Broken Branches: The Superglue Solution

Bonsai4me.com (one of my favorites) has a nifty little article on repairing snapped branches (and plenty of other valuable bonsai tips). BTW: the tree is a privet and that’s superglue in the anonymous hand.

Bonsai Flowers & a Touch of Fall Color

This photo was taken to emphasis the flowers, rather than the tree. If you were to take a photo of this tree when it’s not in flower, you’d take it a from a point a little lower to better show the powerful trunk and nebari. Sometimes photos just seem to appear on my desktop without any reference. This is the case here, so my apologies for failure to attribute this multi-hued Satsuki azalea to its rightful owner Entering the second week of a two week vacation. Today it’s the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We’re experiencing unusual wet, grey … Continue reading Bonsai Flowers & a Touch of Fall Color

Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

This Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) presents a number of striking features, not the least of which is its powerful nebari (surface roots). The photo originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 35. Yesterday we featured a post on nebari, part of a long history of posts on the topic. Today we’ll go all the way back to April 2009 (our infancy) for our third ever nebari post. It was titled In Search of the Perfect Nebari – part two (Part one was comprised of An Ingenious Technique and An Ingenious Technique part 2 taken together). Continued below… Special Kilo Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

Colorful Bonsai to Brighten these Sun-Short Days

This Satsuki azalea photo was taken to emphasis the flowers, rather than the tree. If you were to take a photo of this tree when it’s not in flower, you’d take it a from a point a little lower to better show the powerful trunk and nebari. Here’s a little bonsai color to brighten up these sun-short days. Including four shots from our New 2017 Japanese Calendars… …NEW 2017 Bonsai & Japanese Garden Calendars Now double discounted at Stone Lantern with our 20% to 25% Site Wide Sale This lovely Satsuki Azalea is from our New 2017 Bonsai Calendar … Continue reading Colorful Bonsai to Brighten these Sun-Short Days

Another Great Bonsai Winner

American Bonsai Society Award winner. Another Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea Pungens). This one belongs to Todd Schlafer. Though it has several noteworthy features, one that might catch your eye is the piece of ‘trunk’ lying across the surface of the soil. I wonder if it was the original trunk that fell over and rooted long ago and that what is now the trunk started its life as a branch. This is of course speculation. What isn’t speculation is the tree’s age, as expressed by the bark and it’s rugged natural beauty. Continuing our journey through the winners of the 5th … Continue reading Another Great Bonsai Winner

Elegant Bonsai Beauty but Not Really Bonsai

Mixed media wire sculpture by Ken To. Though it might lack the simple elegance of some of Ken’s best, still, so much artistry and fine-tuned craftsmanship in such a small space is quite impressive. When we venture from bonsai into related arts, we sometimes receive a little ‘this is not bonsai‘ flak, but mostly the response is positive. This is the case with Ken To’s delightful little wire sculptures. Perhaps a little flak, but mostly appreciation. This must be about the sixth times we’ve featured Ken’s bonsai sculptures (the first time was back in 2010 when he entered one in … Continue reading Elegant Bonsai Beauty but Not Really Bonsai

Twisting versus Bending Shari (Something You Don’t See Everyday)

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Juniper that was submitted by Joe Graviss (the original photo is below). Robert Steven’s critiques have been an anchor here on Bonsai Bark for almost six years. His first of approximately forty critiques (so far) appeared in 2010 (Bark dates to 2009). Each critique is a lesson in bonsai styling and taken together they constitute an extensive course in Robert’s bonsai tradition (if you asked me about Robert’s tradition I’d say his primary expertise lies in Penjing and tropical bonsai, but extends well into other areas of bonsai… though I’m not sure that’s how he … Continue reading Twisting versus Bending Shari (Something You Don’t See Everyday)

Bonsai Microsculptures

A perfect yamadori bunjin with deadwood and a snake like living vein. Sweet pot too. This and the other photos shown here are from Ken To’s website. This post is borrowed from our archives (Sept 2013). It wasn’t the first time we’ve featured Ken To’s beautifully detailed little wire bonsai sculptures and won’t be the last. We have caught a little grief about posting these cause they aren’t real bonsai. But that’s just silly. Rather than going to the trouble of actually thinking and writing, here’s some text that I lifted from Katie Hosmer at My Modern Met. “To’s microsculptures … Continue reading Bonsai Microsculptures

Colorful Shots to Brighten up Your Mid-Winter

This photo was taken to emphasis the flowers, rather than the tree. If you were to take a photo of this tree when it’s not in flower, you’d take it a from a point a little lower to better show the powerful trunk and nebari. Sometimes photos just seem to appear on my desktop without any reference. This is the case here, so my apologies for failure to attribute this multi-hued Satsuki azalea to its rightful owner (best guess; Japanese owner). Today, it’s just a few colorful shots to brighten up your mid-winter experience. Got a strange old pot … Continue reading Colorful Shots to Brighten up Your Mid-Winter

Still Opulent, Outrageous & Outstanding

This Itoigawa Shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis ‘itoigawa’) by Dougie Smith qualifies as opulent for sure. Outrageous? Well there is that huge rock jutting up from the skinny little (but very handsome) pot. As for outstanding; that goes without saying. Note: I don’t know what the smaller trees down low are. Maybe azaleas? Myrtle? This photo and the others in this post are by Philippe Massard, though I cropped them all to bring the trees closer. A quick two day vacation and another dip into our archives. This one is from February 2014. I picked it to show a second time, primarily … Continue reading Still Opulent, Outrageous & Outstanding