Bonsai Today Back Issues 60% off

A tribute to John Naka, the Dean of American Bonsai is featured in Bonsai Today issue 93.

Bonsai Today, the benchmark English language bonsai magazine
Bonsai Today magazine has long been revered for its depth, range and quality of bonsai articles. For years it was the benchmark English language bonsai magazine, with each issue full of tips and instructions from the masters, dramatic cutting-edge bonsai, and bonsai news from around the world.

Making space
We’ve decided to sell out our remaining back issues to make space in our warehouse for a host of new products we are introducing. Some issues are almost gone. Eventually they will all be gone and you’ll have to pay inflated prices on eBay if you want their invaluable information. This is a great opportunity to put together your collection of some of the most useful bonsai information anywhere. At 60% off, no less.

Our shipment of Bonsai Aesthetics wire is in from China and the prices are amazing. The rolls that are pictured here are actually Japanese bonsai wire, which we still offer, and at reduced prices.

Bonsai wire for only 1.90 per roll
We have lowered the price on our Bonsai Aesthetics 100 gram rolls of wire to only 1.90. This is good quality anodized (copper colored) aluminum wire. We lowered the price because we’ve run out of most sizes of 1 kilo Bonsai Aesthetics wire (in less than two weeks), so we decided to make ten rolls of 100 gram wire the same price as a 1 kilo roll.

 

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Backyard Bonsai #11

A slice of John Pitt’s backyard. Nice fence and simple plank on concrete block benches.

Continuing a Bark tradition
This our 11th Backyard Bonsai post. The first was Wolfgang Putz’ way back in May 2009. Aside from their voyeuristic value, I think these posts might serve as useful examples, or even inspiration for the rest of us. If you’ve been inspired to put together your own backyard display, we’d like to see photos if you get a chance.

Mr. Pitt
John Pitt is an award winning bonsai potter and bonsai artist who lives in Derbyshire, England. In addition to his own bonsai, John’s pots can be found holding some of the best trees in the world.

A bigger slice.

 

Individual stands of concrete block and simple boards (or tiles?). Looks like some pretty decent trees too.

 

The bonsai displays are part of a landscape that combines Asian and Western features.


Another of John’s varied, but related bench types features some colorful companion plants. I guess you could call this bench a cantilevered pedestal.

An old wooden beam supported by bricks. Yet another bench type.


Single pedestal stands of varying heights constructed with white and red bricks that sit on shallow concrete blocks. At a glance, the tops look like boards, though I suspect that they might be tiles.


A small sampling of John’s pots. You can see more on facebook, or on John’s website.

Speaking of backyard benches, have you seen Bonsai: Your Guide to Creating Stands and Benches by George Buehler?

Our warehouse is closed for vacation until July 12th. Orders received this week will be shipped next week.

 

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What About Deciduous Bonsai?

You can find this magnificent elm and other seriously stupendous deciduous bonsai at Andy Rutledge’s The Bonsai Journal in an article by Andy with photos by Boon Manakitivipart.

In a bonsai world dominated by conifers and tropicals…
…it’s a good idea to remember the wonder of deciduous bonsai. Okay, this may be an overstatement, but still, how many top notch elm bonsai do you see on the internet?

Warehouse vacation
Our warehouse is on vacation until July 12th (it needs a break, not to mention a new paint job). Orders placed before then will be shipped on, or soon after, the 12th (that very week at least).

 

Raft style Japanese beech. You occasionally see someone commenting that North American bonsai has caught up with Japanese bonsai, or other related comments about the limitations of Japanese bonsai (overly stylized is a common one); I think this is wishful thinking by people who aren’t fully paying attention (this is not to say that North American and other Western bonsai -if it makes sense to speak in such generalizations – hasn’t come a long ways in the past few years). This strikingly superior tree is also from Andy’s site.

Our new Bonsai Aesthetics wire
We are virtually out of the 1 kilo size of our new Bonsai Aesthetics wire. Over 200 rolls sold in just under a week took us by surprise. However, we still have plenty of the 100 gram size.

Japanese wire at great prices
Check out our new low prices on Japanese bonsai wire.

