You Can Look But You Better Not Touch

This sweet to look at, but otherwise nasty little bonsai is from Yorozu Shohin Bonsai Nursery in Japan. It caught my wary eye recently on a post by John Romano on Bonsai Study Group Forum. I’m going to assume that it’s an Asian Poison ivy (see text below).

One genus, several species
What follows is for those of us who get excited when we see Latin names. If you don’t fall into that unique subset of above average humans, you can skip this part and just enjoy the photos.

The genus is Toxicodendron (previously Rhus). I don’t know how many species there are worldwide in this foul grouping, but for our purposes, there are at least three (well, maybe four) worth mentioning. The first is our east coast Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). Nick Lenz’s little gem below is a pretty good example this noxious menace. The second is our west coast Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) and the third is the Asian Poison ivy (Toxicodendron orientale), which according to Wikipedia is so similar to our Poison ivy that some texts treat it as just a variety of the American species. The forth, Atlantic Poison oak (Toxicodendron pubescens) comes as a surprise to me. Apparently this little thug makes its home mostly in our Old Confederacy (that’s down south for those of you who failed American History – but then you wouldn’t be reading this far anyway).

 

This one is from Nick Lenz’ masterful Bonsai from the Wild. It’s an East Coast Poison Ivy. Judging by the leaves and bark, it’s doesn’t appear to be the same species as the one above. Still, according to Wikipedia (see text above) it’s very close.

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BIB Tonight, BABA Last Night

I wonder where this little Japanese black pine came from originally. My guess is that it was imported from Japan. I’ll also guess that, though it looks like a Yamadori (collected from the wild), it was actually grown for bonsai. I could be wrong on both counts, but there’s one count I’m pretty sure of; this is an excellent little tree, with it’s strong base, aged bark, compact twisted shape, small bright needles and complimentary pot.

BIB then BABA
I should have posted BIB before BABA (see last post). Confused? Okay, here’s how it goes: There are two (at least) very notable Bonsai Clubs in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. One is the Bay Area Bonsai Associates (BABA) and the other is Bay Island Bonsai (BIB). Last post we featured BABA’s 30th Anniversary Exhibit at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland. This post we are featuring BIB’s 13th annual exhibit, also at the Lake Merritt Garden Center, even though the BIB exhibit was actually before the BABA exhibit (Still confused? Don’t worry, you can always just enjoy the great photos).

The same trusty camera and excellent eye
The photos in this post and our previous post (as well as a couple dozen older posts) are by Jonas Dupuich of Bonsai Tonight.

Round and round and round. Round pot, round mounded trunk and rounded crown. Old too. It’s a Japanese white pine. The pot is by Michael Hagedorn. BTW: speaking of Japanese black and white pines, did you know we have an excellent book on just that topic?

 

Have you ever seen such a stumpy Japanese maple? I’ve seen ones with heavier trunks, but don’t think I’ve seen many this compact and heavy. It’s a shohin (you can tell by the stand, among other things).

This delicate Catlin elm (Ulmus parviflora, Catlin) shows some pretty good ramification (see our previous post for more on the topic). I’ve always had a soft spot for Catlins; they make for sweet little bonsai with their small leaves and lovely lines.

 

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BABA Tonight

One things that has long distinguished Japanese bonsai from bonsai in the West is superior ramification. This noble Trident maple, sans leaves, aptly represents a trend; gradually Western bonsai artists are taking the time and trouble to develop fine branching. I don’t think we’re all the way there yet, but trees like this are a clear sign that we are on our way. A few other things that stand out about this tree are; how well balanced it is, how lush and bright the moss is, and the absolutely wonderful pot. Normally you see deciduous trees in glazed pots. Not so here, but no problem.

His trusty camera and excellent eye
The trees in this post are all from the Bay Area Bonsai Associates 30th Anniversary Exhibit. The photos are by Jonas Dupuich of Bonsai Tonight, who, along with his trusty camera and his excellent eye, seems to bounce between the U.S. West Coast and Japan on an almost daily basis.

