Nick’s Natives

A famous tree by a famous bonsai artist. There’s a lot to like here, including the bark-deadwood contrast, the shift from the lower trunk’s subtler motion to the sudden S-shape at the top, the golden fall color, the pot, the moss. Even the sweet little companion.

Two North American natives
This post qualifies as another in our series of species specific offerings and a tribute to an artist as well. The tree is our native North American Larch (aka Tamarack, Larix laricina). The artist is another native, Larch Master Nick Lenz (aka Rarch Master Renz). BTW: I’m usually reluctant to use the much abused term ‘Bonsai Master’ and I suppose Larch Master is not that different. But in this case, I think we can give it a pass. After all, if Nick Lenz is not the Larch Master, then who is?

I supposed we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that larch are deciduous conifers. That puts them in rarefied territory; I think there are only two other genera that qualify (go ahead, set me straight).

All the photos in this post are from Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (published by Stone Lantern), which happens to be the definitive book on collecting bonsai, especially North American natives.

Yes. It’s a tank. A ceramic tank (Nick is a ceramic artist as well as a bonsai artist). I think it portrays a war ravaged larch forest in Europe, with our American larch substituting for it’s European cousin (Larix decidua). It’s a great forest planting, with or without the tank.

Demon larch. Another of Nick’s now famous trees. Aside from the ghoulish deadwood faces, there’s the excellent taper and the way the grooved deadwood flows into the strong nebari (exposed roots), almost like buttresses. Larches aren’t known for their taper or nebari, so even without the scary deadwood, this is an exceptional tree.

Though the fall color is nice, this one is all about the way the roots fit and cling so perfectly to the rock’s grooves.

Spring. It’s a little fuzzy, but you can still see the new needles popping out.

Bog larch. It may not be that big, but you can be sure that it’s old.

A rare gem of a book. There’s more valuable information on collecting in Nick’s classic book than anywhere (that I’ve ever seen at least). And much more too.

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Chief Seattle, Dragon Pot, Asleep at the Switch & Some Bonsai Events

I’m not so sure this planting would attract much attention when contrasted with the higher caste bonsai that you see in top exhibitions, but there’s something uncontrived and natural about it that seems almost wholesome (is that the right word?), especially its lush green canopy. It’s from Bonsai Do. Unfortunately unattributed and unidentified. There is however, this accompanying quote by Chief Seattle that is attributed: “Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.”

Just a quick post; one bonsai, one pot and some events that you might be interested in (for more check this earlier post).

Show us yours. To share your favorite upcoming bonsai event, just put the details with a link in the comments below.

Close up of Andy Pearson’s Tianlong Dragon pot. I originally discovered it on Yamadori and Bonsai Material by Tony Tickle, one of the more creative and enjoyable bonsai websites.

Fell asleep at the switch and missed my chance to post something about the famous Noelanders Trophy, before the event, which as it happens, is going on in Belgium right now.

Swindon Winter Image Bonsai Show is coming to the jolly old U.K. soon.

The Mid-Atlantic is coming to Pennsylvania April 19-21.

Another Mid; The 36th Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit is coming to Chicago on the 3rd weekend of August, 2013.

Found this great photo on my visit (above) to Tony Tickle’s site and couldn’t resist.

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Ramify!

Robert Steven’s simulation of an Olive that was submitted by Gary Howes (it’s Gary’s second time, here’s the first).

Ramification. In the almost two and one half years since we ran our first critique by Robert Steven, he has repeatedly emphasized the importance of developing branching (ramification), particularly fine branching (secondary, tertiary and so forth). Especially if you want to create the feel of maturity on a young tree (or any tree for that matter). And though you can’t grow new branches overnight, it doesn’t take that long to get a good start. How long depends on a number of factors, but a lot can be accomplished in just two or three years if you know what you are doing

Sources. Many of our back issues of Bonsai Today have excellent articles on ramification, and there are also a host of previous posts on Bonsai Bark might be helpful – here’s one that has some good information and several useful links, here’s another and another. For more you might try searching ramification or pinching.

Here’s the photo that Gary submitted.

ROBERT’S CRITIQUE
Any material can be turned into nice bonsai, and not necessarily just old dramatic material. Even simple material can have potential as long as we know how to explore its character, how to set the scene to create the feeling we are looking for, and how to use proper aesthetic support, such as the choice of a container and other things that can enhance the overall effect.

Old massive material can turn into macho and powerful designs, but simple material can turn into sweet and charming bonsai as well.

