A Method to Mike’s Madness

Looks like an old yamadori California juniper with its heavy twisted trunk. All the bonsai shown here were lifted from the Bonsai Blog of Mike Page. They are all rather unique and they all stray from the trees we usually feature, but to my eye at least, they all stray in more or less in one direction. There is a method to Mike’s madness. This Japanese black pine by Mike won the Yoshimura Award for the Finest Classical Bonsai at the 1st U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (way back in 2008). The luminous grass, the unique pot and the … Continue reading A Method to Mike’s Madness

Judging Bonsai: Scoring vs Elimination and putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging, the results are in…

Whoops. The tree I missed in the original post. Too bad, because I have a feeling it would have placed very high in our reader’s poll (it placed 3rd in Method A and second in Method B – see below for the methods). Two weeks ago we posted photos of seven bonsai and asked our readers to rate them. No contest, no prizes, just for the fun of it. Putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging bonsai, the results are in. The trees are arranged from top to bottom (starting just below) in order of your … Continue reading Judging Bonsai: Scoring vs Elimination and putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging, the results are in…

Bonsai on Broomstick Bicycle

My best guess is that most of you will appreciate the inventiveness and the humor expressed in this mixed-media bonsai creation, though perhaps a few purists will take offense. It’s by Miyazato Rintaro (thanks to Colin Lewis for sharing it). You can find it and the rest of the photos in this post on Mr Rintaro’s facebook photos. A little more conventional, but still… the drum pot and the way the soil is mounded so high, the relaxed simplicity of the tree. You get the idea. Not mixed-media, but not so conventional. One base, one root system, two … Continue reading Bonsai on Broomstick Bicycle

Not Shimpaku: A Juniper Bonsai Non Starter

This lovely tree with its natural flowing feel is from a 2012 Bark post. The tree resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. It’s listed as a Procumbens nana, though I’ve never seen a ‘nana’ with such a massive trunk. Which begs the question… (the story is here). It’s archive time again. This post originally appeared in September 2013. It was titled Not Shimpaku and was supposed to be the start of a series on juniper bonsai. Like many starts in life, it turned out to be a non-starter (maybe later…?). Japanese Garden Juniper bonsai Shimpaku junipers rule. You … Continue reading Not Shimpaku: A Juniper Bonsai Non Starter

Have There Ever Been So Many Great Boxwood Bonsai in One Place?

Aside from being a phenomenal tree and a phenomenal pot, there’s a relaxed in-synch feeling, like the pot and tree are old friends who have been together for a long time. This might have something to do with the color, texture, soft lines and aged look of each (and because they are both so phenomenal). The color and texture of the stand fits right in too, while a little contrast is provided by its sharp rectangular lines. All together a masterpiece. The artist is François Gau (pot by Greg Ceramics). All three photos in this post are from Parlons Bonsai … Continue reading Have There Ever Been So Many Great Boxwood Bonsai in One Place?

It’s Later Now – More Taikan-ten Bonsai

A Shimpaku juniper from the 34th Taikan-ten Bonsai Exhibition. The photo is from Michael Bonsai (on facebook) as are all the photos shown here. It’s later (than you think). A few days ago we put up a post titled Taiken-ten Bonsai, Some Pines First, More Later. Now it’s later. So here they are, as promised. I’m going to go ahead and guess the varieties. Not because I’m brave (or foolish, though you could take issue) but because these look pretty easy. Looks like a Japanese white pine. Ume (AKA Prunus mume, AKA Japanese apricot). The bark is a … Continue reading It’s Later Now – More Taikan-ten Bonsai

Judging Bonsai – Just for the Fun of It

These seven bonsai were part of a recent contest. They are in no particular order here, just my attempt to randomize. The challenge for you is to come up with your five best in order. Explanations with each pick are welcome, though not necessary. The honor system. There is no reward for winning. In fact, we won’t choose winners. The reason for this is; the contest and results have been published elsewhere with some detailed explanations. We’ll post this information later, but for now it would be more fun to see your results, before you go looking for the original … Continue reading Judging Bonsai – Just for the Fun of It

A Grand Leap Down the Bonsai Rabbit Hole

This Mountain hemlock is one of the reasons I love Michael Hagedorn’s bonsai. Simplicity (understatement), naturalness (respect for nature and for this particular tree), balance, vibrant health and all the rest that makes a bonsai sublime are here for all to see (there’s also the missing pot, but that’s for another time). Now that I’ve waxed about the bonsai pictured above, I’ll go ahead and wax a bit about the level of insight over a range of topics you’ll find when you visit Crataegus Bonsai. Michael’s recent post on 0-10-10 fertilizer is a good example. Here’s just a little about … Continue reading A Grand Leap Down the Bonsai Rabbit Hole

Luminous Leaves, Glowing Glazes & Contrasting Colors

You don’t see that many bright yellow pots. The glaze is expensive and hard to come by and the brilliance of the color can be overwhelming. But in this case the little tree holds its own. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a better choice of pots to set off the the richly hued Trident maple leaves. The photo, like all the rest in this post, is from Haruyosi’s facebook timeline. I didn’t set off to talk about pot-tree color combinations, but that’s what happened anyway. I guess it’s pretty easy to tell why. I think you could spend a … Continue reading Luminous Leaves, Glowing Glazes & Contrasting Colors

A Propensity for Understatement

This powerful kuromatsu (Japanese black pine) won the Culture Minister’s Prize at the 20th Green Festa Kokubunji bonsai fair. It is 19″ (48cm) high and about 55 years old. It is owned by Toyoyuki Hamabata from Takamatsu’s Mure town in Shikoku. It appears at Bonsai World, an English language website from Shikoku Japan. It’s the long Thanksgiving holiday here in the States so we’ll take the easy way out today and dig into our archives. The tree above is from a 2009 post titled Japanese Bonsai, Small is Powerful. The one below is from a January 2014 post titled Old … Continue reading A Propensity for Understatement