 

This aptly named Golden Hornet crabapple (Malus zumi) is a case of a tree that’s designed to show off its flowers and fruit (it’s the fruit now, but you can rest assured that the flowers had their day). Not to say that there aren’t some other interesting features, most notably the gnarly old base and the run-over-by-a-tractor look of the trunk, but still, those little yellow apples carry the day.


A sweet, almost bunjin Japanese black pine and its little friend. Those cracks on the shari (the deadwood on the trunk) are a sign of late-stage deadwood decay; in other words, old age. I like the drum pot with its rough hand-built look. My only question is; if the pot were just a little smaller, would the power of the trunk and nebari be even more dramatic?

Nothing like a good ficus bonsai. Here in the far north, we can grow ficus indoors for seven or eight months, no problem. Unfortunately, they don’t develop very fast (to say the least) with only four or five months outdoors each year, and really only about two of those months warm enough to stimulate any growth. The Bay Area provides a much better climate for ficus, but still, it’s not exactly tropical, which brings me to my point; in order to develop such a stout trunk and strong branching, this tree probably spent its early years in more tropical climate. Or maybe in a greenhouse.

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A Little Bonsai Elegance on a Day of Wild Passions and Insane Hyperbole

This Oriental bittersweet belongs to Mario Komsta who is frequently featured on this blog. I found the photo on Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai Europe blog. It’s part of a shohin gallery from Noelanders Trophy 2012 Exhibition. The photo is by Mark Cooper, as are all the photos in this post.

A little antidote
Today is Super Bowl Sunday. A time of almost insane hyperbole and wild passions run amuck. A time when big, loud and violent is the norm and our connections with our more refined sensibilities are put aside in favor of baser impulses. On such a strange and bewildering day, I thought it might be helpful for those of us who are susceptible to such unrestrained and even dangerous impulses (Go Pats!), to take a deep breath and enjoy a little shohin bonsai elegance.

 

A sweet, stumpy little Honeysuckle. Artist unlisted.


This little Shimpaku displays a near perfect mix of wild and refined. Artist unlisted.

 

It’s hard to say without contrasting perspective, but at a glance this Boxwood (Buxus harlandii Chubin) appears on the big side to be called a shohin. Still, shohin it must be, and no matter, it’s still a powerful little tree. And BTW, have you ever seen a boxwood with such a profusion of flowers? Artist unlisted.

 

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Great Photos, Great Trees

Shimpaku with fan. The photo is from Kennett Bonsai’s Wall Photos on facebook.

Photos that are worthy of the trees
It’s always good to see well-photographed quality bonsai. Many photos (especially on facebook) are hastily shot, often with little consideration for things like background, lighting and other elements that go into quality photography. In this case the bonsai (from The Kennett Collection) are excellent, and clearly, some effort has gone into creating photos that are worthy of the trees.

Don’t get me wrong
I’m not complaining about hastily shot photos. With facebook, spontaneity and informality are the nature of the beast and complaining doesn’t do any good anyway. It’s just that it’s nice to see quality bonsai photographed with care and precision.

 

This imposing azalea looks like it was made by tying a bunch of thin azalea whips together on a wire mold (if we can find something good on this technique, we’ll feature it sometime). The photo is from Kennett Bonsai’s Wall Photos on facebook. Its caption reads ‘Kennett Bonsai with Bonsai Envor & Martin Fababella.’


Is this strikingly unusual pine reaching for a cup of tea? Or bowing to it? The more I look at this remarkable tree, the more that comes to mind; but I’ll leave the rest up to you. The caption on this one says ‘Kennett Bonsai with Bonsai Envor.’


The Kennett Collection

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California Shohin Seminar

This little gem was lifted from BUNJINJOURNAL.COM. It’s from the 2010 California Shohin Society Seminar in Santa Nella.