This bonsai is made of simple material, but despite its young character, it has nice lines with good movement and interesting multiple trunks. But it is not designed in the best possible composition and not planted in a proper container. Consequently, the design is not too appealing.

The focal point is biased by the over-sized pot and the visual flow is driven up to the apex instead of along the downward flowing line, which is where it should be. Last but not least, because the ramification (branching) is not well developed, the tree looks immature. A bonsai may be young, but should look like a mature tree.

Here is my solution. The top should be shortened to reduce its domination and left trunk should be cut off to eliminate its distracting flow in the wrong direction. The lower line should be bent to create better flow, then the ramification needs to be improved.

Lastly, a light colored, slim, tapered cascade pot will improve the overall visual balance. The final design is now more interesting with a cheerful and charming feminine look.

Although it’s now without leaves, it looks like a mature tree because of the finely developed ramification (branching).

ROBERT’S GENERAL COMMENTS
There is more than one way to design any bonsai and my critiques and recommended solutions might not always fit your taste and personal preferences, but I always try to give my opinion based on artistic and horticultural principles.

To understand my concepts better, please read my books Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation which are available at Stone Lantern.

My new bonsai blog and my facebook pages.

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Japanese Whites

A seedling? Great base, strong taper and nice balanced open branching. An altogether excellent Japanese white pine and it’s from a seedling no less! As you may know, most quality Japanese white pine bonsai have been grafted onto Black pine stock (see below). But not this one. It was grown from seed and is, as you can see, quite impressive. It was just wired (in this photo) by Michael Hagedorn (Crataegus Bonsai.) It belongs to a client of Micheal’s.

More than just another bonsai in our species specific series. The Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora) is one of the world’s emblematic bonsai. In Japan it is one of the two most famous classical bonsai species (the other is the Japanese black pine) and that fame has spread so much that any serious bonsai display without at least one Japanese white pine might be said to be incomplete (climate permitting, of course).

What’s in a name? The Latin name for Japanese white pine (aka Japanese five needle pine) is Pinus parviflora. The Japanese name is Goyo Matsu. Matsu is pine, so you’d think that goyo might mean white or five needles, but my Japanese dictionary says that goyo means ‘business matters to attend to.’ Perhaps the business matter in this case is grafting onto Japanese black pine stock? Note after the fact: that was an attempt at a bad joke… though true, my grasp of Japanese is very weak and you might expect that I’d have known that “Goyo” means “five-needle” (see comment below), but…

Borrowed roots. Speaking of grafting, Japanese white pine bonsai, and as we’ve mentioned, they are usually grafted onto Japanese black pine stock, and though there must be people grafting them elsewhere, it seems that almost all of these grafts come from Japan. The reason for grafting is mostly because black pines are so much more vigorous than the more delicate and finicky Japanese whites. This is especially true of White pine cultivars, many of which simply won’t thrive on their own roots (here’s more if you are interested).

Root-on-rock Japanese white pines are not at all unusual. The more I look at this one, the more I am struck with just how well-balanced and tranquil it seems. This is to take nothing away from its natural and wild side. The photo was taken in Japan at the 2011 Sakufu-ten exhibition by Jonas Dupuich (Bonsai Tonight).

Fluidity and muscle combined make for a very strong bonsai. To my eyes this is a near perfect classical informal upright Japanese white pine bonsai. It’s from Mario Komsta’s facebook photos. My guess is that it originated in Japan and that Mario has been refining it. He calls it Goyo Kundo and though Goyo matsu is the Japanese name for Japanese white pine (see above), I couldn’t find anything about Kundo in my dictionary or online, so your guess is as good as mine. I’m going to assume that this tree, like almost all powerful Japanese white pine bonsai, originated in Japan and is grafted onto Japanese black pine stock.

The most famous pine in North America? I like the way this photo captures the lines and color in the bark of this famous tree. That’s the upside. The downside is that there’s no way to tell just how large and powerful this tree is. In fact, it would be easy to think that it’s not very big at all. It resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum and like a couple others trees shown in this post, we’ve featured it before (actually a couple times). The photo is from Michael Bonsai.

Million dollar bonsai. Here’s a mind-bending Japanese white pine that we featured back in 2011 with our original caption: This magnificent White pine was sold at the 11th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention & Exhibition in at Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan, earlier this month. As you can see, the asking price was 100,000,000 yen (that’s close to 1.3 million dollars). I don’t know what the actual sales price was. Photo borrowed from Bonsai Tonight.

