Weekly Wire, Bonsai Comic, Shohin Maffia & A Colorful Bonsai Celebration

Look familiar? You may have seen this most excellent Mario Komsta pine before. In fact, it’s possible that we’ve already featured it right here, though I can’t find when or where. Anyway, if we did already show it; it was good then and it’s still good now.

 

Do you recognize this tree? If so, It’s not too late to enter our Bonsai Detectives $250 Mystery Contest.

 

Shohin Maffia? I guess you know what shohin means and you probably have a pretty good grasp of maffia too (even with the double f). Now you can see what happens when you put them together: cool b&w photos of great pots.

 

Bonsai comic. A relaxed somewhat wacky old bonsai maven lets loose about Elephant squirrels, Socrates, and $100 per inch. Here.

 

Italy anyone? Where are you going to be in September? The now famous Crespi Cup promises to be one of the premier bonsai events this year. I’ve heard that thousands of people attend.

 

Bonsai Auction. The Puget Sound Bonsai Association is holding its annual auction at Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection on June 2nd (see below).

Pacific Rim Collection. A little piece of the Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection.

 

Larch fest. I like our northern native trees, especially larches. I found this one at Bonsai Otaku. You might notice the fresh new foliage and the aging bark. I don’t think this tree is ancient, but it’s old enough to show off that prized scaly bark look.

 

Greenwood’s big bash. You might want to stop off in the UK on your way to Italy (see Crespi above).

 

A baker named Stephen. Not too long ago we featured this raft maple without its leaves. At the time, we didn’t know anything about it; what it is, who it belongs to, it’s size, etc. Now we know that it’s a very large red Japanese maple that belongs to a baker named Stephen who lives in Belfast, N. Ireland.

 

Two man raft. This’ll give you a pretty good idea of just how big it it. My guess is that one of these gentleman is the now famous baker named Stephen.

 

Michael’s narcissus. From Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai, a site well worth a visit. Michael’s latest post might whet your bonsai appetite. It’s titled  “The Portland Bonsai Village Goes On The Road!

 

Let’s celebrate! It’s about people, bonsai and plenty of color. Bonsai Slovakia’s website takes the prize for creating a sense of celebration when it comes to bonsai.

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Nick’s Bonsai & FREE ITEMS Last Day

I know many of you have already seen this somewhat unruly apple, but many of you haven’t. Either way, it’s a very distinctive bonsai, and it’s flowering no less! You can find it on the back cover of Nick Lenz’ landmark book on collecting, Bonsai from the Wild.

Larch master Lenz
It seems like high time to return to our old friend Larch Master Nick Lenz. Especially since we just received some new photos of some of Nick’s trees from Candy Shirey, who is now their proud owner. This isn’t the first time we’ve featured bonsai of Nick’s that now belong to Candy.

Last day for FREE ITEMS
If you order from Stone Lantern until 11:59 pm U.S. EDT today, and you put FREE ITEMS in the comments when you order, you’ll get some free stuff. The details are here.

 

This passionate Azalea originally belonged to Nick. Now it belongs to Candy Shirey. Whoops. I’m told that it still belongs to Nick. The photo however, was taken by Candy (see comments) .

 

Here’s another of Nick’s trees that belongs to Candy. It’s a Honeysuckle.

 

This fall color Nick Lenz larch belongs to the Montreal Botanic Gardens.


I don’t know where this photo comes from, but its highly creative, disturbing strangeness marks it as a Lenz.

Nick’s book is part of this remarkable set of five of our very best bonsai books. You can buy it this way and save a lot, or, you can buy it alone and save a fair amount.

FREE ITEMS. If you buy enough (and you put FREE ITEMS in the comments when you order), you get all five items. The details are here.

 

 

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A True Gentleman & A Very Large Tree

It’s not often we feature photos of people on this blog, but, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show you this photo of Jim Smith, one of the true gentlemen in our bonsai community, and a master of large tropical trees (this one looks like a Portulacaria). The photo was posted on facebook by Mareta Martell today with this caption: ‘big bonsai 300 years old by Jim Smith’ (we know it’s not really 300).