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There’s Something About Shohin

Itoigawa juniper by Michael Hagedorn. Michael is one of our favorite American bonsai artists. If you haven’t visited his site (Crataegus Bonsai) this is as good a time as any. BTW: Michael is the author of  Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk a fascinating read, bonsai or otherwise.

The advantages of Shohin (small) Bonsai
On the back of our Stone Lantern book Majesty in Miniature; Shohin Bonsai (by Morten Albek) it says “When compared to large bonsai, Shohin cost less, take less time to develop, take less space, are easier to move, and are less apt to be over-watered. Perhaps best of all, Shohin-bonsai are a delight to behold.” I’ll second those observations (I wrote the original, so why not?).

 

This small Viginia creeper by Harry Harrington (bonsai4me.com) is designed to show off the spectacular foliage.

 

This is the second time we’ve shown this Spiraea japonica (also by Harry Harrington). There are a couple reasons we returned to it: first, it’s a very sweet tree, and second, how many Spiraea bonsai have you seen?


Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai. Published by Stone Lantern. Retail 24.95, our low price 14.97.

 

 

 

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Order Now: Our Warehouse Will Be Closed July 1 – 11

Japanese black pine from our Masters’ Series Pine book. The second printing should arrive about the time our warehouse reopens on July 12th (it will be closed from July 1 thru July 11).

Warehouse vacation
I’m taking my summer vacation now (I know…), so early July will be Corey’s turn. This means the warehouse will be closed from July 1st – 11th. So, if you need something soon, be sure to order it now.

You can still order while the warehouse is closed
Orders received while the warehouse is closed will be shipped soon after the warehouse reopens on July 12th.

Don’t forget to feed your bonsai!
If you need more fertilizer, order now before our warehouse closes from July 1-11. Summer feeding promotes growth and helps prepare you bonsai for the fall and winter. Most people underfeed their bonsai. Don’t fall into this group. Healthy bonsai are well fed bonsai.

Don’t forget to feed your bonsai! Order your Green Dream and other excellent bonsai fertilizers (at discounted prices) before our warehouse vacation begins next week.

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Bonsai Hot Bed Meets America’s Premier Bonsai Show

Thanks to Bill Valavanis for pointing out that this pine is one and the same as the Randy Knight freshly collected pine that we featured in a previous post (American Bonsai Heaven). It won the Meco Bonsai/Kiku Award at the 2nd US National Bonsai Exhibition (June 2010) for the Finest Evergreen. It’s by Scott Elser of Portland, Oregon (that famous bonsai heaven/hot bed).

Less than a year
By the way, we are just less than one year away from the 3rd US National Bonsai Exhibition, June 9-10, 2012. I think you might want to put it on your calendar right now and start figuring out a way to be there.  And, if you have a worthy bonsai you’d like to enter, well, why not? Stay posted to International Bonsai for more information on next year’s show.

Another of Randy Knight’s collected trees that’s off to a very good start. Perhaps we’ll see it in a future US National Bonsai Exhibition.

The first two albums in what promises to be a long and illustrious collection. These albums will not be reprinted, so don’t wait too long if you are interested in putting together a complete library of many of America’s best bonsai.

 

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Draw! (Your Bonsai)

This excellent bonsai drawing looks like a Japanese black pine, but that’s just a guess. As you can see, it and the others in this post are by Eduardo Guedes. Another worthy facebook find. (Note: the copy below is from an earlier Bonsai Bark post, but the drawings in this post are all first timers).

You can do it!
It’s vacation time here, so I’ll borrow a little copy from last year:  We’ve featured bonsai drawings way back in the early years of Bonsai Bark (2009). We still think it’s a good idea and suggest you try your hand at it. Contrary to the pervasive poverty mentality many of us have about these things, you can do it if you just take your time. The drawings (you can call them sketches if that helps) don’t have to be perfect, and with almost any genuine attempt, you’ll learn something about your bonsai.

Not a bad rendition (note for none native English speakers: “Not a bad” often means excellent). Also by Eduardo.


Another Japanese black pine? Speaking of, the 2nd printing of our Japanese pine book is due in two or three weeks.

