Botanical Misnomers & an Old Tree from Left Field

cedar6You like unconventional? Crazy? How about daring? Notice how the color and design of the pot plays with the wild deadwood and the small touch of moss on the left mirrors the foliage. Just another bonsai from left field by crafty old Nick Lenz, master left fielder, author and preeminent collector-from-the-wild of cedars, larches and other North American gems. This photo is from North American Bonsai (out of print).

Still on vacation (we’ll be back and Stone Lantern will be open on the 14th). The photo above originally appeared on Bark in a post titled Eccentric Bonsai #8, Nick’s Crafty Cedar,  from December 2009.

The trees featured here are commonly called a Northern (or Eastern) white cedar, when in fact they are actually a variety of Arborvitae (botanical name; Thuja occidentalis)
Continued below…

TOOL SPECIAL

DEEPLY DISCOUNTED JAPANESE BONSAI TOOLS
25% TO 40% BELOW OUR LIST PRICES
Tools-Koyo1-500x303

Several of the best brands in Japanese tools

KOYO – OKATSUNE – YOSHIAKI

 

PCcedar09.02-500x6231Northern white cedar (Thuja Occidentalis) by Paul Chong of the Toronto Bonsai Society. This photo originally appeared in post titled: More Cedars from Our Friends Up North (August, 2010)

Continued from above…
Lots of trees that aren’t cedars are called cedars, including at least one juniper (Eastern red cedar; Juniperus virginiana), one false cypress (Atlantic white cedar; Chamaecyparis thyoides), the California Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and no doubt others. What most of these share is fan shaped foliage. Interestingly, true cedars (Cedrus) don’t have fan shaped foliage. Confused? You’re not alone.

There are a handful of true cedars (Cedrus) in the world, the best known of which are: the Deodar cedar (C. deodara) from the Himalayas, and two from the Mediterranean: the Lebanon cedar (C. libani) and the Atlas cedar (C. atlantica).

 

suthin51That's a Cedar on the right. As you can see, it and the other trees in this photo are by Suthin Sukosolvisit. From a post titled Much More Than Just Shohin (Feb 2012)


suthincu

Closeup of Suthin's shohin Cedar. A little fuzzy, but you get the idea

 

Deeply Discounted Wire

500 GRAM (1.1 LB) BONSAI WIRE

Only 9.50 8.50 7.95
wire

NOW 10% off with our 150.00+ discount
plus FREE Shipping in the Continental U.S. for orders 75.00+
(U.S. only – Orders outside the U.S. will be charged shipping).

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Monster Bonsai, True Confession & the Meaning of Life

taiwan2CUIt's hard to tell just how large this monster is from this photo (cropped from the photo just below), but it does provide some notion of how massive the trunk is and a pretty good look at the details on the pot...

In the past I’ve always managed to post in spite of being on vacation… which might beg a question about the meaning of vacation (maybe even the meaning of life). Anyway, this is my first post in almost a week, and – true confession – much of it is borrowed from a 2011 post that was titled Vacation Gallery. The original photos of these three rather impressive trees turned up on facebook.

TOOL SPECIAL

DEEPLY DISCOUNTED JAPANESE BONSAI TOOLS
25% TO 40% BELOW OUR LIST PRICES
Tools-Koyo1-500x303

Several of the best brands in Japanese tools

KOYO – OKATSUNE – YOSHIAKI

taiwan2

This kind of monster tropical bonsai is not all that uncommon in Taiwan. Though you can get some idea of its massive size in this photo, still, it's probably even bigger and more imposing than you imagine (39" tall with a spread that must be close to 60" and a trunk diameter that looks to be about 20"). It's a Ficus microcarpa by Chen, Wen-Zhong. It won the Superior Prize at the 2010 Taiwan Bonsai Creator Association. Height: 100cm (39")

Stone Lantern is on vacation until August 14th
Orders received now will be shipped
on a first come, first served basis when we reopen

taiwan31Another Ficus microcarpa. This one belongs to Hsiu Yang. It was awarded the Bronze medal at the 2010 Changhua County Bonsai Exhibition

 

taiwan A Crossostephium chinensis 'Makino'. It belongs to Cheng, Cheng-Kung

 

taiwanCU

Speaking of deadwood (see our last post)...

Deeply Discounted Wire

500 GRAM (1.1 LB) BONSAI WIRE

Only 9.50 8.50 7.95
wire

 

NOW 10% off with our 150.00+ discount
plus FREE Shipping in the Continental U.S. for orders 75.00+
(U.S. only – Orders outside the U.S. will be charged shipping).

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

To Deadwood or Not to Deadwood (for My Friend Sal)

masao arai

There's deadwood and then there's deadwood. It's a safe guess that this crazy tree is a juniper, just like the other two trees shown here (it may also be a safe guess that it's a tanuki*). There's no mention of the artist/owner. Ditto for the other two.

