South of the Bonsai Border

MMAIN

Can something be both dynamic and relaxed? Or does it even make sense to talk about a bonsai as relaxed? In any case, this unique beauty makes its home at the Museo Tatsugoro - Estudio De Bonsai Miguel Ros, Fortin, Veracruz, Mexico. In case you're wondering, what happened to the top of the photo, the answer is just below. For many more great photos where this came from, here's you link

I’ve long been fascinated with Mexico and have been visiting somewhat  regularly since college years. But I’ve never been to Veracruz. Guess it’s time to put it on the agenda.

Siempre he estado fascinado con México y han estado visitando algo regularmente desde los años de colegio. Pero nunca he estado en Veracruz. Imagino que es hora de poner en el orden del día. 

All of the photos shown here are borrowed from the Museo Tatsugoro – Estudio De Bonsai Miguel Ros, Fortin, Veracruz, Mexico. 

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MMAIN2

The uncropped original with this Spanish caption... Excelente mitad de semana :) Palo de tinta. My translation (with more than a little help from Free Translantion.com) Excellent mid-week. Ink stick (is Ink stick a common name for this tree?)

M3

Shohin in hand. This one is identified as Ligustrum (Privet). No species is given

M4

An unidentified tree with ample character. The caption reads... Excelente martes. Excellent Tuesday. Not much help

M6

Olivo demás de 80 años. 80 year old Olive. Olives were originally brought from Spain in the early days of colonization.

m12

Tropical paradise

M7

No caption with this one

M10

Excelente jueves :D Mangle trabajado por Noelanders Marc. Excellent Thursday. Mangrove worked by Marc Noelanders

M9

Excelente martes :) Enriquebeltrania. Excellent Tuesday. Enriquebeltrania.  As you might imagine, Free Translation offered no help with Enriquebeltrania. Yusup Bonsai was tacked onto the end of the caption

M8

No variety given. Just another 'excellent start to the week.' In English no less

m13

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Magnificent Monster

tridentmedia2

In addition to its brilliant color, this powerful Trident maple has almost everything you'd want in a bonsai, including a massive trunk, fluid natural looking nebari, good lines, a well-matched pot and healthy green moss. The artist is German Gomez.

Continuing with our Maple theme…
Leaving for vacation in two days and still have a million things to do, so to save some time we’ll go back in time. The photos shown here first appeared on Bark way back in 2010. 

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tridentmedia

I think this photo was shot in the spring. The traces of color are leaves that are slow to turn from their fresh spring red to summer green. 

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More Magnificent Maples

LAPMAIN

Luis Vallejo calls this Yama momji Japanese maple. Yama is mountain and momiji is Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). So you'll sometimes hear this variety referred to as Mountain maple, which is the original, naturally occurring, non-cultivar Japanese maples. Because of the differences in the leaves, I'm guessing that this was originally several different trees that were planted very close together, rather than a clump style planting.

Yesterday we featured three magnificent maples that belong to Luis Vallejo. Turns out they are just the tip of his maple offering. Here’s a few more for your enjoyment. If you’re inclined, there are still more on Luis’s timeline

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LAPMAINCU

Closeup. Some of the trunks have fused. Perhaps the three that have fused (on the left) is one tree with three trunks.

 

LTRICU

Root-over-rock Trident maple (Acer buergerianum). The Japanese name is Kaede

 

LTRICU2

It's a little easier to see the rock in this closeup

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LTRI2

Another Trident maple. It's unusual to have a completely hidden trunk, but occasionally you'll see trees that are styled almost exclusively to show off their impressive crown of leaves. Like this one

 

benichidori

Another tree designed to show of its colorful leaves at the expense of the trunk. Luis calls this one an Acer Palmatum Benichidori. 

 

LAP

Another Yama momoji Japanese maple and another impressive crown of leaves. But this time you can see the trunk's powerful base and nebari

 

LAC

Hedge maple (Acer campestre). A little change of pace... it's still a maple, but a much less common maple (in bonsai circles at least).

