of Bonsai Bark. We’ve featured Boon Manakitivipart on this blog before, and for good reason. He’s a highly accomplished bonsai … Continue reading An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

California Bonsai Dreaming Again, but this Time in the Right Sequence

It would have been better (and correct) if I had used this as the lead (and final) photo in this morning’s post. Had I been paying attention, I could have figured out that I had the third and forth iterations backwards in this morning’s California juniper post (if you don’t like humiliation, be careful what you say and be doubly careful what you write. Especially on the internet). Michael Andrews just emailed me to gently help clear things up (and to mention that the tree is ‘huge’). Though the tree does belong to Mauro Stemberger, Michael recently worked on it … Continue reading California Bonsai Dreaming Again, but this Time in the Right Sequence

California Bonsai Dreaming

This rather impressive California juniper has come a long ways in about three years (based on the Mauro Stemberger’s caption – see below). It still needs to find a massively large pot, but otherwise it looks like it’s getting ready for showtime. The only caption Mauro Stemberger lists with the photos shown here is: CA juniper / 2016-2015-2014 (facebook). I was hoping to flesh out the story with a visit to Mauro’s website, Italian Bonsai Dream, but no such luck. Still, just the photos tell a pretty good bonsai story.   Before. There’s lots of character in this old yamadori … Continue reading California Bonsai Dreaming

Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess spectacular will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. After three straight new posts it’s time to delve into our archives . This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come. The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that … Continue reading Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

‘Art Shots’ from the European Bonsai San Show

Here’s a great trunk shot of an old English yew (Taxus baccata) that belongs to Andres Alvarez. The pot is listed as Chinese, which most likely means it’s Yixing. This shot makes it look like a short muscular tree, but it’s actually quite tall. You’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s post or visit Harry Harrington’s site for a photo of the whole tree (the same goes for the other photos in this post). Yesterday’s post was devoted to Harry Harrington’s photos from the recent European Bonsai San Show. Today we’re going to continue with Harry’s photos from the show, only … Continue reading ‘Art Shots’ from the European Bonsai San Show

Power, Brilliance and a Sweet Ficus Forest

This Bougainvillea from Wigert’s Bonsai exhibits a striking combination of power and brilliant color. You can visit Wigert’s Bonsai Gallery to see another shot in a different setting. Up against it today, so it’s back to the archives. This one originally appeared April 2011. Continued below…. 25% off Bonsai Fertilizer & Soil Sale ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT Other current Sales at Stone Lantern 20% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools 20% off Watering Cans & Implements 30% to 40% off Bonsai Today Back Issues an Extra 10% off orders 100.00+ FREE Shipping for U.S. orders 50.00+   Too Little … Continue reading Power, Brilliance and a Sweet Ficus Forest

Three Robust Shimpaku on a Stupendous Rock

Three robust Shimpaku junipers on a stupendous rock. From the Omiya Bonsai Museum via Empire Bonsai. Yesterday we featured a type of bonsai forest, so let’s keep going with another type. Though some people might not call these rock plantings forests, they do share the multiple tree and the landscape features with more conventional bonsai forests. This post (with a few changes) first appeared August 2015. That’s Ryan Neil’s hand posing for a professional photo with a one of the largest root-on-rock plantings you’ll ever see. Here’s his caption: “In the studio today with @hornbecker shooting for the Artisans Cup … Continue reading Three Robust Shimpaku on a Stupendous Rock

Bonsai Forests – Clump Style

We found this extraordinary clump style deciduous bonsai on Bonsai Nakayoshi*. They don’t give a variety. You can imagine that all the smaller trunks started as suckers on the roots of the main tree (you could also imagine that they started from seeds dropped by the main tree; in which case this would not qualify as a clump style bonsai). This one is from August  2015. It was titled Multiple Trunks Sharing a Single Root System – Clump Style Bonsai Forests We’ve been discussing forest bonsai for a while now without mentioning clump style (Japanese: Kabudachi or Kabubuki) . Rather than … Continue reading Bonsai Forests – Clump Style

Walter Pall’s 3 Tree Japanese Maple Bonsai Adventure

Japanese maple from Korean nursery-grown stock. From Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures blog. The two smaller trees exaggerate the effect of the main tree. Back in the mid-to-late 20th century, when the average person had no idea what the art of bonsai was, almost all bonsai in the U.S. were from landscaping nursery stock. Most were in early stages of development and most never got beyond those early stages (it was a slaughter). 4 Great Sales & other Specials (see below)   The three tree maple grove above is also from nursery stock, though no doubt nursery stock grown for bonsai, … Continue reading Walter Pall’s 3 Tree Japanese Maple Bonsai Adventure