We Have a Winner!

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Ferry Freriks’ stout-trunked little Honeysuckle takes the grand prize in a down to the wire contest for a $100 gift certificate from Stone Lantern. Congrats Ferry!

Oh so close
Altogether 41 people (including me) submitted their choices. The total count for the first three finishers (see below for photos of the other two) were: Ferry’s Honeysuckle 84. John Romano’s Erodium 80. Brian and Jill’s (no last name) Serissa 80.

Next time
When I started this contest it didn’t occur that it would be so close. Next time I’ll divide the prize among the first three finishers. Meanwhile, John and Brian and Jill will have to be content with the knowledge that lots of people enjoyed their trees.

Thank you!
Every single tree got at least a handful of points. And I enjoyed them all and appreciated your daring in submitting your trees and subjecting them to our critiques.

Continue reading We Have a Winner!

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Masters’ Bonsai Gallery: Let’s Rock!

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This group of Needle junipers on a large rock by Norboru Kaneko won first prize at Sakufu-ten #12. It originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 24 (long out of print). It also appears in our Bonsai Today Masters’ Series Juniper book (still in print).

Root-on-rock vs root-over-rock
The bonsai shown in this post are all root-on-rock, which means that the roots are growing in soil that is in pockets in the rock. Root-over-rock is where the rock sits in soil in a pot and the roots are trained to grow down over the rock and into the soil. We’ll do a post on these later.

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Here’s another Needle juniper (with an azalea and some others) by Noboru Kaneko. Also from Bonsai Today 24 and our Juniper book.

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And one more. Same artist, same place.

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Root-over-rock. Here’s a somewhat fuzzy example of root-over-rock (as contrasted with the root-on-rocks above), that comes from Noelanders Throphy XI – A Film by Merlin. You can see one root (with the white stripe) than snakes down the side of the rock. It’s actually functioning as trunk now; roots that are exposed to air will grow bark and become part of the trunk. This only works if the tips of the root are in soil. If the whole root, including the tips, is exposed to air for more than a few minutes, tips and all will begin to die.

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National Bonsai Foundation 2010 Calendar

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This massive white pine was donated to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum by Daizo Iwasaki. Though I’ve never met him, I have long admired Mr. Iwasaki’s dedication to promoting the art of bonsai. Few people in our world bonsai community rival Mr. Iwasaki’s tireless energy, boundless generosity and devotion when it comes to bonsai. This tree is just one of many world class bonsai that he has donated to our National Bonsai and Penjin Museum. BTW: did you notice how the enormous base of the trunk nearly fills the whole pot?

2010: A good year for bonsai and related arts
Rather than listing all the events here, you can check out the NB&P Museum’s abundant calendar yourself.

Here’s a few photos from the Museum

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Continue reading National Bonsai Foundation 2010 Calendar

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You Be the Judge: Only Two More Days

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Vote Now and Get a Free $5.00 Gift Certificate
It’s so easy, but don’t wait, tomorrow (Sunday Feb 7) is your last day to vote. (For how to vote, check our post entitled You Be the Judge (& We’ll Grease Your Palm) from Feb 2nd.

And BTW
We’ve got a Site Wide Sale (10% to 40% off everything) over on Stone Lantern.

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Native Americans at BIB’s Annual Bonsai Exhibit

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I lifted this sinuous Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) off of a great gallery at Bonsai Tonight from the 2010 Bay Island Bonsai Exhibit. Though I can’t tell for sure, it looks like at least five full twists in the trunk. Not something you see every day.

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Here’s another heavy-trunked bunjin. It’s a Sierra juniper, also known as Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). It and it’s close cousin, the California juniper (J. californica) are becoming favorites of bonsai enthusiasts here and abroad.

Natives
It’s good to see is the use of native trees and their increasing acceptance as subject for high quality bonsai. I can remember a day when almost all specimen bonsai were Japanese varieties (for that matter, almost all were by Japanese bonsai artists – not counting Penjing, that is). Because the Japanese varieties set the standard, recognition of other varieties as potential subjects for world class bonsai has taken some time.