Every few days we get a comment from someone objecting to all the deadwood you see on bonsai these days. I get it, things get overdone. Including deadwood. But if we’re going to consider bonsai an art, then we might want to leave room for experimentation. And if we do that, there’s always going to be results that some people don’t like.

Beyond that, anyone who has spent time in high mountains – especially at or near the tree line – knows that nature has no problem creating deadwood. Often in abundance

TOOL SPECIAL

Deeply Discounted Japanese Bonsai Tools
25% to 40% below our list prices
Tools-Koyo1-500x303

Several of the best brands in Japanese tools

Koyo – Okatsune – Yoshiaki
–

sanmain

Unusual works for this one. The entire trunk - with deadwood galore - sits right over the pot, while the crown with its funny fishhook sits off to the left. Our source doesn't mention an artist/owner.

Stone Lantern is on vacation until August 14th
Orders received now will be shipped
on a first come, first served basis when we reopen

san3

There's plenty of deadwood here, but to my mind at least, it's not a problem. After all, it's a powerful and very well done bonsai, with a strong trunk that's enhanced by perfectly integrated deadwood that reminds me of the twisted juniper deadwood I saw while hiking at the tree line on Mt Lassen

* Tanuki bonsai is a living tree is joined to an interesting piece of deadwood. Also called Phoenix graft

Bonsai Fertilizer Special

OR-SET5HOYOKU-2

ALL FERTILIZERs Deeply discounted
25% TO 40% OFF LIST PRICES

 

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

–

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

24 Hours and Counting

san5

To my eye, this is not only a very sweet bonsai in the ordinary sense - dynamic, well balanced, robustly alive, with beautifully carved and not overdone deadwood, etc - but it is also fascinatingly unusual. All that knobby stuff piled up on the surface and crawling up the trunk like some sort of alien growth. I'm going to assume that it's living tissue that belongs to the tree - there's no sign of a living vein anywhere, so it must be. Our source - like so many sources - doesn't offer a type tree or an artist/owner. There was a time when I was loath to show trees without names and attribution, but trees like this are hard to pass up.

Orders received by 3:00pm EDT tomorrow (Thursday)
will be shipped before we leave for vacation
Orders received after that time will be shipped
first come, first served
starting when we get back on August 14th

 

It’s vacation time, but not to worry. Our website never sleeps and has no idea what a vacation is…
Continued below…

Visit our website for hundreds of excellent bonsai items
at some of the best prices you’ll find anywhere
–

sanmain

Here's a strange one, with its crown floating over space off to the left and that strange fishhook underneath, and the entire trunk with all the crazy deadwood that's barely in relation to the crown, except that it seems to point that way (grammar anyone)? I seem to have temporarily lost my source for this photo. I think it's okay, they didn't say who their source is either

Continued from above…
However, we know what a vacation is and we are the ones who ship your orders. Well really, mostly Ric is the one who ships your orders, and his vacation is called surgery (routine, non life threatening). You can wish him a speedy recovery if you’d like at <ricwalter1@gmail.com>

BTW: I will continue to post while on vacation, though I’m thinking every other day instead of daily. Specials will come and go during that time, so stay alert!

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Roots, Rocks & Summer Vacation

koror

I love this tree. The texture and movement as it flows over the rock is perfect, and the fine ramification (branching) is excellent. Nice pot too. The photo is from the 2017 Kokufu Exhibition. No variety is given (the majority of great Japanese root-over-rock bonsai are Trident maples, but the ramification seems too delicate for a Trident, so your guess is as good as mine)

Stone Lantern will be closed from July 28th to August 14th
but you will be able to order during that time
Orders received after the 3:00pm EDT, July 27th
will be sent on a first come, first served basis when we reopen
–

–Keeping it simple again today, though this time with three trees. Like yesterday, they are from  Kokufu, Japan’s oldest and most famous bonsai exhibition and the photos are from Kazematsu Bonsai. All three are root-over-rock bonsai

NEW Bonsai Fertilizer Special

OR-SET5HOYOKU-2

ALL FERTILIZERs Deeply discounted
25% TO 40% OFF LIST PRICES

 

korormaincu

This closeup of the tree at the top provides a better look at the rock & roots

 

koror2

Here's a rugged Trident maple with an unusual feature (the first person to tell me the name of the feature I'm thinking of will win a 10.00 gift certificate to Stone Lantern - email me at wayne@stonelantern.com... if I don't answer you, it means you're too late). In addition to the tree and the rock (and the unusual feature) I like the pot and the perfect placement of the planting


koror2cu
This closeup reveals some very unique features

Deep Deeper Deepest Discounted Wire

500 GRAM (1.1 LB) BONSAI WIRE

Only 9.50 8.50 7.95
wire

Time to make some room for our next wire shipment…

koror3

This tenacious Trident has the rock firmly in its grip

kororcuHanging on for dear life

A REVOLUTIONARY & VERY AFFORDABLE
GREEN T TURNTABLE

will enhance your bonsai experience and results

ttgreen

Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntables
now 2 models – Green T Basic & Green T Plus

It’s time for another reminder about a powerful and essential tool that will help you work on your trees more efficiently, comfortably and enjoyably. You and your bonsai will be happy you got one. And the price is right…

NOW 10% off with our 150.00+ discount
plus FREE Shipping in the Continental U.S. for orders 75.00+
(U.S. only – Orders outside the U.S. will be charged shipping).