This flowing bunjin Japanese white pine provides a little contrast to the husky fellow immediately above. It’s from our Masters’ Series Pines: Growing and Styling Japanese Black and White Pines (just below).

A word from our sponsor. If you’d like to do your own Japanese white pines, you’ll do very well to consult with our famous pine book. Among other things, it contains some of the best how-to instruction anywhere. Great photos too.

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The Unexpected Surprise

Shimpaku juniper from Peter Tea’s latest post, titled Shimpaku, The Unexpected Surprise. My apologies to Peter for cropping the bottom of the pot to get rid of a distracting white band that appears in the the original (it’s below so you can decide for yourself if my pickiness has gotten out of control).

It’s a great story and the tree’s not half bad either. If you’re not familiar with Peter Tea and his bonsai blog, please allow me to introduce him (once again). Peter’s work with bonsai is inspiring, and his writing about his experience as an bonsai apprentice is generous, funny, insightful and just plain fun to read.

Just in case you don’t believe me, here’s a little teaser from Peter’s latest story about the tree pictured here: “It was just another work day at Mr. Moriyama’s garden in early December… With us was Mr. Tohru Suzuki and his apprentice Mr. Takuya Suzuki of Daiju-en…. After we finished our work that morning, I wondered around the garden admiring many of the trees. Mr. Tohru Suzuki was looking around as well. I stopped to look at a large bushy Shimpaku that’s I’ve cleaned in the past a few times and Mr. Tohru Suzuki walks up to me and point at the tree. “You wire, okay?” he says to my surprise. I didn’t get my hopes up too quickly because I thought he was joking around with me since he’s done that many times in the past. I quickly said, “no problem, easy work!” Mr. Tohru Suzuki looks at me and laughs and said, “for Kokufu?.”I said, “yes, no problem,” playing along and laughing myself. He smiles and walks away looking at the other trees and my mind went to other things.”

I’ll leave rest to you, except to say that Kokufu is Japan’s most prestigious bonsai show and there are at least two very good reasons for you to check out Peter’s post: first it’s a great story that’s very well told, and second, Peter provides a way beyond the-call-of-duty, thorough (to say the least) step-by-step series of photos (70 in all!!!) and text on the tree’s development.

Here’s the tree and the whole pot.

One of the seventy photos that Peter provides on the development of this one tree. Have you ever seen seventy photos on the development of one tree?

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Rim Shots

This has got to be one of the most magnificent Chinese hackberry (Celtis sinensis) bonsai anywhere. Though the distinctive split trunk needs no comment, you might also notice the highly developed ramification (fine branching). The tree was donated to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection by Ben Oki. We’ve featured it before, but it’s certainly worth another shot.

Pacific Rim. Looking for an excuse to visit the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection? These trees might provide some incentive. Dave DeGroot, curator of the Collection, sent us the photos along with some history and some of his observations. With the exception of our last post, we’ve been featuring lots of trees from Europe and Asia lately, so it’s nice to be able to show world class bonsai that reside right her in North America.

It’s amazing what professional quality photography can do, especially when so much attention is paid to the preparation of the tree and the setting. Spectacular trees don’t hurt either. Still, a good photograph is far from seeing the real thing in person. If you’ve never visited a world-class bonsai collection and had your socks knocked off by the sheer power of trees like the ones shown here, then it’s time to mark you calender and book your trip.

Clean flowing lines with lots of open space make for simple, elegant beauty. And there’s also the nice contrast with the deadwood and live veins. Altogether a very sweet tree. It’s a Formosan juniper (Juniperus formosana) from Taiwan (previously Formosa, thus the name). Its date of origin is 1944 and it has been a bonsai Since 1959. The artist is Mr. Kuo An Lee. Amy Liang Chang donated it to the Pacific Rim collection.

Here’s more in Dave DeGroot’s own words: “This Chinese juniper was nursery grown and trained in Taipei, Taiwan. The basic shape was created by bending the juvenile tree around a bamboo stake. Field growing enlarged the trunk, which was then topped to obtain the correct height. The illusion of great age was supported by stripping the bark from certain branches and parts of the trunk. Carved grooves and channels in the stripped trunk suggest a long period of weathering and decay, further enhancing the illusion of age and powerful natural forces.

The artist has created a feeling of gracefulness with the gently curving, slanted trunk, while the dropped branch on the right adds tension and interest by making the tree just slightly unbalanced.”

