A Dilemma We’d All Like To Have

yews

These two views of the same tree and the question posed (below) are from Tony Tickle’s website.

The tree shown here belongs to Tony Tickle. It’s a Yew (the species isn’t mentioned, but I’m guessing English). You can find it on Tony’s Bonsai & Yamadori site under the heading Please choose your favorite ‘Front’ for this Yew.

If you visit Bonsai & Yamadori you can vote for your favorite front (aka best view), and, if you’re really ambitious, you can explain yourself in the comments (you can do the same in our comments below).

Meanwhile, I’ll keep my opinion to myself. Except to say it’s a dilemma we’d all like to have.

yewtta

 

yewttb

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Daring & Over-the-Top Brilliant

machiko

Daring and brilliant. I think the daring part is combining such a strong and unique pot with such a brilliant little flowering tree. Each could stand on its own, no problem. But together the brilliance is multiplied.  This photo and the other photos in this post are from Machiko Koide’s timeline on facebook.

I don’t know much about Michiko Koide and google didn’t help. All I could find is her facebook timeline. Turns out, based on the photos, that’s plenty

 

mach2

These pots are most excellent, with or without little trees.

mach

The two handed approach (see our last post). 

mach6

Contrast in trees and pots, but both very sweet. I’m guessing that the tree on the right is a Cryptomeria (Japanese cedar). The Shimpaku is too easy.

mach3

Feast your eyes and then imagine what you could do with such a brilliant selection of pots.

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A Bonsai in Hand

shim

It’s not unusual to see a photo of someone holding a small bonsai in one hand. However, you almost never see a photo with someone holding a bonsai with two hands. Until now that is. This two handed approach gives the feeling that the tree (a rather spectacular Shimpaku) is being offered. This photo and the others in this post are from Japan Shohin Bonsai.

One of the problems with photographing bonsai is conveying size. The easiest and perhaps best way is to provide something familiar for contrast.

It used to be fairly common to see bonsai with cigarette packs before smoking fell out of favor (you still see them occasionally in places where smoking is more accepted). You also sometimes see soft drink cans, though soft drinks are also starting to fall out of favor (like cigarettes they are unhealthy and a waste of money). Either way, cigarette packs or soft drink cans, the effect is distracting and shows a lack of respect for the natural beauty of the bonsai.

Which brings us to hands. One of the great things about hands is they are always available (close at hand). Another plus is they tend to look good. And then there’s the natural relationship between hands and the art of bonsai. The only downsides I can think of are, they don’t work with large bonsai and it takes two people to create the photo (you could struggle to photograph with one hand while holding the bonsai with the other, but my guess is the best shots involve two people).

Before I shut up, just want to say how happy I am to have discovered Japan Shohin Bonsai. Not only are their trees super top notch, but they are so well photographed. There are few things better in our online bonsai world than well-photographed top notch bonsai.

needle

Another two handed offering. This one looks like a Needle juniper (Juniperus rigida).

maple

 This little Japanese maple only needs one hand. I like the trunk a lot and of course, there’s that sweet little pot.

maple2

We’ve shown this lovely maple before, but a two minute search came up blank.

pot

No hands here, but I couldn’t resist.

 

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Speaking of Shohin Bonsai, this Stone Lantern book will take you a long ways in developing your shohin bonsai and your appreciation of the art. And the price is right.

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The 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Is Fast Approaching

quince

The tree is nice, but it’s really about the flowers. As you can see, there are three distinct flower colors on this tree. Though quince are known for the brilliance of their flowers and multiple hues are not uncommon, still, you don’t see many with three distinctly different flowers on one tree. This and the rest of the photos in this post belong to Bill Valavanis. You can find them and others on his Bonsai Blog.

Bill Valavanis’ 4th U.S National Bonsai Exhibition is fast approaching, so this seems like a good time to remind you of just how important it is for bonsai in North America (and beyond). It’s not too late to sign up. My guess is you’ll be happy you did.

