Defoliation & Energy Balancing for Strong Bonsai

This photo is the inspiration for starting a new series on defoliation. It’s a Ficus and as you can see it’s half defoliated. If you live in the tropics you can defoliate a tree like this any time of year. If you want to defoliate a Ficus or other tropical bonsai here in the north country, you need to wait until it’s pretty warm (let’s say until night temps are over 50F, 10C). If you defoliate too soon, cold nights could hamper recovery. Conversely you don’t want to wait too long into the summer as you want full recovery before … Continue reading Defoliation & Energy Balancing for Strong Bonsai

One Larch, Four Bonsai Pots (plus one)

One American larch, four pots (plus the original pot below). All this images in this post were borrowed from Boon Manakitivipart’s facebook feed (the image above is a composite that we put together). Boon is at it again. This time it’s our prized local larch (Larix laricina). Around here we call it Tamarack (the Algonquian name that means “wood used for snowshoes”). No matter what you call it, it is in my opinion, by far the best local wild species for bonsai. Bar none. Which pot do you prefer? If you are ambitious, you might tell us why. (NOTE: So … Continue reading One Larch, Four Bonsai Pots (plus one)

Bonsai Roadshow

If you spend a lot of time looking at bonsai photos you’ll see a lot of trees that look more or less the same. Well done, often beautiful bonsai that vanish from memory after while. And then there are trees like this eccentric old Scot’s pine. You could stumble across it ten years from now and immediately recognize it. Not that it’s better or worse than most other specimen quality bonsai, just strikingly different. I found it, along with all the photos shown here on Bjorn Bjorholm’s facebook feed. Bjorn’s caption reads “Today’s work – a massive Sylvestris at Minoru … Continue reading Bonsai Roadshow

One Scots Pine, Four Bonsai Pots

One Scots pine, four pots. Do you have a favorite? We found these images on the National Bonsai Foundations facebook feed. They originated with Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon). Over the years Boon has put up several ‘which pot do you prefer’ posts, some of which have appeared here on Bark along with numerous other posts featuring Boon’s Bonsai. So, without further ado, which pot do you prefer? If you’re ambitious you might tell us why. Pot number 1 Pot number 2 Pot number 3 Pot number 4

Backcountry’s Cork Bark Ponderosa Pine (with a Little Help from Bonsai Mirai)

Backcountry Bonsai doesn’t show any Ponderosa bonsai, so we borrowed this yamadori Ponderosa pine from Ryan Neil’s Mirai, American Bonsai. There are signs of what some people might call corking (see the close up at the bottom of the post), but I don’t think Back Country Bonsai would qualify it as a cork bark Ponderosa. I just stumbled across a new Backcountry Bonsai post and, in addition to getting all excited about rediscovering Steve and Dan’s excellent blog (here’s the original discovery), I learned something new. Namely that there is such a thing as a Cork bark Ponderosa pine. Here’s … Continue reading Backcountry’s Cork Bark Ponderosa Pine (with a Little Help from Bonsai Mirai)

Grafting Bonsai – You Might Want to Wait Until the Fall

A few stills captured from Capital Bonsai’s video on grafting that features Ryan Neil owner of Mirai American Bonsai and major player in this fall’s Artisans Cup bonsai exhibition in Portland, Oregon. I’m out of town visiting friends for the weekend, so to spare me putting together a new post, we’ll jump into our time machine this morning. All the way back to November, 2012. We could just forgo a post today and no one would complain, but I wanted to remind you that our Stone Lantern FREE bonsai wire offering ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT (Just write FREE in … Continue reading Grafting Bonsai – You Might Want to Wait Until the Fall

Bonsai Bali – Something Is Afoot in Southeast Asia

Selecting a lead tree isn’t always easy. Especially with so many good Gede Merta (Bonsai Bali) bonsai to choose from. I settled on this one partly because it’s a full cascade and good full cascade bonsai aren’t that common, and partly because of the tree’s overall relaxed feel; the unusual way the foliage seems draped across the top and just how loose all the foliage hangs. Not to say that its wild shape and extraordinary deadwood aren’t enough to make this tree worthy. But then most of Gede Merte’s bonsai show wild shapes and extraordinary deadwood. The tree is Pemphis … Continue reading Bonsai Bali – Something Is Afoot in Southeast Asia

Just Waiting There for You in Millions of Hedges

Harry has outdone himself this time. Harry Harrington has been styling and posting Privet bonsai for a long time. To my eye, Harry’s previous Privets (two below) have been very good, but now he has outdone himself (as witnessed by the tree above and the closeup just below). It’s not just Privets for Harry; his website Bonsai4me presents a whole range of excellent bonsai (and plenty of educational writing as well), but his Privets stand out for a couple reasons: first, they are good and getting better, and second, Privet is an excellent candidate for bonsai that is widely underused … Continue reading Just Waiting There for You in Millions of Hedges

Who Needs Flowers? Suthin Bonsai Before & Mostly After

After. This Bougainvillea is a uniquely compelling bonsai with or without flowers. Still, it would be nice to see it in full bloom, We’ll keep our eyes open and let you know. All the trees and the photos in this post belong to Suthin Sukosolvisit. Just the other day I wrote that Suthin Sukosolvisit is one of the great American bonsai artists. We could amend that to one of the world’s great bonsai artists. This post and all our numerous other posts featuring Suthin’s bonsai help support this contention. Further support can be found by visiting Suthin on facebook and his … Continue reading Who Needs Flowers? Suthin Bonsai Before & Mostly After

American Elm Bonsai – It Only Looks Like a Zelkova

At a glance, or even on closer inspection, you might think this is a Zelkova. After all, Zelkova is the most common broom style bonsai and the leaves even look Zelkovish. However, it’s not. It’s an American elm that belongs to Suthin Sukosolvisit. You don’t see that many American elm bonsai (or American elms at all for that matter, thanks to Dutch elm disease). And you certainly don’t see many, if any, American elm bonsai as well developed as this one. We have Suthin Sukosolvisit to thank for this. Just in case you don’t know him, Suthin is one of … Continue reading American Elm Bonsai – It Only Looks Like a Zelkova