 

LACcu

Now you can see the fern...

 

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I’ve been digging and potting dozens of field grown larch
the past few weeks and three of the four tools above are what I use
(no pines involved so no need for the pine shears on the right),
along with a spade, root hook, Kamaki loppers, an Okatsune saw
and our Masters Grade Koyo Sword Shears

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Three Magnificent Maples

L3MAIN

This multi-hued beauty is from Luis Vallejo's Museo de Bonsai in Alcobendas Spain (near Madrid). It's hard to distinguish individual leaves (I need new glasses!) but they look like they might be Trident maple.

Today we’ve got three magnificent maples, each with leaves ablaze. Even without their fiery leaves all three would be brilliant bonsai. With them, well… you can see for yourself. They’re from Luis Vallejo’s facebook timeline. If you’ve got a moment, there’s plenty more where these came from.

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L3MAINCU

Here's a closer look at those suspiciously Trident looking leaves. Good look at the base of the trunk and pot as well

 

L1

And you thought the tree above is colorful

 

L1CU

Fiery Japanese maple leaves. Nice nebari too

 

L2

You're probably a little jaded by now with all the color, but if you can forget the two above for a moment, this one is no slouch

 

L2CU

Looks like a root-over-rock (partial root-over-rock?), where the tree is fused to the rock. This is common with Trident maples

 

L3FULL

The original photo of the tree at the top of post. With the whole stand, including the legs

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When Was the Last Time You Climbed a Bonsai Tree?

wcaptionIt's not that often you see a full grown man sitting in a bonsai tree (why doesn't the tree fall over?). The caption and the photo are from BCI magazine.

Yesterday we featured a major league rock planting by Simon Baron with Marc Noelanders. Simon is a new talent to us, but most of you know Marc, a respected and accomplished bonsai artist, teacher and author. Marc is also the founder and ongoing force behind the annual Noelanders Trophy Bonsai Exhibition. This post originally appeared here in December, 2015.  It features the only photo I know of with a human sitting in a bonsai. 

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noel

Though the tree at the top of the post (with and without Marc) is the real show stopper, this one isn't half bad either. It's the tree that appears on the cover of the 10th Noelanders Trophy book. I couldn't find any information on the variety, the artist or the photographer, but it looks like it might be a Japanese white pine.
focusThis photo is from Bonsai Focus. Here's their caption: "One of the best shows in Europe, The Noelanders Trophy, initiated by Marc Noelanders. Held every year in January, Heusden Zolder Belgium .  Photo's: Willy Evenepoel."

 

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FOUR OF MY FAVORITE OKATSUNE SHEARS

all four cut like butter and last forever

I’ve been digging and potting dozens of field grown larch
the past few weeks and three of the four tools above are what I use
(no pines involved so no need for the pine shears on the right),
along with a spade, root hook, Kamaki loppers, an Okatsune saw
and our Masters Grade Koyo Sword Shears

(only if you chose free shipping when you check out)

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

The Sky Is the Limit

amazing

Here's Marc Noelanders' caption for this magnificent rock planting. "We do not only find high buildings in Israel, but also tall rock planting . The sky is the limit . This week Bonsai school in Israel and the rock planting from Sagi we started in December, finally the finish"

I found these photos on Marc Noelander’s timeline.  They are also on Sagi Baron’s timeline. All the information we have on this project is in Marc’s quote (in the caption above) and in the photos featured here. It would be good to have more photos and some detailed instruction, but beggars can’t… and I’m delighted to have what we do!

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sagiwith

Sagi with the first stage completed

 

next

Getting closer

 

top2

The top. The rock comes out very dark in the original, so I brightened these closeups (this one and the next two). As a result, the plants are washed out some, but you can see the detail in the rock a bit better

 

mid2

Mid section

 

base

The base and pot

 

amazing

Once again, the whole magnificent creation
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No Matter Where You Go

Sabina1This tall, wild looking Sabina juniper was styled by Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project. The pot is by Bryan Albright.