A remarkable place
It’s been way too many years since I visited Jim Smith’s Durastone Nursery in Vero Beach. Florida. It’s a remarkable place; just the sheer volume (shear volume too) of bonsai and bonsai stock is overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact that I still can’t quite figure out how Jim and his son Doug keep the whole place from turning into a jungle (it almost the tropics down there, you know). But they do, and the results are a delight to behold (Here’s a note from Mary Miller that I received after I posted this: Jim Smith’s son Doug passed away in 2009 from cancer.  It was a sad time, he was a very special guy).

Just gentleman will do
I mostly try to keep personalities out of the picture and just focus on bonsai in this blog. But, I so enjoyed the time I spent with Jim Smith going through his nursery, and his how his kind and gentle demeanor always made the experience doubly enjoyable, that I was going to call this post ‘A Gentelman’s Gentleman,’ that is until I wisely decided to look the term up and discovered that it refers to a Gentleman’s manservant. So we’ll stick with just gentleman. I think if fits just fine.

 

A Narrow leaf ficus by Jim Smith. If you look closely, you’ll see a bunch of tiny bromeliads in the crotches and along the main branches . The rugged natural feel on this tree is characteristic of Jim’s bonsai. The photo is from ‘A living tribute to the bonsai styling of James J. Smith.’

 

This Bougainvillea was donated to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum by Jim. The photo is by Jonas Dupuich; from a Bonsai Tonight post on tropical bonsai at the Museum.

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Massive Trunk, Beautiful Pot & Much More (FREE ITEMS too)

To my eyes, this is a stupendous tree. So stupendous that nothing more needs to be said and you need not read any further… unless you need help seeing the obvious. If you do need help, then you might notice that when you combine this tree’s unusually generous size and spread with its highly refined ramification (all the way out to the tiniest twigs), the aged character written on the surface of the trunk and the clutch of its many fingered nebari (on a lesser tree this nebari would completely steal the show); its easy to see that it’s much more than just a bonsai with a thick trunk. And then there’s the simple elegance of the pot, a perfect choice for a perfect tree. The artist of this prize winning Ficus microcarpa is Zhou, Yu-Chuan. It’s from the Collection of all Taiwan Bonsai Exhibitions, by Taiwan Bonsai World (Albums) on facebook.

Our big FREE give-away & more to come
A rare sunny weekend is beckoning, so we’ll make this one quick and easy. Stay posted for more powerful Taiwanese bonsai in the next few days. Meanwhile, don’t forget your FREE ITEMS when you order at Stone Lantern (but only if you put FREE ITEMS in the comments when you order).

FREE STUFF when you order at Stone Lantern and you remember to put FREE ITEMS in the comments. For details scroll down to the post below or click here.

 

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FREE! Bonsai Wire, Scissors, Fertilizer & Other Good Stuff

FREE! These items are FREE when you order from Stone Lantern (and you put FREE ITEMS in the comments when you order). The more you order, the more FREE ITEMS you get.

You must put ‘FREE ITEMS’ IN THE COMMENTS when you order. If you do not put FREE ITEMS in the comments, then you will not get any. DON’T FORGET!

Shipping costs are not included in determining your order amount.

 

 

 

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE: With orders from 1.00 to 20.00 (not including shipping), we will throw in one free 100gram 4.5mm roll of bonsai wire (photo is not a 100gram roll).

 

 

 

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE & MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK: With orders from 20.00 to 40.00 we will throw in a medium cleaning block along with your wire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK & ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS: With orders from 40.00 to 60.00 we will throw in one pair of free scissors along with your wire and cleaning block.

 

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS & 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER: With orders from 60.00 to 100.00 we will throw in a 8oz bag of Green Dream along with you wire, cleaning block & scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS, 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER & BONSAI PRO FERTILIZER: With orders from 100.00 to 150.00 we will throw in a bottle of Bonsai Pro Fertilizer along with your wire, cleaning block, scissors & Green Dream.

 

FREE BONSAI WIRE, MEDIUM TOOL CLEANING BLOCK, ALL PURPOSE SCISSORS, 8oz BAG OF GREEN DREAM BONSAI FERTILIZER, BONSAI PRO FERTILIZER & JIN SEAL LIME SULFUR: With orders over 150.00 we will throw in a bottle of Jin Seal Lime Sulfur along with your wire, cleaning block, scissors, Green Dream & Bonsai Pro.

Rules of engagement
1. You must put ‘FREE ITEMS‘ in the comments box when you place your order. If you don’t put it in the comments, it won’t happen. No exceptions will be made.