The risk of depletion
All of the trees shown here were collected from the wild (or so it appears). In Japan almost all of specimens worthy of collecting have long been dug up. Could that happen here?

Continue reading Native Americans at BIB’s Annual Bonsai Exhibit

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Big Sale at Stone Lantern: 10% to 40% off

barksaleOur biggest sale is happening now
Our Site Wide Sale is our biggest and best. Everyone is rewarded on any purchase, and the more you purchase the bigger your reward.

Double discounts
Dozens of items are already discounted. This means you get double discounts on those items. Not bad eh?

For bonsai lovers
A large selection of books, quality tools, fertilizers, wire, turntables and more

For Japanese (and other) garden afecionados
One of the best selections of quality Japanese garden tools anywhere, books and more.

Plus
Ikebana stuff including a large selection of flower pins (kenzans), ikebana books, suiseki books, netsuke and more.

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern
Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Eccentric Bonsai: Fearless Master Kimura Again

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Though it’s not as powerful as many other Kimura trees (see below), nor is it considered one of his classics, still, I can’t say enough about this tree, so I won’t say much except I apologize that it is a little cramped on the left side and that it’s a Yew and it’s from The Bonsai Art of Kimura (out of print though occasionally the ‘let’s reprint’ thought flits around).

There are eccentric bonsai and then…
… there are eccentric bonsai. That is, some trees we feature are just eccentric. Others are masterpieces that are also eccentric (unusual in some respect). My guess is that you can tell which category this one falls into.

I won’t spell it out…
… but it’s the trunk stupid! (just kidding about the stupid part). Magnificent and completely unique. I wonder how he did it? Did he split the original trunk and double it back on itself (he does highly unusual stuff like this sometimes; check our Kimura Flips a Tree Upside Down in our Juniper book). Or what? I await your comments (but won’t hold my breath).

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Here’s a more classic powerhouse by Master Kimura to feast your eyes. It’s from The Magician (Stone Lantern Publishing). It also appears in Bonsai Today issue 56.

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You Be the Judge (& We’ll Grease Your Palm)

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Judge our $100 Unique Bonsai Contest and receive a $5.00 gift certificate
Become a bonsai judge and receive a $5.00 gift certificate to Stone Lantern.

The basics
The 11 bonsai below (placed roughly in the order we received them) have been entered in our $100 Unique Bonsai Contest. The winner will be determined when 25 judges have sent in their decisions, or by March 31st (whichever comes first). Anyone can judge (see below if you entered a bonsai in the contest), but only one time per person.

Continue reading You Be the Judge (& We’ll Grease Your Palm)

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Azalea Tips #2: The Language of Ramification

satThis old Satsuki azalea, with its massive trunk and wild display of mixed up flowers, is from our Satuski Azalea book by Robert Z. Callaham (Stone Lantern Publishing).

Ramification
Ramification just means branching. More specifically in bonsai (and other places) it is sometimes used to mean branch development or branch refining.

The language of ramification
Pruning
Pruning is a commonly used word that is loosely applied to mean any removal of all or parts of branches. More specifically it means removing branches rather than shortening branches, but this distinction is lost on many people.

Thinning
Thinning means removing unwanted branches or twigs (see illustration below).

Trimming
Trimming usually means shortening branches or twigs (see bottom illustration), or even new shoots (coming soon, stay posted), but is sometimes used to refer to removing them. Confused yet? Don’t worry about it; you’re not alone.

thinThinning branches. With any bonsai it is necessary to thin on a regular basis. Branches that grow into or crowd other branches, (see above), branches that grow in towards the center of the tree, parallel branches that grow too close to each other, branches that are too thick for where they are on the tree, unhealthy branches and etc, all need to be thinned. The illustrations in this post originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue number 1.

Continue reading Azalea Tips #2: The Language of Ramification

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