The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

The play of light and shadow… This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s part of the machine translation… “Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” You can read more and see other masterpiece bonsai photos here Even though I think he’s fallen a little out of favor in some circles, I’m still a fan of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai. For years his wildly innovative techniques and his visionary’s eye, combined with a healthy does of daring, produced results at the cutting edge (so to speak) of bonsai innovation. Now, forty some … Continue reading The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” From this we might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. The trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s fb photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A happy accident as it turns out After yesterday’s post featuring three Sabina (aka Savin) junipers (Juniperus sabina). I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how many there … Continue reading Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

“These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

This Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 104. It belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. He presented it as an example of a naturalistic bonsai Walter Pall yesterday, Walter Pall today. This one happens to be our first Walter post ever (June, 2009). It was titled The Great Debate part 2: You Be the Judge. I’ve condensed it to accommodate our shorter attention spans The following quote by Walter is from the same 2009 post (it originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 104)… “I have seen that the trend in styling is toward more and more … Continue reading “These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

One Famous Bonsai Artist, One Tree & One T-Shirt

I love this tree with its gently flushed little apples (crabapples), its muscular trunk, subtle movement, gradual taper and well-aged bark. I even love its handlebar branches.* Today it’s The Venerable** Walter Pall, famous bonsai artist, entertainer and entrepreneur. We’ll keep it short and sweet with just one tree and one photo of the man himself (the tree is worth a whole post to itself and needless to say, the same goes for Walter) STONE LANTERN’S SPECIALS END TOMORROW NIGHT see below – Walter in his American Bonsai T-shirt *Thanks to joakimthoresen **If you’re really good at something and you live long enough, you might become … Continue reading One Famous Bonsai Artist, One Tree & One T-Shirt

Quality Bonsai Deserves Quality Stands

Closeup of a Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) that was exhibited by John Kirby at the 2018 National Bonsai Exhibition. The display table was built by David Knittle (details are below with the uncropped photo) Flashing back to the 2018 6th National Bonsai Exhibition, here are a couple trees from the Exhibition that we haven’t shown yet, and one other tree that was shown at the 2018 Mid Atlantic Bonsai Festival. All three are on display tables that were built by David Knittle 20% OFF BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL ENDS tonight Choose from our vast array of sizes & types of … Continue reading Quality Bonsai Deserves Quality Stands

Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival

This Satsuki azalea with its powerful trunk and nebari would be a remarkable even without its brilliant flowers The bonsai featured here are from the 2018 Satsuki Azalea Festival in Ueno, Tokyo (even though they are from last year, this is the first time we’ve shown them). You can see these and more flowering Satsuki on Naoi Kenichi’s fb timeline. Continued below… 20% OFF BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL ENDS SOON Choose from our vast array of sizes & types of wire Special ends Thursday, Jan 3rd at 11:59pm EST Here’s something from Wikipedia on Satsuki azaleas… “Satsuki azaleas have a diverse rnge of flower forms and color patterns with multiple patterns … Continue reading Bonsai Brilliance at Japan’s Satsuki Azalea Festival

Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution

This prolific Pyracantha was our 2018 New Year’s tree. I don’t know who the artist or owner is (more about this below), but my guess is the tree is Japanese Here’s my New Year’s resolution from 2018… No more unattributed trees on this blog (uh… except for the one just above). So I failed on the first day last year and the failure reoccured throughout the year (you can take this as a metaphor if you’d like). In light of this, here’s a more realistic resolution for this year… I will attribute the trees we post when possible and encourage all of us who have been … Continue reading Bonsai Berries & a Failed New Year’s Resolution

Bonsai on a Man Made Rock from Scratch

Before and after planting on a man made ‘rock’ by Marc Noelanders. No mention is made of the type tree or what the rock is made of. Still, the result is impressive and the photographic progression with the shaping of the rock is an added plus We’ve shown a number of bonsai on synthetic rocks over the years. Mostly by Kimura, a pioneer in this medium (and other bonsai media as well). But this time it’s Marc Noelanders, a Western bonsai pioneer. What you often see with this type planting is the finished product, but this time we get a peek into … Continue reading Bonsai on a Man Made Rock from Scratch

Bougainvillea Bonsai, Before & After

Bougainvillea, before and after. Now you know how Suthin gets those thick trunks on such small bonsai… hint, he cuts older larger plants way back (obviously, there’s more to it than just that, but you have to start somewhere). This works best with tropicals that can handle the stress and have no problem putting out new buds Continuing with Suthin Sukosolvisit’s bonsai (see yesterday’s post). I borrowed these photos from a post we did on some of Suthin’s tropicals back in March 2015 (with some doctoring and rearranging today). To enjoy more of what Suthin is up to, you can visit him on facebook … Continue reading Bougainvillea Bonsai, Before & After

Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays

Suthin’s “Happy Holidays to all” tree. It’s a Trident maple root-over-rock (root devouring rock). Staying close to home today, it’s our old friend Suthin Sukosolvisit offering some bonsai wizardry just in time for the New Year Bonsai Pot & Soil Specials End Tonight Friday, Dec 28th at 11:59pm EST Plus Two New Specials at Stone Lantern see below – Cropped for a closer look at how the trunk is slowly devouring the rock Suthin’s caption says simply… “New home” You might recognize this as the tree that won Best Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National. It’s a Japanese black pine Cropped for … Continue reading Happy Root-Over-Rock Bonsai Holidays