2. Order amounts will be determined by the prices of the items you purchase. Shipping costs are not included in determining order amounts.

3. Free items will not show up on your sales order. Don’t worry. As long as you put ‘FREE ITEMS’ in the comments, you’ll get your rewards.

4. Sale ends at 11:59 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time, Wed May 23rd. No exceptions will be made.

Don’t forget to put FREE ITEMS in the comments box

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Restyling a Mugo, Offing a Shari, Bonsai Tourists, More Bonsai Rafting & Some Excellent Events

This old beauty is one of hundreds of quality bonsai that was featured at the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Nikko Satsuki Azalea that belongs to The Kennett Collection. It originally belonged to Kunio Kobayashi who started it by planting smaller trees next to each other. The 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition takes place June 9th and 10th in Rochester NY. It’s not too late to sign up.

 

Now half price. Order this collector’s set from the first two U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions and save 50%

 

It’s not a bonsai, but it is a sweet photo. It turned up on the New England Bonsai Gardens facebook page a while back.

 

Restyling a Mugo pine. The Bonsai Journal has an excellent step-by-step photo article by Wolfgang Putz on his award winning Mugo pine. This photo was taken in October 2002 at the Euro Bonsai Gala. The tree was selected among the fifteen best trees of the show by the two special guests from Japan, Mr. Harunobu Tokita and Mr. Yoshihiro Nakamizu.

 

Paolo Gai sent us this digitally altered version of an ancient looking Ezo spruce that we featured two weeks ago. At the time I wondered what would happen if you removed the shari. Now, thanks to Paolo Gai, we have an answer.

 

The old Ezo with its eye-catching shari.

 

Bonsai Tourists. This friendly photo is from the latest Bonsai No Satori, the Rosade Bonsai Studio Newsletter.

 

You don’t see that many Birch bonsai. Let along quality Birch bonsai. This one is from the Maros Bonsai Blog. Apologies to Maros for playing with the image in order to get a clear background. You can go here to see original photo.

 

This looks intriguing. I’ve often thought that residential retreats are one of the best ways to enhance your bonsai skills. You can check it out here.

 

Recently we featured a dramatic raft style bonsai. Now here’s another. It’s somewhat unusual because it starts above ground and finishes above ground. I think it’s worth noting that raft bonsai are not all that common outside of Japan. Unfortunately, I don’t know who this one belongs to. Anyone?

 

The Columbus Bonsai Society’s new newsletter is out. Among other things it features the event above and a review of Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono & Suiseki (on sale at Stone Lantern for only 9.95).

 

It’s that time of year. Bonsai West’s Spring Open House is coming soon.

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Walking Around in a Daze & Shin Boku’s Open House

A little piece of the Shin-Boku stroll garden.

Two of the best tree nurseries anywhere
If you’re ever in northern New England you might want to visit two of the best tree nurseries anywhere. Shin Boku and Baker Valley Nursery in Wentworth N.H. are home to some of the most wonderful specimen landscaping trees I’ve ever seen. The first time I visited Shin-Boku and Baker Valley (thanks to a tip from Doug Roth of the Japanese Garden Journal) I walked around in a daze. Now, after three or four visits a year for the last four or five years, I still walk around in a daze.

Shin-Boku’s open house & the bonsai demo
Shin-Boku’s open house is Memorial Day weekend. There will be bonsai demo Saturday the 26th. Because of the size of the planting and number of trees involved, we’ll start early and will most likely end late.

 

A small sampling of Shin Boku’s field grown trees.

 

Some more field grown stock. We’re going to use some large container grown versions of these (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’) to make a large forest for the bonsai demo. Just to give you an idea of the size; the wooden box/pot is going to be about five feet long and some of the trees are close to six feet tall.

 

A sky shot of part of Shin Boku Nursery. Some of those trees down there have bonsai potential.

Nearby Baker Valley Nursery. Both Shin Boku and Baker Valley are owned by Palmer Koelb and both are home to some of the most eye-popping field grown and container grown stock you’ll ever see.

If you’re landscape tree person, or a gardener, or even a bonsai nut, you might want to take a look at our Okatusne tools. Doug Roth of the Japanese Garden Journal first turned me on to them (this is not the only good tip he’s given me – see above), and now I owe him more than I can repay.