Better late…
Don’t know how this happened, but we almost missed this one. The California Shohin Society is holding its famous biennial seminar in Santa Nella this weekend. I know it’s late, but it’s a great event and if you’re in the area, here’s what you need to know.

Santa Nella

Speaking of famous Shohin, have you seen our book by Morten Albek: Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature?

 

 

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Rocky Mountain Juniper High

Dazzling deadwood. I think I see a live vein on the left edge of the trunk. Otherwise, this spectacular old specimen is a study in deadwood (with a little rebar thrown into the mix). It’s a Rocky Mountain juniper. The artist and owner is Ryan Neil, International Bonsai Mirai. The tree was originally collected by Andy Smith of Golden Arrow Bonsai (Stone Lantern offers Andy’s excellent DVD on collecting bonsai). Intenational Bonsai Mirai has a great little back story on this intriguing old tree.

More daring high quality bonsai
Every time I visit Ryan Neil’s International Bonsai Mirai website something new and exciting turns up. In my estimation, Ryan could quit right now and still be considered major contributor to North American bonsai (and beyond). But Ryan isn’t quitting (and he’s young), so we can expect more daring high quality bonsai for a long time.

Bonsai blessings from the Rockies
I don’t know how many of us fully appreciate the quality of bonsai material coming out of the Rocky Mountains (and other notable western mountains). I suspect the surface has barely been scratched (so to speak) and with a little intelligence and restraint, that the supply could last for our grandchildren’s grandchildren (and so on) without any serious risk to numbers or to the environment. At least, I hope this is the case. In this vein, I think Andy Smith’s most excellent DVD on collecting provides some very intelligent guidelines on how to make this happen. If you combine Andy’s gentle wisdom with the deep and detailed knowledge of Larch Master Nick Lenz’ (Bonsai from the Wild), you’re off to a very good start on the subject collecting.

All three of the Rocky Mountain junipers in this post belong to Ryan Neil. This one was collected in 2008 by Randy Knight of Oregon Bonsai.

 

This one was also collected in 2008 by Randy Knight.

 

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Weekly Wire: Marco’s Before & After, Our Favorite Book & A Fabulous Fake

Before and after. It helps to start with great stock. Still, it takes a skilled hand to successfully tackle such powerful tree. The artist is Marco Invernizzi.and as you may have noticed, the after is just right. It’s a Japanese black pine. It’s from the ‘before and after’ section of Marco’s website.

 

 

Whatever it is, it’s wonderful. We just featured this ‘bonsai’ in our last post. Turns out it’s a fabulous fake. Or, maybe fake isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it’s a wonderful clay representation of a bonsai. The artist is Paul Finch, according to Nik Rozman.

 

There’s two Progetto Futuro Bonsai Schools. This enlongated photo is of a workshop at the Progetto Futuro UK Bonsai School. The original Progetto Futuro Bonsai School is in Italy (as you might guess). Now Tony Tickle has teamed up with Enrico Savini and Ivo Saporiti and created Progetto Futuro UK Bonsai School.

 

Digging in. It just so happens that I’m in Mexico at the moment. Nothing to do with bonsai (more or less), just a little sunshine R&R. Still, why not dig in just a bit to the local scene. Here’s what the first shovel full turned up.

 

Bonsai Tonight, bonsai last night and bonsai tomorrow night. This sweet Kifu shimpaku is from Bonsai Tonight. Rather than say more, I’ll just encourage you to visit this exceptional blog for yourself. Should you wonder whether it’s worth the considerable trouble of a single click, you have my word.

There’s something afoot in Nebraska. Okay, I’m on vacation and trying to stop working for today at least, so I won’t say much about my discovery of the Nebraska Bonsai Society website, except that, at a glance, it looks pretty good. Maybe there’s something afoot in the great state of Nebraska.