Major computer meltdown here (fortunately not our website, so you can still order and we can still ship), but rather our bookkeeping system where we keep track of inventory, money etc (wish us luck!). So time for another shortcut while sticking with our Sabina juniper theme. This one is from October 2013.

No matter where you go, there’s Walter Pall with some more bonsai from his seemingly endless collection and his tireless offering of valuable instruction, especially on His Bonsai Adventure Blog. Walter is both prolific and very good at what he does. In this case, what he does is style some Sabina junipers, a bonsai species that may be common in Europe, but is little-known here in North America.

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This Sabina is from a post on Walter's Bonsai Adventures. The tree was collected in Austria in 1997.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Sabina junipers: “Juniperus sabina (Savin Juniper or Savin) is a species of juniper native to the mountains of central and southern Europe and western and central Asia, from Spain east to eastern Siberia, typically growing at altitudes of 1,000-3,300 m.” This might help explain the ‘little known here in North America” piece.

 

This is a stock photo of a cascading Sabina with a somewhat ‘in training’ look. The caption says, “Sabina juniper, Juniperus sabina, 50 cm high, 80 cm long, 100 years old, collected in Austria, styled by Walter Pall.”

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A Happy Bonsai Accident

Sabina3

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 three 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 very happy accident indeed.

After yesterday’s post featuring two Savin junipers (Juniperus sabina) by Gaicomo Pappalardo, I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how many there are. This one is from July, 2014. The post was titled A Happy Accident

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noelanders

The caption on this lovely literati says "My entry on Noelanders." Milan doesn't say what kind of pine it is (Scot's?). BTW: The Noelanders Trophy is one of Europe's premier bonsai shows.

sandor1

The caption on this one reads "For Sándor Papp the best picture of my Sabina photo Willy Evenepoel, Pilsen 2é11."

 

sabinacu

Close up of the tree at the top of the post. One thing that stands out is just how small the pot is relative to the tree. It's the mounding that makes this possible, but even so, that's a lot of tree for a small amount of soil.

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noelanderscu

This close up of the elegant second tree provides a better look at the wonderfully aged bark and that chic shari. Nice pot too.


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sandor

This close up provides a great look at the superb handmade pot and that sweet little fern. Not to take anything away from the tree itself, which needs no superlatives.

 

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Extreme Bonsai

GiaHokusai

Perfect! The tree is a Savin juniper (Juniperus sabina) and you already know the painting.

Before I realized that Gaicomo Pappalardo’s bonsai nursery is called Extreme Bonsai, I was taken with how unusual many of his trees are. Now it all make sense.

Today we’ve got three of Gaicomo’s Junipers that caught my eye. If you’d like to see more, you might want to visit Extreme Bonsai’s website or facebook timeline. Or in person if you’re ever in A Coruña, Spain.

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sabina2

Another wild and wonderful full cascade Juniperus sabina

 

Breakfastwiththedonuts

Giacomo calls this series 'Breakfast with donuts' If you look inside the big circle, you'll see a smaller circle. Thus donuts rather than donut? It looks like another juniper, but he doesn't say what type.

 

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Before & After Bonsai – Rediscovering a Juniper’s Natural Beauty

tyler

Here's Tyler Sherrod's caption for a job well done.... "Just wired up this juniper for Joe Noga. He has owned this tree for about 30 years. It was grafted with kishu foilage by Mr. Mas Ishii of California. Another cool piece of history of bonsai in America."

Monday morning and we’re already behind, so we’ll let the photos do the talking…. except to say that Tyler Sherrod is one of several Americans (and other Westerners) who has gone through the rigors of a Bonsai apprenticeship in Japan and has brought back his impressive knowledge and skills. Here’s you link to Tyler on fb.

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tbefore

Before. It's always best to start with a healthy robust tree

 

tafter

After. An excellent example of what some wire and shears can do in the hands of a skilled bonsai artist
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