–

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Deadwood & Flowers

pmume

This rather spectacular Prunus mume (Japanese apricot) is from the 2017 Kokufu Exhibition. As you can see, there's deadwood galore - almost as if the whole tree is simply deadwood and flowers - but unlike some deadwood, it looks natural and to my eyes at least, not a bit overdone. Part of this is the naturally aged looking grey color and the way it blends with the bark and even the flowers. BTW, Prunus mume is one of the few deciduous trees that holds deadwood for a long time. Much like many conifers*

Keeping it simple today with just two trees. Both are from Kokufu – Japan’s oldest and most famous bonsai exhibition – and both are Prunus mume in full flower. I found the photos at Kazematsu Bonsai

Stone Lantern will be closed from July 28th to August 14th
Orders received after the 3:00pm EDT, July 27th
will be sent on a first come, first served basis when we reopen

KOYO BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL
ENDS TOMORROW
25% to 40% off List Prices

a rich & varied selection of 50 high quality Japanese bonsai tools
including our highest quality Masters Grade Tools

Tools-Koyo1-500x303Koyo – a leading name in Japanese Bonsai Tools
special ends Wednesday at 12:oo noon EDT

 

pmume2

Another spectacular Mume. In addition to its dramatic shape, several other features stand out... the ancient looking bark (Mume bark up quite young so they often appear much older than they are), the handsome and very expensive looking pot and the lovely stand. And of course, the brilliant pink flowers

*All deadwood rots sooner or later, though some rots slower than others (most conifers rot slower than most deciduous trees). Periodic cleaning and application of lime sulfur (and sometimes other agents) slows the rotting process

BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL

35% TO 45% OFF LIST PRICES

YOSHIAKI JAPANESE WIRE

Bonsai wire

100 and 400 gram rolls of superior Japanese wire

 

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

–

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Full Cascade Before & After – Stone Lantern Summer Vacation

BACASCADE

Here's another routine maintenance before and after. As you can see, it's a monster cascading Juniper. Just how 'monster' we don't know, as there's no size given. Nor is there a variety (looks a lot like a Shimpaku juniper) or an artist/owner

Like yesterday’s post, this one is from BonsaiBaison. It’s part of a their series on before and after bonsai with high quality mature trees

Stone Lantern will be closed from July 28th to August 14th (see below for details). Orders received after the 3:00pm EDT, July 27th, will be sent on a first come, first served basis, beginning on the 14th

KOYO BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL
25% to 40% off List Prices

a rich & varied selection of 50 high quality Japanese bonsai tools
including our highest quality Masters Grade Tools

Tools-Koyo1-500x303Koyo – a leading name in Japanese Bonsai Tools

 

ACASCADE

After. That's a pretty long cascading branch. A long ways from the roots and no mean feat to keep the lower reaches healthy. Like yesterday, it's clear that the artist is highly skilled. BTW I can't help wondering how much the magnificent massive pot cost.

Re Stone Lantern will be closed from July 28th to August 14th
Two of us will be on summer vacation and Ric, our warehouse guru will be going under the knife (just a routine process, nothing life threatening). I will do some posting from vacation but much more sporadically than usual

Orders received after the 3:00pm EDT, July 27th, will be sent on a first come, first served basis, beginning on the 14th

 

BCASCADE

Before. Overgrown just a tad

ACASCADECU

After, closeup. As you can see, the work was all about removing excessive foliage and wiring

BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL

35% TO 45% OFF LIST PRICES

YOSHIAKI JAPANESE WIRE

Bonsai wire

100 and 400 gram rolls of superior Japanese wire

 

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

–

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Before & After – a Remarkably Unusual & Beautiful Bonsai

baisonAfter-2

After. I'm going to guess that this distinctive tree is a Shimpaku juniper. No variety or artist/owner is mentioned by our source (below). I picked it because it is so remarkably unusual and beautiful. My only question is... is it unbalanced with the mass of the tree floating in space way off to the right? Another way of saying this might be... is the visual weight of the pot enough to counterbalance the strong bias of the tree to right?
I found this unusual tree at Thanun BonsaiBaison. It’s another piece of our current before and after series. Nothing much was done to the basic structure (major bones) of the tree. The transformation all takes place in the crown and the cascading branches. This work was clearly done by someone with advanced bonsai skills.
Continued below…

BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL

35% TO 45% OFF LIST PRICES

YOSHIAKI JAPANESE WIRE

Bonsai wire

100 and 400 gram rolls of superior Japanese wire

 

baisonBefore-2

Before. Same bones but a crown and cascading section clearly in need of some help. What's that funny piece of deadwood (a little washed out in this photo) between the trunk and lip of the pot?