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Attention Bonsai Detectives: $250 Mystery Contest

Tree number one

Here’s what you have to do
Tell me something about each tree. The more accurate the information you give, the better your chances are. The two most obvious pieces of information you can provide are: who the artist is and what kind of tree it is. Or maybe you know something about the pot. Another useful piece of information is where you found the tree (that way I can verify the ones I don’t know). Really anything you know about the trees.

What you’ll win
First place: The person who give the most accurate information on the most trees, will win a $140 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. Second place is a $70 gift certificate and third place is a $40 gift certificate.

A word to the wise
You don’t necessarily have to have the correct information on each tree, you just have to have more correct information than the other entrants.

The Deadline
The contest will run until June 15th (just after the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, which is the weekend of 9th and 10th). No entries will be accepted after June 15th.

Email me
Your answers must be sent to me <wayne@stonelantern.com> (DON’T PUT YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!). The subject line should say $250 Contest.

Enter as much as you like
You may enter more than once, or correct and elaborate on your entry. As long as you do it by June 15th.

Good luck!

Or, you can just enjoy the gallery
If you don’t care about the contest, scroll down and enjoy a great bonsai gallery

Two

 

Three

 

 

Four

 

 

Five

 

 

Six

 

 

Seven

 

 

Eight

 

 

Nine

 

 

Ten

 

 

Eleven

 

 

Twelve

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World Bonsai Day, Fuji Bonsai & Putting on the Glitz

If it weren’t for the three fingers at the bottom, there’d be no way to tell just how massive this Pomegranate trunk is. It’s from Fuji Bonsai (Roy Nagatoshi’s nursery) via Capital Bonsai, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum‘s excellent blog. You can see the whole tree below.

Better late…
Looks like World Bonsai Day almost got away from me. It’s tomorrow and the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is hosting an open house in its honor. My apologies to you and the good people at the National Arboretum for not putting this up sooner.

The Glitz
The good news is that the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is hosting other exciting events coming up, including ‘Putting on the Glitz,’ an Azalea Bonsai Exhibit, May 26 – June 3.

 

Putting on the Glitz. “In Japan, it is said that the beauty of an azalea bonsai in bloom is like the beauty of a courtesan dressed in her finest brocade kimono. Breathtaking blossoms cover these late-blooming Satsuki azaleas, miniature in form, but covered with full-sized flowers. This annual spring exhibit showcases the most spectacular examples.” Azalea Bonsai Exhibit: May 26 – June 3, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum Special Exhibits Wing. Free.


It’s been close to twenty years since I’ve visit Roy Nagatoshi’s Fuji Bonsai. Thinking back, the images that come to mind are Roy’s delightful old father and the numerous extraordinarily powerful, massive trunked bonsai. Judging by this photo, it looks like that hasn’t changed. Photo from Capital Bonsai.

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Naturalistic? Not Exactly

Here’s a Kimura tree that I’ve never seen. This, and the other photos in this post are from Owen Reich on facebook. Owen lives in Japan and takes bonsai photos. In addition to his facebook offerings Owen has a blog that is rich with excellent photos.

Not so naturalistic
It’s not my intention to reopen the old naturalistic versus sculptural bonsai debate. It’s just that when you look at some of Masahiko Kimura‘s bonsai, the question seems to arise on its own; his highly refined deadwood-dominant bonsai stand in contrast to what you find in nature. Beyond that, I don’t know if more needs to be said, other than Kimura’s bonsai are truly mind blowing and that there’s no real need to draw lines and take sides.

Kimura’s Garden 2008
Here’s what Owen says about the photos that he posted under the title Kimura’s Garden 2008: “Photos really do not do justice to Kimura-san’s bonsai. The depth and complexity is lost a little in photos.” I second that sentiment. No photo of any bonsai anywhere, ever captures the sheer power that a world class bonsai conveys when you see it in person (come to the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition and see for yourself).

 

Up close.

 

Taking flight.

This undulating pine is no doubt a little closer to the way it was found in nature than the other trees shown here. In general, Kimura treats pines quite differently that junipers and some others.

 

This looks like a Hinoki. My semi-educated guess is that Kimura built the rock (you can see how in our book The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2).

NEW. Masters’ Series Set of three of our most popular bonsai books. Each one features bonsai step-by-step by Masahiko Kimura (Pine & Junipers feature other artists as well). Each is also available individually.

 

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