Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays

Suthin’s “Happy Holidays to all” tree. It’s a Trident maple root-over-rock (root devouring rock). Staying close to home today, it’s our old friend Suthin Sukosolvisit offering some bonsai wizardry just in time for the New Year Bonsai Pot & Soil Specials End Tonight Friday, Dec 28th at 11:59pm EST Plus Two New Specials at Stone Lantern see below – Cropped for a closer look at how the trunk is slowly devouring the rock Suthin’s caption says simply… “New home” You might recognize this as the tree that won Best Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National. It’s a Japanese black pine Cropped for … Continue reading Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays

Our National Bonsai Treasure

This Sargent juniper (Aka Shimpaku) resides at the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. It was donated by Doug Paul, owner of the Kennett Collection. This photo and the others shown here, were taken and generously offered by Robert Vitale. The plant varieties and names of the donors are courtesy of Janice Vitale and Michael James We just featured a post about a great job opening at the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, so let’s stay on theme The U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum is one of our true national treasures and a great place to visit next time you’re in or around DC. … Continue reading Our National Bonsai Treasure

Small Bonsai Are Still Beautiful Bonsai

This little deciduous tree with its profusion of small orange fruit isn’t identified, so we can only guess. Based on the fruit and the bark we’ll try Crabapple. If we’re wrong and you know what it is (or think you do) you can put it in the comments on our timeline. Short trees and short time today, which is why we’ll take that easy way out and bring back a favorite from our archives. This one originally appeared almost exactly one year ago (Dec 5th, 2017). I’ve long had a soft spot for Shohin bonsai and these are some of my favorites Continued below… THREE DAYS ONLY 40% OFF ALL … Continue reading Small Bonsai Are Still Beautiful Bonsai

Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about Harvey Carapella’s backyard bonsai garden… “Enjoy the colorful bonsai garden of Harvey Carapella. His outstanding private bonsai collection is a joy to appreciate, especially at this time of year. I’m quite proud of my friend’s bonsai talent and accomplishments. WOW!” From Bill’s timeline It’s a small world…. It turns out that our Bonsai Star for the Day, Harvey Carapella is an old friend of a good friend of mine here in Vermont. It’s not a bonsai connection, just one of those serendipity type things. When we discover these kinds of connections, my question … Continue reading Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Brilliant Bonsai in Full Fall Colors & Other Famous Trees

Always nice to lead with a little color. This cheerful full fall color Trident maple belonged to Suthin Sukosolvisit when we first showed it way back in 2009. I don’t know who the lucky owner is now Still trying to catch up from vacation so it’s archive time again. I used to have a 30 hour a week office person, but now it’s just me (with a little help from a friend), so keeping up, let alone catching up, requires more time, though new technology and other innovations help, but only to a point. The photo at the top of this post originally … Continue reading Brilliant Bonsai in Full Fall Colors & Other Famous Trees

Three Powerful Bonsai, a Quick Spelling Lesson, Ancient Pines & Towering Hoodoos

Colorado spruce from Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai. This one is more about bark than deadwood. Normally bark that covers deadwood is stripped to reveal the deadwood, but in this case it makes sense to leave it. Leaving the high plateaus and mountains of northern Arizona and southern Utah today. A quick detour to SF and family, then back to Vermont via Boston on Sunday. Once we’re back in the office, we’ll find time to sort through our photos. Meanwhile here are some bonsai from our archives that shows three species we’ve seen growing in the wild on this trip. All the photos in this post were … Continue reading Three Powerful Bonsai, a Quick Spelling Lesson, Ancient Pines & Towering Hoodoos

Bonsai Boon and His Twenty Super Students

Boon Manakitivipart’s Itoigawa Sargent Juniper that won the Finest Medium Size Bonsai award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. From a September, 2016 Bark post Continuing with North American bonsai in our lead up to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition… The more I look at the tree above, the more I like it. But rather than go into specifics, I’ll just relate a quick story…. While I was admiring the tree at the 5th U.S. National, Boon walked by. I said something like ‘great tree, but only one?’ His reply was… “Yes, but twenty of my students have trees here.” … Continue reading Bonsai Boon and His Twenty Super Students

Suthin’s Beautiful Beasts & the 6th U.S. National Exhibition

This beautiful beast with it rugged trunk and luminous foliage belongs to Suthin. Here’s his caption… “#04 Shimpaku ‘Itoigawa’ Tree’s height: 39 inches. Interesting PM. me. Pick up at US. National show in Rochester, NY. suthinbonsaistudio.com” Continuing with American bonsai leading up to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (Rochester, NY, September 8th & 9th – it’s not too late to make your plans)… today it’s everybody’s friend Suthin (officially Suthin Sukosolvisit), another long time favorite here on Bark STONE LANTERN’S NEW BONSAI FERTILIZER SPECIAL 25% off list prices for Fertilizers & other care products – Here’s another one you can arrange to pick up at the Exhibition. It’s a … Continue reading Suthin’s Beautiful Beasts & the 6th U.S. National Exhibition

The Best American Bonsai & Other Compelling Reasons to Wake up in Rochester

This twisty bunjin style collected Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) shows what can happen when a tenacious tree hangs onto a Florida shoreline that is ravaged by repeated tropical storms and occasional hurricanes. It belongs to Doug Hawley who has been refining this tree for about ten years (this was written in 2009). Height 28″ Pot by Sara Rayner To whet your bonsai appetites, I’ve decided to devote all our posts between now the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition to North American Bonsai We’ll start with three photos which were originally from a book titled North American Bonsai* (out of print), that we originally featured in a post … Continue reading The Best American Bonsai & Other Compelling Reasons to Wake up in Rochester

Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, an American Treasure

This famous old Japanese white pine is one of the most powerful bonsai anywhere. You can find it at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. As always. the photo, though enticing, doesn’t begin to do justice Overslept this morning and then had to deal with delivery of 127 boxes of Bonsai Aesthetics wire (about 7,000 individual rolls of wire in 3 sizes: 100gram, 500gram & Kilo rolls), so we’re already way behind schedule. Time for our archives. This one is from Bark’s first month in existence (Feb, 2009) Next time you are in Washington DC, don’t miss the opportunity to visit our exciting National … Continue reading Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, an American Treasure