American Bonsai Silhouettes

snowThis snowy American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) forest by Gary Clark won the American Bonsai Society Award for Native Species at this year's Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Our thanks to Bill Valavanis for this and the other photos shown here.

It’s a busy time around here, so with the exception of a few words of my own, this post about the recent Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo is borrowed from Bill Valavanis (though what you see here is only a small piece of what Bill presented).

I strongly urge you to visit Bill’s blog to enjoy his captivating first hand stories and insights from the event, as well as several more photos of prize winning bonsai.
Continued below…

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EVERGREEN
This Best of Show Evergreen is a Miyajima Japanese Five-needle Pine (Pinus parviflora ‘Miyajima’). It belongs to Adair Martin, from Georgia.

Here’s Bill’s comment about this prize winning Five-needle pine…
“This bonsai was created well over 20-30 years ago by Mas Imazumi who grafted a few Japanese five-needle pine scions onto an ancient Lodgepole pine with aged bark and old deadwood feature. Boon Manakitivipart trained and developed the bonsai with his students and was finally refined by Adair Martin.”
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PERSIMMON

Best of Show– Display. The tree is a Princess Persimmon (Diospyros rhombifolia) that belongs to Mac McAntee of North Carolina. What impressed me as much as the tree and the display is that Mac made the stand entirely of Persimmon wood.

Again, Bill’s words…
“The award winning Persimmon Display by Mac McAntee was beautiful, well presented and distinctive. Each year he presents his bonsai according to his own taste, the way it should be. His display did not follow the classic Japanese bonsai display that avoids duplication as he wanted to feature Persimmons throughout his exhibit.”

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PEOPLES AWARD

This Dwarf Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’) & Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) by Steve Zeisel of North Carolina, won the Peoples’ Choice Award

Quoting Bill again,this time about Steve Zeisel whose display is just above…
“This event is sponsored by Steve Zeisel, a bonsai hobbyist from Raleigh, North Carolina, who is also the current president of the Triangle Bonsai Society. The North Carolina Research Campus supports the event to help Steve achieve his goal.“

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Setting the Record Straight

WNV CHANGE-1

If you think you've seen this tree before, it might be because we featured it a couple weeks ago. However, this photo is not identical to the one we used then, but is rather a photo we just received from Bill Valavanis. See if you can tell the difference (to make it easy for you, the two photos are together just below).

Bill Valavanis (our recent Hall of Fame inductee) just sent me the photo above (along with some comments – see below). The photo original photo that we used a couple weeks ago was borrowed from Micheal Bonsai (it’s the one on the top just below). The tree is a sinuous root Five needle Japanese pine, often call Japanese white pine. Either way it’s Goyomatsu in Japan and a Pinus parviflora in Latin.

goyo

Here are the two photos close together for easy comparison. Can you see the difference? It's a little subtle for sure, but once you see it, the improvement is obvious. Hint, the improved version is the one on the bottom.
Here are Bill’s comments…
“Goyo means five needles. That’s why the correct common name for Pinus parviflora is Japanese five-needle pine. It’s also called Japanese white pine in common horticultural writings in English. I wrote an entire book on this species. Since Japanese five-needle pine is closer to the common Japanese name, that’s the name I use. It came out at $10, now $650, if you can find it.
Continued below…
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Bill’s comments continued…
“The bonsai is not multiple trunk, its a sinuous style. If you carefully look two branches or trunks have been laid down with curves to create depth. If the trunks on the ground were straight it would be called raft style. Most of the bonsai in this form are sinuous, not raft. But raft is used because its easier to say. By the way, this species is rarely used to create a forest from individual trees. The needles vary tremendously and it would be quite difficult to find two trees with the same needles characteristics.
 
“This bonsai is beautiful, but I fail to see a distinctive eye movement the way its positioned in the container. The distance from the lip of the container to the first tree are the same on both sides. I don’t know where to look first, left or right. The tree was symmetrically positioned in the container. I think an asymmetrical position would improve the total aesthetic impact of this beautiful bonsai.Look at my changes. Now the tree has eye movement right to left.”