 

Buy this book. Okay. It’s time to reveal one of my favorite books of all time. But first, a question: why don’t bonsai enthusiasts show more interest in full size trees? It’s not that there aren’t some tree lovers in our bonsai community, I’m just surprised that we aren’t all tree lovers (or am I missing something?). Anyway, enough with that. This book is the best tree book I’ve ever seen and almost the only tree book I ever use (I even read it for entertainment). It features over 700 varieties with over 2,000 color photos. It’s chock full of great info, including identification tips, range maps, abundant general info on trees and tree identification. And it has a waterproof cover! It’s a remarkable deal at 19.95, and an even more remarkable deal at Stone Lantern’s low price of 14.97. Go ahead, buy it. You’ll be thanking me for years.

 

For those of us who make mistakes. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth at least one more mention: Andy Rutledge’s thoughtful and thought provoking  Artistic Foundations of Bonsai Design is work a look. In fact, it’s worth repeated looks. The photos above are from a section titled ‘Compositional Mistakes.’

 

2011? That’s so last year. Here’s one we missed. It featured Walter Pall and I’d love to hear from someone who attended. Meanwhile, you might want to check out The North Caroline Arboretum for future events.

 

San Antonio. I don’t know why San Antonio popped into my mind, but it did. Here’s what I found after a five second search. I couldn’t tell how current the site is, but it’s a start if you’re interested.

Just a little taste. The two spreads below are from the tree book (above) that I want you to buy.

 

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Lime Sulfur: A Story with a Happy Ending

How many bottles of lime sulfur were used on this monster? I find this tree to be compelling in so many ways (much has to do with shear size, power & no small amount of detail). Still, is the foliage a little too manicured and the deadwood overwrought? I’m sure there are some purists out there who might say something like that, and there’s some sense to these observations, especially if you feel that bonsai should look like trees in nature. But still… why sweat the small stuff when you’re looking at one of the more imposingly powerful bonsai you’ve ever seen (can you imagine what it looks like in real time and space?). I found the photo on the Internet Bonsai Club. It was taken by Ed van der Reek at the Noelanders’ Trophy 2012. I don’t know who the tree belongs to.

The good news
It looks like lime sulfur is back (turns out, it was never really gone). Rather than me confuse the issue more than I already have, here’s the latest from Colin Lewis (Jin Seal lime sulfur is one of his Hô Yoku Bonsai Care Products):

“Lime sulfur must now be registered by each manufacturer individually in every state, not just one national blanket registration, and the fees are not cheap. It simply is not cost effective for manufacturers to do this. You may have a manufacturer in your state who has registered in your state, but I doubt they have registered in all fifty. If they haven’t, and they ship out of state, they’re breaking the law.

However, I have now reached an arrangement with the largest manufacturer that enables me to legally purchase stock and resume wholesale supplies of JinSeal.”


 

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Bonsai Paradise

I think this wonderfully convoluted beast belongs to Yusuf Sirait; at least it appears on his facebook page. It’s a Pemphis acidula (Santigi).

Bonsai paradise
I wonder just how common naturally contorted wild bonsai stock are on the islands of Indonesia. Based on what I’ve seen online and elsewhere, it’s easy to get the impression that they are so abundant that all you have to do is walk out your door, bend over and pick a few. Somehow though, I doubt that’s the case. If fact, I seem to remember photos from Robert Steven’s Mission of Transformation, that show Robert and friends going to a considerable amount of trouble (even dangerous trouble) to collect wild trees (here’s a relevant post from 2009). Still, Indonesian bonsai artists seem to come up with an endless supply of high quality collected bonsai, and the ones shown here are no exception.

 

The wild contortions on this one are a bit more expansive, but nature’s ravages combined with skilled human hands make for the same delightful results. This one belongs to Budi Sulistyo (author of Tropical Bonsai Gallery). The photo is from ofbonsai.org.

I don’t think we can go any further without showing one of Robert Steven’s masterpieces. Robert is a bright star in the Indonesian bonsai universe and this gnarly old tree is a good example of what his skillful hands and eyes can do with powerful collected material. The photo is from the gallery on Robert’s blog. BTW: Robert is a frequent contributor to this blog and author of two of our favorite bonsai books.

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