While we’re at it, we haven’t featured Bill’s bonsai for a while so this seems like a good time to enjoy a few. You can find these and more on Bill’s excellent bonsai blog.

koto

Bill famous Koto Hime. It’s not common to see Japanese maple varietals which such powerful trunks. At least in my experience. BTW: this is not the first time I’ve used the term ‘Bill famous Koto Hime.’ The last time was for a different tree that, though quite powerful, is not as strong as this one. I suspect that one of them is the parent (I think Bill told me that about twenty years ago). My guess is that it’s this one.

korean Magnificent colors. Great trunk. Beautiful pot. Enough said.

hornbeam

Another Hornbeam. Not as colorful or as powerful, but more stately. You might notice the excellent nebari and the striking striated bark.

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The 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition is coming soon. If you haven’t signed up yet, this is a good time. The dates are September 13 and 14. As always it’s in Rochester NY and as always, it promises to be one of the best and most important bonsai exhibitions in the U.S. and beyond. The details are here.

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Heavy Crowns & Wordy Captions

sabamiki

Based on the photos from Sandor Papp’s blog, this, or the tree just below, might be my exhibition winner (the actual winner is at the bottom of the post). It’s unusual to see this much deadwood on a deciduous or other broad-leafed bonsai, but then Privets are tough trees (Ligustrum vulgaris in this case). Speaking of deadwood you might notice the impressive sabamiki (Japanese for hollow trunk – plural in this case). The unique, well-chosen pot is also worth a mention.

The trees shown here appear on the Bonsai Blog of Sandor Papp. The occasion is the recent bonsai exhibition in Wroclaw Poland. I’m assuming that Sandor took all of the photos (we’ve presented just a small sampling here). The excessively wordy captions are all mine.

Sandor Papp’s name popped up in our last post and though I’ve know of Sandor for years, we’ve never featured him on Bark. In this case, it’s Sandor’s blog rather than his trees we’re featuring, but we’ll get to his trees soon enough.

 

flowers

This powerful flowering Hawthorn by Richard Chambers (artists are mentioned with some trees but not with others) provides another example of deadwood on a deciduous tree. There is plenty to like about this tree, including the flowers, the taper, the fluid movement and particularly the two-trees-in-one effect, but you’ll need to ignore the arrow that’s trying to get you to look off to the left.

 

shari

That’s some pretty impressive deadwood. It’s a Sabina juniper (no artist mentioned). It’s a fantastic yamadori, but I wonder if the crown could be opened up some. Especially considering that the deadwood tells a story of great abuse by the hostile forces of nature, while the crown speaks of fat times. Maybe the artist felt that it needs to be so dense in order to avoid being overwhelmed by all the deadwood…

winner copy

The actual winner. It’s a Tsuga (Hemlock, species not mentioned) by Harald Lehner. Unfortunately, the photo is a little dark, so it’s hard to appreciated the subtleties. What is easy to appreciate is the tree’s overall power, especially the  strong trunk. However (brace yourself), like the juniper just above, I wonder if the tree wouldn’t be better served by reducing and further opening up the foliage. Doing this might help accentuate the powerful trunk.

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A Happy Accident

Sabina

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” He doesn’t say who the friend is. We might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. Maybe someone can clue us in.

The three trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s facebook photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A very happy accident indeed.

I decided to show all three photos just the way Milan presents them on facebook and then show all three images cropped so we can get a closer look.

noelanders

The caption on this lovely literati says “My entry on Noelanders.” Milan doesn’t say what kind of pine it is (Scot’s?). BTW: The Noelanders Trophy is one Europe’s premier bonsai shows.

sandor1

The caption on this one reads “For Sándor Papp the best picture of my Sabina photo Willy Evenepoel, Pilsen 2é11.”

sabinacu

Close up of the tree at the top of the post. One thing that stands out is just how small the pot is relative to the tree. It’s the mounding that makes this possible, but even so, that’s a lot of tree for a small amount of soil.

noelanderscu

This close up of the elegant second tree provides a better look at the wonderfully aged bark and that chic shari. Nice pot too.  

sandor

This close up provides a great look at the superb handmade pot and that sweet little fern. Not to take anything away from the tree itself, which needs no superlatives.

