$100 Unique Bonsai Contest: Four More To Go

This twisty little Japanese white pine was submitted by Randall de Rijk of the Bonsai Society of San Francisco. The pot is by Wendy Heller. I like both the pot and the tree, but perhaps one is a little big for the other. You can still win a $100 gift certificate Six entries so far means we’ll accept four more before we close the contest. Don’t be shy, a $100 gift certificate to Stone Lantern could change your life (well, maybe not, but you could upgrade your tools).

Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

The Guardian of Laments is Giacomo Pappalardo’s name for this magnificent old European larch (Larix decidua) Another before and after and it’s a good one. I have a soft spot for larches, though ours are Tamaracks (Larix laricina) and this one is a European larch (Larix decidua). Not the same tree, but similar, though the similarity ends when you compare a tree like this with the much younger ones I’ve been growing here for the last fifteen years or so (this one was no doubt collected from the wild and shows all the signs of great age). Here’s your link … Continue reading Magnificent Old Larch Bonsai, Before & After

One Trunk Dead, the Other Alive & the Importance of Identification

Pine with parallel slanting trunks that start as a single tree and split at the base. One trunk dead, the other alive. It caught my attention because it’s a somewhat unusual slanting tree with the pot and the visual weight of the foliage balancing each other perfectly. This and the other photos shown here were posted by Scott Lee. The caption reads Back in the studio with Peter Tea and Bonsai Kazem #japaneseart Sticking with Scott Lee (see yesterday’s post) we’ve got three photos that he posted on facebook recently. Unfortunately, none are identified. I’m not sure why so many people put … Continue reading One Trunk Dead, the Other Alive & the Importance of Identification

Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

I found this gnarly old European yew (Taxus Baccata) on Francesco Santini’s website. We’ve been featuring yews a lot these days. They make excellent bonsai and there are countless old specimens in temperate zone gardens (and in the wild) in Europe, North American and elsewhere (not all are T baccata however, as there are several other species scattered around the world). It’s been a long time. Way back in February of 2010 we featured a couple trees that belong to Francesco Santini. Now, seven years on, he’s still at it and so are we. This time however, we’ll double down … Continue reading Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

The Sun Still Shines on Our Bonsai

Japanese yew with one thin live vein and lots of great deadwood. From Mauro Stemberger’s Italian Dream website. Still on vacation and trying to recover from a hangover and a bad dream. Rather than going to the time and trouble to compose a new post, we’ll resurrect this one from December, 2013. It was titled, “Sun is shining on my bonsai, but I stay in bed a little longer…” Mauro Stemberger is something of force in European and world bonsai. He usually starts with excellent stock and ends with even better bonsai. This is not not the first time we’ve … Continue reading The Sun Still Shines on Our Bonsai

A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

Unfinished, but wild and wonderful. I wonder what this Scot’s pine bunjin beauty looked like before it was collected somewhere in the wilds of Sweden. It belongs to Muaro Stemberger. It’s from his facebook page. Mauro also has a website. It’s called Italian Bonsai Dream. Traveling once again, so we’ll resume our archival explorations. This one, originally titled Bunjin Bonsai Bliss is from October, 2011 (with some current editing and elaboration), though any Bark discussion of Bunjin warrants a mention of Moving Out of the Bonsai Mainstream with a Deft and Delicate Touch (from December 2012), whose comments are the longest … Continue reading A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

Sun is shining on my bonsai, but I stay in bed a little longer…

Japanese yew with one thin live vein and lots of great deadwood. From Mauro Stemberger’s Italian Dream website. Mauro Stemberger is something of force in European and world bonsai. He usually starts with excellent stock and ends with even better bonsai. This is not not the first time we’ve featured Mauro’s bonsai and it won’t be the last. For more, here’s Mauro’s website and here he is on facebook. In the artist’s own words… “Sun is shining on my bonsai, but I stay in bad a little longer…” The Snake. We’ve shown this famous Scot’s pine before, but … Continue reading Sun is shining on my bonsai, but I stay in bed a little longer…

Bunjin Bonsai Bliss

Unfinished, but oh so wild and wonderful. I wonder what this Scot’s pine bunjin beauty looked like before it was collected somewhere in the wilds of Sweden. It belongs to Muaro Stemberger. It’s from his facebook page. Mauro also has a website. It’s called Italian Bonsai Dream. Bunjin or Literati, bonsai elegance by any name The following is from something I wrote for The Magician: The Bonsai Art of Kimura. “Bunjin style bonsai originated in China among scholars and artist who were known as literati, which is another name for bunjin. Originally, literati style bonsai – which dates back to … Continue reading Bunjin Bonsai Bliss