Styling

An American Bonsai Celebration

Goshin by John Yoshio Naka. This famous bonsai resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington DC. Photos will never do it justice. It is huge (about 1 meter tall – just over 3 feet) and is so dramatic in person that it almost seems to vibrate with power. This photo, by Peter Bloomer is originally from Timeless Trees by Peter and Mary Bloomer. It also appears on the cover of Bonsai Today issue 93, an issue that features a tribute to the life and works of John Naka. Four times a tradition? This is forth time for … Continue reading An American Bonsai Celebration

All You Need Is the Right Pot and Just a Touch of Art

This unusual gem is part of an excellent selection of Kusamono from Tony Tickle’s garden. In Tony’s own words… “I have a large collection of dwarf Hostas, these flourish in my rather damp garden, in summer the other Kusamono come into flower and leaf. Here are a few they include Astilbie, Thrift and sedums. Most of the Pots are from my friend Dan Barton but there are pots from Gordon Duffet and many other European Potters.” Five of the nine photos in this post are Tony’s. It’s summer, the sun is shinning for a change and my bonsai and gardens … Continue reading All You Need Is the Right Pot and Just a Touch of Art

More Bonsai Color & a Snake About to Strike

This is one of those azaleas that would look good even without the flowers. Speaking of the flowers, I suspect the photo has been shopped a bit as the color is a little too bright. You can find this and the other four photos shown here (along with a couple dozen others) at the Akademia Bonsai web gallery. We’ve been featuring a lot of color lately, especially Satsuki azaleas in bloom and the response has been very positive, so here are a couple more azaleas for your enjoyment and some fall color as well (apologies for those of you who … Continue reading More Bonsai Color & a Snake About to Strike

Adventures in Bonsai

This splendid Mugo pine with its impressive deadwood belongs to Walter Pall. You can find it on his blog, Bonsai Adventures. It was collected in Switzerland by Peter Thali in 2003. It is 60cm (24″) high and according to Walter, about 150 years old. The pot is by Derek Aspinall. Even though more and more bonsai action is moving to facebook, there are still a number of excellent bonsai blogs out there in our digital wonderland, and Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures is one of the very best. How Walter puts together, styles and maintains such a vast and impressive collection … Continue reading Adventures in Bonsai

Choosing a New Pot – Oval or Rectangle?

Which pot would you choose for this Western juniper (please reply in the comments – Im trying to keep my email traffic down to 7,000 a day)? This and the other photos shown here are from a 2013 Boon Manakitivipart post. Sooner or later every serious North American bonsai artist is influenced by Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon). For some this influence is face to face (if you’re lucky). Or indirectly though one of his students that now teach bonsai (Michael Hagedorn comes straight to mind, though there are others). And then there are his regular posts on facebook that … Continue reading Choosing a New Pot – Oval or Rectangle?

Episode 2 of the Ginkgo Story

I’m not so sure about the apex or the way it’s so crowded in this photo, but I like the tree anyway. Especially that gnarly old trunk. It’s a Chi Chi, a small leaf Ginkgo cultivar. As you can see, it’s from Lakeshore Bonsai (Toronto area). Here’s Lakeshore’s caption: “Ginkgo biloba ‘chi-chi’, 7 years in development from imported raw material. Probably started as an air layer in Japan.” All of the sudden we’re interested in Ginkgo bonsai. I don’t have any, but if I find a good one… I borrowed the following from an ofBonsai article by Heather Hartman: “It … Continue reading Episode 2 of the Ginkgo Story

Powerful Bonsai with Brilliant Deadwood

A great tree for a study in deadwood. It’s a Juniper procumben from Luis Vallejo’s website. I cropped the photo a bit, but you can see the full size original just below. I just spent the last digital hour or so wandering around Luis Vallejo’s Bonsai Studio (Estudio de Bonsai) and his Bonsai Museum (Museo del Bonsai). Sometimes it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Without raving too much about what Luis has been up to, we’ll just encourage you to pay him a visit (his website and his fb photos). Given just how prolific Luis … Continue reading Powerful Bonsai with Brilliant Deadwood

Pedro’s Bonsai (con su primo Carlos)

Sweet tree, sweet pot. Pedro Morales says that it’s a shohin size bonsai from his cousin Carlos C. Morales. The pot is Japanese. Glen Lord suggested that the tree is a type of Ixora. We originally featured it back in 2011. For those of you who don’t know Pedro Morales, he’s a well known bonsai artist, teacher and author from Puerto Rico. It’s been a while since we featured Pedro’s bonsai. All but the tree at the top are his (cousin is close enough) and all are new to Bonsai Bark. Enjoy! I like this Nea buxifolia’s natural feel and … Continue reading Pedro’s Bonsai (con su primo Carlos)

Straight Up & Tightly Bunched

Is this one of the best Ginkgo bonsai photos you’ve ever seen? A couple things that stand out for me (in addition to the overall quality of the tree and the photo) are the brilliance of the new leaves and how that brilliance is reinforced by the green moss, the green pot and even the little green buds all over the trunk. I borrowed the photo from Bill Valavanis’ blog, Welcome to My Bonsai World. You don’t see that many Ginkgo bonsai. My guess is that this is because they are limited in terms of what you can do with them. … Continue reading Straight Up & Tightly Bunched

What’s Wrong – A Follow Up

I got a little feedback in the comments from this morning’s post. One reminded me that not everyone uses facebook. Making the links provided worthless to these non-facebook folks. So, I’ll fill in a bit… The three trees on the left (above) are tropicals that are shaped like conifers. To Robert Steven and to many others, this a mistake. A common mistake to be sure, but still a mistake. The three trees on the right have more rounded and therefore natural looking tropical tree crowns. This more or less rounded look is also generally found on deciduous (see below) and … Continue reading What’s Wrong – A Follow Up