Amy Liang Chang (you might know her as just Amy Liang) of Taiwan is the artist and donor of this gnarly old (over 400 years!) Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) with its deeply grooved swirling bark that gives away it impressive age. Dave wrote this about this magnificent old tree: “The black pine is a coastal tree of southern Japan, strong, vigorous, long lived and possessed of many attractive qualities. For all the above reasons, it is known as “The King of Bonsai”.

This tree was quite tall when it was collected. In order to create a bonsai of pleasing proportions, the entire upper trunk was cut off, leaving only the lower trunk and the first four branches. Taipei bonsai artist Amy Liang Chang purchased the tree from a Japanese nurseryman in 1971 and styled into in its present form. The tree was totally cleansed of soil to permit its importation to the U.S. in 1989. Although badly stressed by that experience, it lived up to its reputation as a strong, vigorous tree and recovered fully.”

It’s about the color. In this case, the trunk and branching, though nice, exist primarily to support and display the brilliant leaves. The speckled blue-green pot, the bright touches of moss and even the red leaves on the soil all serve to enhance this delightfully luminous display. It’s a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum – I just noticed that we don’t have the name of the cultivar and it’s too late to ask, so we’ll offer a ten dollar gift certificate to the first person who writes the correct name in the comments below). The artist and donor was George Gray of Dallas, Texas. It’s date of origin is 1963 and it has been a bonsai since 1968.

Here’s what Dave DeGroot wrote about this colorful tree: “Certainly, the Japanese maple is one of the most beautiful trees in any landscape, and one of the most beautiful for bonsai as well. Artist George Gray developed this maple from a cutting over a period of more than 30 years. Such a long time in a shallow pot has given the tree excellent surface roots and delicate, well-proportioned branches, so that it projects a sense of both strength and softness. A low, upswept branch on the right side of the tree adds interest by suggesting a secondary trunk.

The shape of the Tokoname-ware container is oval to harmonize with the softly rounded shape of the crown of the tree. The beautiful blue-green color of the container is a perfect foil for orange and red autumn foliage.”

Related books that might interest you
Our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book.
Our Masters’ Series Pine Bonsai book.
Amy Liang’s The Living Art of Bonsai.
Bonsai with Japanese Maples by Peter Adams.

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Bonsai Truckin

Sheer power. This photo and one at the bottom of this post are from a chapter by Ernie Kuo in our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book that’s titled ‘Two Studies.’ This now famous California juniper (Juniperus californica) also appears in a Bonsai Bark post from three years ago.

This photo is from Capital Bonsai (Aarin Packard’s excellent blog from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum). Here’s Aarin’s caption: Gary Wood, (seen here) a bonsai teacher from Muscle Shoals, Alabama had driven from Southern California to D.C. in 3 days with two very famous bonsai recently donated by bonsai artist Ernie Kuo.

As you can see, the tree on the right is the same tree as the one at the top of this post and the tree on the left is the one below. Though both look to be in pretty good shape, a little work needs to be done to bring them back to show form. I’m guessing that if you stay posted to Capital Bonsai, you’ll be able to see how Jack, Aarin and rest of the good people at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum proceed with these amazing trees.

Ernie Kuo, the man who developed and donated these trees is well-known American bonsai artist and teacher. Ernie’s bonsai, especially his collected California junipers are always powerful and distinctive. For more on Ernie here’s a short biography that appears on the Art of Bonsai Project.

A little more about Gary Wood. I just spoke with our friend Felix Laughlin (President of the National Bonsai Foundation) about Gary’s trip. According to Felix, Gary started in Alabama, drove all the way to L.A. to pick up the trees, then to DC to deliver them (in three days no less) and then back home to Alabama. Just in case you haven’t done something like that, that’s a whole lotta diving and more than a fair share of bad food and worn out mattresses (hats off to truckers everywhere). And Gary donated his time no less. Just for the love of bonsai.

The other one, (also a California juniper) as it appeared in our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book.

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Never Finished & Not Exactly Faint Praise

This Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) with its delightful deadwood and fluid movement was collected by Tony Cardoza and styled by Michael Hagedorn. Here’s Michael’s caption: “Finished tree. Or as my friends remind me, ‘No, not finished, that’s a dead tree!’ It’s quite alive. The tree is 24″ high, 31″ wide. The left lower branch is the key branch so it will need to grow out a bit. Left flow. In fact all the branches need length, as it looks like a small tree on top of a large base. I hope I’ve set things approximately right so there will be little need for major adjustment to compensate for that expected growth. With time the future image will show more integration of foliage and the rest of the tree.” From Crataegus Bonsai.