 

 

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Whoops! Mea Culpa

This one is an olive. And it is by Andres Bicocca. Who is from Argentina and isn’t from Uruguay. BTW: the way the foliage mass clings to the trunk, makes for a unusual looking bonsai. Though it has a wild, ‘work in process’ look, there’s something compelling about it with its strong nebari and well aged bark.

Egg all over my face
First, apologies to Argentinian (not Uruguayan) bonsai artist Andres Bicocca (see three posts ago). Second, apologies to Wild Bonsai; not only did I mis-attribute one of their trees but I mis-identified it as well (doubly embarrassing when you consider that their name is on the photo and the tree is clearly identified where it appears on Andres’ wall photos – thanks to to my virtual friend and unofficial fact checker Jose Luis Rodriguez for noticing this glaring error). It’s a Phemphis acidula, not a European olive (Olea europaea). So thanks Jose for keeping us honest and thanks Andres for your understanding, and thanks Wild Bonsai too.

 

Another of Wild Bonsai‘s impressive trees. Our original mis-identified Wild Bonsai tree is below. Both are Phemphis acidula.

 

Here’s the one I got all wrong. Notice the fine print on the bottom of the photo.

 

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Just Arrived: Bonsai Aesthetics Wire

From an article in Bonsai Today issue 96, titled Wiring 101. Bonsai Today back issues are currently 55% off at Stone Lantern.

Bonsai Aesthetics Wire
A couple years ago we introduced our now very popular Novice grade Chinese bonsai tools from Bonsai Aesthetics. Now, it’s time for Bonsai Aesthetics anodized aluminum bonsai wire. It comes in two weights (100 gram rolls and 1 kilo rolls). Prices are about half of what you pay for Japanese anodized aluminum wire.

Bonsai Aesthetics and Robert Steven
Bonsai Aesthetics is owned by Robert Steven, a world-class bonsai artist, author and teacher who often appears on this blog. Robert oversees and assures the quality of all his products. Robert is the author of two benchmark bonsai books: Mission of Transformation and Vision of My Soul.

Robert Steven putting some of his Bonsai Aesthetics wire to use. From Vision of My Soul.

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Local Bonsai Styles 2: Growing Conditions, Native Species & Culture

This venerable, naturally dwarfed Ponderosa belongs to American/British bonsai artist and teacher, Colin Lewis. Colin lives on the coast of Maine. Ponderosa pines grow in the inland mountains of the western U.S.; two distinctively different environments.

Climate, native species and culture
If you get a chance, take a look at the comments from the last post. They expand and provide insight into what started as a simple post with a single idea: the effects of culture (human rather than biological culture) on local bonsai styles. The first three comments deal mostly with nature (climate and other growing conditions, and native species) and the forth by Colin Lewis, returns to and amplifies the notion of culture as a primary influence on bonsai styles. Rather than say much more here, I’ll let Colin speak for himself (below). But first a couple more photos.

A wonderfully gnarly Premna by Robert Steven and his good friend, ‘Mother Nature.’ No way you’ll ever find a tree anything like this in the Green Mountains of Vermont or the scrub pine forests of Maine. It is distinctively tropical and almost looks like it grew in some unearthly magical realm (Indonesia, in fact). Robert is a frequent contributor to this blog and is the author of two distinguished and invaluable bonsai books: Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation.

Japanese beech by Colin Lewis. This species looks like it might be quite at home in Maine. In fact, when it comes to growing conditions, Maine and the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido have much more in common than Maine and the Rocky Mountains.

Colin’s remarks from the last post
“Local growing conditions and species are only part of the story. Look again at the olives from Uruguay and Spain and you’ll see that the do indeed have a lot in common. First, they are similar material, parts of the nebari of what were much larger and extremely old trees that have long since fallen apart and left just a ring of sprouting root remnants. They are not influenced at all by ancient olives because olives simply don’t grow like that. They are in fact the artists’ responses to the material. They are brilliant works of pure fantasy.

Continue reading Local Bonsai Styles 2: Growing Conditions, Native Species & Culture

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