Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess spectacular will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. After three straight new posts it’s time to delve into our archives . This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come. The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that … Continue reading Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

Old Bonsai Beauty – Site Wide Sale Ends Tomorrow

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 small Nikko’s next to each other. The 5rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition will take place September 10th & 11th in Rochester NY. See you there! Running a little behind schedule, so we’ll dip back into our deep archival pool once again. The photos and some of the text in this post are from May 2012. You may notice … Continue reading Old Bonsai Beauty – Site Wide Sale Ends Tomorrow

Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)

Great tree, great pot. It belongs to Wolfgang Putz. The pot is by Ingrid Kralovec. The tree is a Korean hornbeam. The botanical name is Carpinus turczaninowii, though you’ll sometimes see them referred to as Carpinus coreana. This post didn’t start out to be mostly about Cedars. The three photos and the text you see here are borrowed from a much longer post we did back in March 2013. After eliminating the out of date content, what’s left are a Hornbeam and two Cedars. Boreal Bonsai. This White cedar (Thuja occidentalis) belongs to Paul Chong of the Toronto Bonsai Society … Continue reading Three Bonsai (Two Cedars & a Hornbeam)

The Original Backyard Bonsai

Trident maple root-over-rock by Wolfgang Putz. From a 2014 Bark post. Yesterday we featured our 15th backyard bonsai post. Today we’ll fall back to our first backyard bonsai post from 2009 (about 1,800 posts ago). This one is from Wolfgang Putz backyard. It turns out that Wolfgang is a bonsai professional, so his backyard is really a bonsai nursery. After this first one, the focus became non-commercial backyards (until yesterday that is, when we showed a mix of commercial and non). This ariel shot shows part of Wolfgang Putz’s back yard bonsai display. Clearly this is a labor of … Continue reading The Original Backyard Bonsai

Laziness & Irresponsibility (or Even Willful Deception)

We’ve shown this brilliant bonsai before, but a planting this perfect deserves another shot. The photo is attributed, but to the photographer (Jonathan Singer) rather than the bonsai artist. We can use it anyway, because it’s easy to recognize as a rather famous root-on-rock planting that belongs to Masahiko Kimura (aka The Magician), a man who revolutionized the world of bonsai. The trees are Shimpaku junipers (with a what looks like a small azalea near the bottom). The photo originally appeared in Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. If you spend anytime looking at bonsai on places like facebook or pinterest, … Continue reading Laziness & Irresponsibility (or Even Willful Deception)

Bonsai Art: Running Out of Superlatives

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess ‘spectacular’ will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. Getting ready for another cross country hop (west to east this time), so to save time we’ll pull something out of our archival hat once again. This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come (taking nothing away from International Bonsai Magazine and several other good … Continue reading Bonsai Art: Running Out of Superlatives

Bonsai Art & Free Flowing Information

Root-over-rock Trident maple by Wolfgang Putz. The photo is from Bonsai Master on facebook as are all three photos in this post. Here are a couple earlier posts on Wolfgang’s bonsai (from May, 2009 and from August 2012). All three of these photos are from someone called Bonsai Master (facebook). When I saw them, I was struck by three things: 1. All three are excellent bonsai. 2. The quality of the photos is also excellent. It make a big difference when people go to the trouble to take a good shot. Facebook (but not just facebook) is overflowing with poorly … Continue reading Bonsai Art & Free Flowing Information

Good Companions

Sumptuous succulents, perfect pot. Planting by Wolfgang Putz. Pot by Dan Barton. From Wolfgang’s website. Good companions. We’ve featured Wolfgang Putz several times (mostly his bonsai) and ditto with Dan Barton (mostly his pots). Now we’ve got them in one place; Wolfgang’s website; specifically the section on Companion plantings. Looks like an altogether auspicious collaboration. Hosta “Golden Tiara” – FUNKIE by Wolfgang Putz. Slightly split pot by Dan Barton. All the companions in this post are by Wolfgang and all the pots are by Dan. Pleione limprichtii – TIBETORCHIDEE Sempervivum spec. – HAUSWURZ Sempervivum arachnoideum – … Continue reading Good Companions

Eye Popping Color, Some Spring Shows with a Northern California Bias & Boreal Bonsai

Great tree, great pot. It belongs to Wolfgang Putz. The pot is by Ingrid Kralovec. At the risk of stating the obvious, I’ll venture that it’s the eye popping color, the muscular well-gnarled lower trunk and the soft glow of the pot that caught your eye (in exactly that order no less). The tree is a Korean hornbeam. The botanical name is Carpinus turczaninowii (though you’ll sometimes see them referred to as Carpinus coreana). So many shows, so little… time, money, get up and go?. Though we just did a post about some upcoming bonsai shows, I’ve decided to follow … Continue reading Eye Popping Color, Some Spring Shows with a Northern California Bias & Boreal Bonsai

Bonsai Art

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess ‘spectacular’ will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come (taking nothing nothing away from International Bonsai Magazine and several other good ones). The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that maybe the language isn’t as important … Continue reading Bonsai Art