We usually try to stay focused on bonsai while keeping our praise of the humans involved somewhat in check. Especially here on Bonsai Bark, where there’s an effort to take some of the ego out of the art (while not precluding the importance of attribution) so we can just appreciate the trees.

That was the disclaimer, now just a small indulgence with apologies to Michael Hagedorn’s modesty for any embarrassment this might cause (and to you for the string of well-meaning cliches to follow)… if you would like to enjoy an ongoing seminar in the art of bonsai by someone with a deep practical knowledge of the art and techniques of bonsai, and an uncommon ability to communicate that knowledge with a refreshingly light touch and delightful sense of humor, then by all means, check out Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai.

To further whet your Crataegus bonsai appetites, here are a few recent posts:
The Difference Between Yamadori and Pot-Grown
Portland Bonsai Village…a bit closer now…
Wire Woes–When to Remove Wire
As Above, So Below-
Photos and Stories from the Fall Seasonal-
Beware Bending that Branch-
And the list goes on…

A Mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) with its new front. From Michael’s Fall Seasonal.

Uh-oh. From Wire Woes – When to Remove Wire

Speaking of a delightful sense of humor, and just in case you think we do this all just for fun, here’s Michael most excellent book for you to buy.

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Scots Pine: One Artist, Four Trees

The Dancer by Mauro Stemberger. Mauro’s facebook caption reads: Never give up !!!! Swedish scots pine “The Dancer.” You can see that Mauro is planning a new planting angle and most likely a new pot. You might imagine a bunjin type pot (shallow, round, maybe a little rough…).

Good Scots pine bonsai (Pinus sylvestris) are easier to find than good Austrian black pine (Pinus nigra) bonsai. For example, a quick search turned up all four Scots pines shown here in just one person’s collection; the omnipresent Mauro Stemberger. We could easily do the same with Walter Pall and perhaps some others (and we will, stay posted).

The snake. Here’s Mauro’s caption from facebook: Finally the snake for BCI magazine……. Pinus sylvestris 75cm (30″). Snake seems like a perfect name, given the way it lifts its head above a coil on the ground. Speaking of the coil on the ground, I like the way the rim of the pot accommodates the low bulge and jin in the front.

Another loop. We feature an Austrian black pine with a distinctive loop in the trunk a few posts ago and now we’ve got a somewhat similar Scot’s pine with a loop. Both loops belong to Mauro Stemberger.

This is what can happen when a top-notch tree receives a top-notch trimming and wiring. Mauro’s facebook caption says: Spanish Scots pine, 65 cm (26″) in Tokoname pot. Before……and after five kilometers of wire :)

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Small Is Still Beautiful

Kishu shimpaku juniper by John Brocklehurst. Mark Cooper took the photo at the 2012 Noelanders Trophy. I like the natural, fragile looking deadwood twigs and a whole lot more about this tree.

Shohin again. We’ve been featuring shohin bonsai (small bonsai) a lot lately. Maybe it has to do with fact that we’re all aging and, as we age, smaller bonsai have larger appeal (easier to handle, take less space on our condo’s balconies and are a little less taxing on our social security budgets). Or maybe it’s just that we like them so much.

All the photos in this post were taken by Mark Cooper at the 2012 Noelanders Trophy. I found them in two places (here and here) on Morten Albek’s excellent Shohin Bonsai Europe blog. Unfortunately, the artists are not listed with most of the photos. My apologies for not taking the time to try to dig them up (I normally have a very strong aversion to rationalizations, but still, if only you knew how much time research already consumes and then there’s the thing about running a business, not to mention…).

It seems like we haven’t seen that many good Japanese white pines (Pinus parviflora) lately. This powerful yet graceful little gem will help remedy the situation. No artist is listed, nor is the name of the little companion.

This Japanese black pine has a lot to say about age and movement (needle reduction too). The stained pot is a bit of a mystery. I understand how difficult the whitish residue is to remove, but cleaned polished pots are the norm at bonsai shows. Still, it’s a great little tree. No artist is listed.

A muscular little European olive and a very funky (in the good sense of the word) pot. Then there’s old Chinese sage enjoying the shade. No artist listed.

Morten Albek’s classic Shohin book (the only one in English) is now on special at Stone Lantern.

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