Susan Richards submitted this entry to our $100 Bonsai Art Photo Contest. The photo was taken at 7-mile Lake in Colorado.
It’s not too late for you to enter
We’ll keep the contest going until we have at least ten entries, maybe many more if interest remains high. So don’t be lazy, send us your photo. It’s a good thing to share your inspiration.
The prizes
First prize is a $60 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. Second prize $30 gift certificate. Third prize $10 gift certificate.
Moss Milkshake. Just add water. Grows up to 20 square feet of just the kind of moss you want for your bonsai.
Something new
We haven’t had a new product for a while now (except for some rare out of print issues of Bonsai Today… not exactly new really), though there is a new Japanese gardening book that’s on its way (stay posted).
Field grown bonsai stock…
…is coming soon too.
James Miles submitted this entry to our $100 Bonsai Art Photo Contest. It’s a juniper somewhere in the high Sierras. That’s granite that is appears to be growing on. How do they do that?
The contest
Here are the details. Don’t be shy, send us a photo. You might win a gift certificate to Stone Lantern.
Speaking of Stone Lantern, our current deep sale ends tomorrow morning
Even though we always seem to have sales, this one is particularly good, with a range of items double discounted. Check it out.
Many people don’t know about Okatsune tools. Those that do, love them, though many of those people don’t know that Okatsune makes a bonsai shear. I’ve been using mine for over ten years and I’ve never had to sharpen them. To be sure I use other shears (it’s good to work with all the tools we sell), but I always return to my Okatsunes.
This is a good time
These Okatsune shears are discounted (really double discounted) right now. So are over 250 other items.
Here’s another Okatsune shear that I use all the time. It’s a wonder for heavier bonsai cuts and for around the garden. Ikebana branches too. Comes in two sizes. 7 inch and 8 inch (17.8cm and 20.3cm). We’ve featured it before, but it’s worth featuring again (and again).
There was no description with Christian Hansen’s entry. The photo does speak for itself; still, it would be good to know what and where (though it’s true that I didn’t say anything about sending descriptions).
The contest
Here are the details. Don’t be shy.
My Mistake. In the original post for the photo contest I labeled this partial tree Southern birch. Should be Southern beech (or Mountain beech?). Here’s what Richard Warner (it’s his photo) said about it: “Don’t know if this is really art but the framing came out nice. A photo of a Mountain Beech on the Routburn Track near Millford Sound ‘Lord of the Rings’ Country in New Zealand. Branch looks a little like a Dragon. (Southern Beech not Birch as the photo title incorrectly says).” I imagine those are beeches covering the hillside also.
Reminder
This photo is the inspiration for our current $100 Bonsai Photo Art Contest. Where’s your entry?
Big Discounts
BTW: Stone Lantern’s current sale says over 200 items discounted. Should be over 250 items discounted. And, there are significant double discounts on orders of $50 and up.
Here’s what Mike Viljak has to say about his entry: “I found this tiny ‘planting’ while poking around in a river bed in Wyoming, near the Tetons. I don’t know what type of plant it is, but I was more intrigued by its choice of a beautiful, yet tiny driftwood planter. I call it ‘Microsai’. Formal upright style perhaps? I like how the red stem pops out against the background, asserting its presence.”
In case you’re not aware
Here’s the first entry and the specifics. Now, let’s see yours.
Aha! Something new and different. I borrowed this exciting shot from Bonsai Art magazine. It’s a Chinese juniper ‘Itoigawa’ by Guido Braun. 12 inches high (30cm).
Bonsai Art Magazine
Every two months I get my copy of Bonsai Art Magazine in the mail and I’m never disappointed. In fact, I’m always delighted. So delighted that I’ll go out on a limb and say that it’s the most artistic, best designed bonsai magazine anywhere. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s only in German. Now to get them to publish an English edition.
Here’s another highly creative bonsai that breaks the mold. It’s by Georg & Margitta Reinhard and, like the one above, it’s from Bonsai Art.
This dynamic Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) with is fluid play of strikingly attractive dead and live wood, and its perfectly balanced foliage, is from cover of Bonsai Today issue 89. Unfortunately, the artist’s name was lost somewhere in translation.
In praise of the under appreciated yew
Bad puns aside, I feel like I’ve praised yew before (right here on Bonsai Bark), but can’t find it anywhere (I didn’t look all that hard). Anyway, at the risk of repeating myself, I like yews. For landscaping and for bonsai.
Landscaping
Yews are often over used in landscaping and as a result their beauty is not always appreciated. Also, most people don’t know how to prune landscape trees, so some of their best features are usually hidden. I especially like the color and gnarly shapes that the wood takes on with age, and the brilliant yellow green new growth in the spring (right about now, here in Vermont).
Bonsai
Yews are catching on for bonsai. Not that some people haven’t appreciated them all along, but in my experience it seems that most people have overlooked them. Perhaps this is because they are so common and are almost always pruned to hide the beauty of the wood when used in landscapes. The extreme hardness of the wood probably didn’t help either. Conversely, they are tough, tough, tough, and respond to pruning and root pruning with flying colors. Carving too, if you have the patience and strength (or power tools). Once they are carved, the deadwood can be quite beautiful (especially in contrast to their striking reddish brown bark). As an extra plus, yews are more rot resistant than most trees.
It’s all about the broad shari (and the massive trunk that supports it) with this Taxus baccata (English yew). That and the sleek shiny reddish wood. The photo is from Ivo Saporiti’s website.
One little man made hill that serves as landscaping and as a growing bed for future bonsai.
Coming soon
I’ve started digging some of my field grown stuff and putting them in plastic containers. Soon we’ll start photographing and putting some up for sale.
Larches and some others
More than half of what I’ve been growing are larches that have been collected here in northern Vermont. All have been pruned some. Some has been wired and a few have even been carved. Most are not bonsai pot ready, but all have good potential.
Stone Lantern
When they are ready, I’ll be putting them up here and on Stone Lantern (where you will be able to order them). Speaking of Stone Lantern, check out our latest sale. I’ve been discounting individual items like a madman, with no end in sight (well, not yet anyway).