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Cold Mountain Bonsai

tee1

You might pass this one over at first glance, but the spectacular pot, the deeply striated bark and the overall simplicity and naturalness are worth another look.

Today is the long drive home. No time to put together a new post, so we’ll take one more foray into our archives. This one first appeared in November 2012. It’s one I particularly like. Not for what I have to say, but the for simple, unique beauty and naturalness of the bonsai.

Have we been overly influenced by Japanese bonsai?
When you look at the trees in this post there’s a sense of wild naturalness that seems distinctly Chinese. A sensibility that dates back to the ancient poet-calligrapher hermits deep in the Cold Mountains. This connection doesn’t occur with most Japanese and Western bonsai (the exceptions are mostly Bunjin bonsai).

You might notice that most, if not all of the pots in this post could stand alone as art in their own right.

All of the photos are from Nail Sari’s facebook photo album titled Chinese Bonsai Ever… Unfortunately, none are attributed to the artist or labeled with the variety.

tree5 Expressing the primacy of nature; you can barely see the people who live in this magical forest.

 

Uncontrived, a lyrical poem with flowers.

 

Rugged, well-balanced and perfectly tapered, all the way out to smallest twigs.

 

Halloween. Do you see the little arms sticking up out of the soil?

What would it be like to be small enough to walk under this natural bridge?

Lonely trees growing on cliffs.

Sheer power, and closer to the more modern Japanese look.

 

B1CHINESE-2 This classic is available at Stone Lantern if you’d like to dig deeper into the art and history of Chinese bonsai.

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Celebrating An American Bonsai Tradition

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.

Three times a tradition?
This is third time for this post. The first time was March 2010, the second was September 2011. It’s Independence Day today, so the timing seems right, though it’s always a good time to celebrate our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum and John Naka’s legacy, and perhaps it’s an especially good time to remember that “There are no borders in bonsai.”

No borders in bonsai
Helen Searle recently (way back in 2010) sent us some photos that she took at the National Arboretum. I picked a few that I thought you might enjoy, including the plaque below by John Naka. The only photo in this post not by Helen is Goshin (above).

 

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American Tropical Jewel

Buttonwood

Buttonwood by Ed Trout. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project. *

I’m headed out for a brief Independence Day respite, so we’ll take the easy way out and plunder our archives once again. This one is from August 2011 (assuming we haven’t reposted it since then – there’s this issue with memory). I can think of two good reasons to choose it: 1. It’s tropical and it feels like the tropics lately here in northern Vermont where extended hot weather is rare indeed, and 2. Buttonwoods are an American tree and the most American of holidays is in two days (not wanting to offend our neighbors and recognizing of course, that there other countries the Americas, here we are referring to U.S.A).

Our own amazing tropical bonsai
We’ve featured a lot of collected tropicals from Indonesia and vicinity. Much of this has to do with our connection with Robert Steven (Mr. High Energy Bonsai), one of the world’s foremost bonsai artists, authors, collectors and teachers. It also has to do with the fact that so many of the collected trees (mostly Premna and Pemphis) from that part of the world are so amazing. Now it’s time to feature some of our very own amazing collected tropical bonsai. Which brings us to Buttonwoods.

Buttonwood care
There’s lots of information on the web about buttonwoods and particularly their care (they have their very specific needs). Two good places to start are: Of Bonsai Magazine and Bonsai Mary’s. Meanwhile, we’ve gathered a few photos for your to enjoy.

JimSmith I found this monster by Jim Smith in the Of Bonsai Magazine. I couldn’t find any dimensions, but the article on Buttonwoods that accompanies the photo is very thorough. BTW: Jim Smith is the original American tropical bonsai guru. Jim’s nursery (Dura-Stone) is in Vero Beach, Florida.

 

Mother Nature’s handiwork, with a little help from Robert Kempinski. From the Art of Bonsai Project.

 

This wild unique tree could only be a buttonwood. Also by Robert Kempinski from the Art of Bonsai Project.

 

They aren’t all small enough for bonsai. This photo is from Bonsai Mary’s website.

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*The sad news about the beautiful Buttonwood at the top of the post is that it was stolen in 2008, and as far as I know, was never recovered.

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