 

And while we’re at it, here’s another correction, also on a Japanese five needle pine. And also thanks to the keen eye and quick mind of Bill Valavanis
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plazamainc

The lead tree from our post a few days ago titled Multi Headed Monster & Other Brilliant Bonsai
When I posted the tree above, I said that it and the others shown in the same post, reside at Bonsai Plaza in Delft, Netherlands. My mistake. They live in Japan. However, in my defense it says the following on Bonsai Plaza’s site … “The bonsai webshop is online with all exclusive imported Bonsai from Japan.” So you might see where I was coming from, though on reflection, I’m not sure that either the judge or the jury are buying it.
And because I enjoyed reading Bill’s note in spite of the egg all over my face, I thought you might enjoy it too…
Bill’s comment…
“By the way, those images from Bonsai Plaza in The Netherlands are still in Japan, or at least they were a few weeks ago. Check out my blog on the Genkokai Exhibit, I wrote about that literati Sargent juniper and Morimae gave us a mini-lesson on its display. So it WAS in Kyoto on November 18th. Perhaps they have super quick shipping? It belonged to a private collector too, not Morimae, who only displayed it. Don’t know where that information came from… don’t care either, just wanted you to know.”
–

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Brilliant Bonsai Colors by Haruyosi

haru9You don't see that many bright yellow pots. The glaze is expensive and hard to come by and the brilliance of the color can be overwhelming. But in this case the little tree holds its own. In fact, it's hard to imagine a better choice of pots to set off the the richly hued Trident maple leaves.

Yesterday one of the trees we featured was by Haruyosi, which reminded me how much I like his seemingly endless collection of Shohin bonsai. This post originally appeared November 2014. It’s one of my all time favorites

I think you could spend a lifetime browsing bonsai images and never find another bonsai artist that has a more sophisticated grasp of color combinations than Haruyosi. Not to offend other great bonsai artists, but just saying that the pot-tree choices that Haruyosi consistently comes up with are brilliant (in at least two senses of the word).
Continued below…

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haru8

Here's another Trident with some fall color. In this case, with more green and less brilliant red foliage (than the tree above), the more subdued yellowish pot works perfectly.

By the way…. Haruyosi makes his own pots. It’s one thing to be a highly talented bonsai artist and another thing to be a highly talented potter. And yet another thing to be both.

haru6

Another undeniably yellow pot. In this case, I think it's the bright yellow-green moss along with the rich green, yellow-gold and reddish-rust hues of leaves (Pyracantha leaves) that allows for such a strong pot.

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haru3

This tiny pot and tiny tree present a more subtle combination of colors. The three little berries along with the look of the leaves, leave no doubt that this is another Pyracantha.

 

haru4

Another daring choice. The luminous red/pink leaves, set off by the purple pot with strong red undertones, work its magic to perfection. The tree is an aptly named Burning bush euonymus (Euonymus alatus form ciliatodentatus).

 

haru2

A little change of pace. There's a lot that could be said about this unique planting but I've said enough (accept that the tree is a wild rose). You can draw your own conclusions.

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Small Is Beautiful

 

berries

This little deciduous tree with its profusion of small orange fruit isn't identified, so we can only guess. Based on the fruit and the bark we'll try Crab apple. If we're wrong and you know what it is (or think you do) you can put it in the comments on our timeline.

It’s Shohin time today. All the photos shown here are from a facebook page, called, of all things… Shohin.
Continued below…

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JBeautyBerry33rdTaikan-ten

We don't have to guess this time. Here's the caption... "Japanese Beautyberry on display at the 33rd Taikan-ten in Kyoto, Japan."

haru

Here's one that is attributed to the artist. It's a Juniper by Haruyoshi, who happens to be one of our favorites. So much so, that I'm sure  we've shown this very tree. Maybe even more than once.

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pyrac

Piled up Pyracantha (Firethorn)

blackpine

This burly little beast is a Japanese black pine

five5needle?

Japanese white pine

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BlackPine at Taisho-en

This tiny one says "BlackPine-at-Taisho-en"

gardenia2

Can't tell if this Gardenia qualifies as a Shohin (no dimensions given) but either way it's great tree in a sweet little pot. Nice stand too

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Multi Headed Monster & Other Brilliant Bonsai

plazamainc

There's no identification with this masterful multi headed monster, but a safe guess might be a sinuous root Japanese white pine. I took the liberty of cropping a bit. The original shot is below

All the bonsai featured here are Japanese imports that now reside at Bonsai Plaza in Delft Netherlands. The trees are high quality and as you can see, the photos are excellent. The only thing missing are the names.

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plaza2

This elegant beauty with its calligraphy scroll looks like it might be a Shimpaku juniper

 

plaza3

I could be wrong, but base on what I can see of the fruit, I'll guess that this delicate little tree is a dwarf Persimmon.

 

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plaza4

Mystery planting. We'll let you do the guessing this time

 

plazasil

Silhouettes

 

plazamain

The original uncropped photo

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Classic Beauty – Flowering Bonsai from Japan

classic1

Tomentosa cherry (Prunus tomentosa: Japanese Yasura-ume). The Japanese love of flowering cherries is evident in this gnarled old shohin size (5") bonsai.

Lots to do today, so we’ll make it short and sweet. All three photos are from Classic Bonsai of Japan (Nippon Bonsai Association), one of the best bonsai books we’ve seen. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for several years

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classicJapanese apricot (Prunus mume: Japanese Ume). My apologies for cutting off the bottom of the pot; my scanner couldn't quite fit the whole photo.

classic2Karume azalea (Rhododendron obtusum: Japanese Kurume-tsutsuji). 

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Before, During & After – Seven Years & Some Serious Wiring

B&A

Here's Mariusz Komsta's captiion for this tree... "Momiji Polmans & Bonsaimotorworld bonsai school is finally paying off, great job by Jean-Pierre Reitz , Pinus nigra" (Austrian black pine).

I found these photos of Jean-Pierre Reitz’ superb before and after bonsai on Mariusz Komsta’s timeline. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark for a while, you’ll know that Mariusz is one of our favorites. Jean-Pierre however, is new to us. Looks like a good discovery

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before

Before. A good start down low, but a bit of a mess above

 

during

During. The mess tamed

BTbanner32-500x221Bonsai Today back issue now only 5.00 each
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after

After. Seven years from before. This is what can happen with a good eye and a mastery of basic wiring techniques

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Winter Bonsai Berries

caltree2

This sturdy Japanese fine tooth holly (Ilex serrata) originally appeared on our 2010 Bonsai calendar (speaking of, our 2018 Calendars are now discounted as part of our New Site Wide Sale). 

This post started out to about Cotoneaster berries. That is until Bill Valavanis gently let me know that the tree above is an Ilex, even though I would have bet that it’s a Cotoneaster. But then I’ll never bet against Bill when it comes to bonsai. The photos and some of the text in this post are from our archives (June, 2015)

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morten

This one is a Cotoneaster. It's the cover tree for Morten Albek's Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature (out of print).

 

valavanis_cotoneaster_horizontalis

There might be a few berries hidden amoung the rich fall colored leaves on this Sinuous root style Rockspray Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) by Bill Valavanis of International Bonsai.

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pint

Another Cotoneaster with berries. The photo is from Pinterest.

*Due to contracts, our Green T Turntables, Gnarly Branches Ancient Trees (book) & Robert Steven’s Masters Shears are not included in our Site Wide Sale

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our large selection of Green Dream & other Bonsai Fertilizers
and Akadama and other Bonsai Soils
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SITE WIDE SALE…

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Rocky Mountain Bonsai

rmjcu

I lifted this Rocky mountain juniper from Ryan Neil's Bonsai Mirai. A photo of the entire tree is below

So many thoughts zip through my mind when I see trees like this…. not the least of which is the objection that some people have to deadwood, especially lavish displays; even though if you’ve been to upper reaches of our Western mountains, you’ll see deadwood everywhere. In many cases trees with massive deadwood and only one or two living branches. Or, in some extreme cases just a few living twigs. Stories of long lives in harsh conditions told by deadwood.
Continued below…

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Japanese gardening books & tools & more
This and other specials apply only to orders placed on our website

rmj20cu3

Continued from above…
Another thought that arises when I visit Bonsai Mirai’s website, is that I’ve never visited Bonsai Mirai in real time and space. Not a mortal sin, but still, sometimes I wonder if I might be a little remiss. If you’re like me and just haven’t gotten around to it, you can at least visit Ryan’s website. It’s the next best thing

rmj20cu

And finally, judging by all the photos of the trees and the nursery and the workshop and so forth, I’m convinced that Ryan inhabits a Bonsai Valhala (we’ll blame it on the coffee again) that must be home to the largest collection of high quality yamadori bonsai in North America.

rmjcu6


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IN ADDITION TO OUR 
SITE WIDE SALE…

When you order from Stone Lantern you get
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this and other specials apply only to orders placed on our website
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00+
(only if you chose free shipping when you check out)
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