 

baisonAfter-CU1

A closer look at the tree's bones and the restyled crown and cascading branches

 

baisonafterCUHere's a closeup of that aforementioned piece of deadwood. Is it part of the tree, or is it a piece of wood wedged in there to push the trunk away from pot?

 KOYO BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL
25% to 40% off List Prices

a rich & varied selection of 50 high quality Japanese bonsai tools
including our highest quality Masters Grade Tools

Tools-Koyo1-500x303Koyo – a leading name in Japanese Bonsai Tools

 

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

–

 

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Monster Demo Bonsai on a Monster Hydraulic Turntable

gtkob

That's famous bonsai master, Kunio Kobayashi on the right, getting ready to tackle his monster demo tree. And yes, that's a Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntable gamely holding the behemoth up. The after shot is below

It’s Saturday, a good day to catch up mowing, weeding and trimming outside. Not bonsai (who mows bonsai?) but just our landscape gardens. Anyway, to save time, we’ll resurrect this post from a couple months ago. It’s a bit of an infomercial for our popular Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables, but the photos are still very good.

Time to pay another visit to the recent World Bonsai Convention. This time it’s about the demonstrators, their demo trees and the heavy lifting, omnipresent Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables – the quiet stars of the show.

LAST DAY
BONSAI BOOK SPECIAL ENDS TOMORROW

Almost All* of Our Vast Selection of Bonsai Books
are 25% to 75% off List Prices
B1-NEWBooks

Special ends Sunday at 12:00 Noon EDT
–

gtomachiIsao Omachi, his just finished demo tree with a Green T

 

gtbjornThumbs up for Bjorn, his demo tree and its supporting Green T

All the photos shown here are from Green T professional bonsai turntable on facebook.

 

gtsuzcrop

Another famous bonsai master, Shinji Suzuki, his demo tree and yes, another Green T Turntable

 

WBC-Green-T-Official-sponsor-1

Both the Basic and the Plus, Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables are 10% off at Stone Lantern

gtw

Akiyama Minoru, his demo tree and of course, another Green T

 

gtkim

The Magician with his rock planting and another omnipresent Green T

 

B1KIM2-3

list price 29.95
SPECIAL ONLY 11.95

–

gtafter

After. Kunio Kobayashi's monster pine from above. Still perched on its Green T

NEW BONSAI WIRE SPECIAL

35% to 45% off list prices

Yoshiaki Japanese Wire

Bonsai wire

100 and 400 gram rolls of superior Japanese wire

–

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
and FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

 

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Rising to the Challenge – Another Before & After Bonsai

b&a

This radical before and after Sargent's Juniper (Juniperus sargenti, aka Shimpaku) required technical and artistic skills you don't see everyday. The artist is Salatore Liporace

Staying with our before & after theme. This one is from our archives (August, 2014).  It was titled Technical Skills, Great Vision & An Unsolved Mystery. The artist is Salvatore Liporace. My assumption at the time about the type tree was mistaken, so to avoid confusion, I’ve eliminated much of the text from the original post. 

This is an excellent example of a before and after bonsai. The before is full of challenges and promise (good stock is half the battle) and when you look at the after, it’s obvious that the artist (Salvatore Liporace) has done a masterful job of rising to the challenge.

DEEPLY DISCONTED
BONSAI BOOK SPECIAL ENDS SOON

Almost All* of Our Vast Selection of Bonsai Books
are 25% to 75% off List Prices
B1-NEWBooks

 

Junafter

After. It's not in a bonsai pot yet, but in this case, who cares? You might notice the exceptionally strong and vividly colored living vein that contrasts well with the deadwood. This is the type of distinguishing feature that sets a great bonsai apart from an ordinary bonsai

 

B1JUN-2-2

NOW ON SPECIAL
–

junbefore

Before. There are no branches on the left side. If you look at the after photo it looks like there are three branches and part of the apex on the left side. The requires good vision and a bit of wire wizardry. Or, perhaps grafting is the explanation, but my best guess is it was all done with wire. Either way, the technical skills and vision that accomplished all this are undeniable

 KOYO BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL
25% to 40% off List Prices

a rich & varied selection of 50 high quality Japanese bonsai tools
including our highest quality Masters Grade Tools

Tools-Koyo1-500x303Koyo – a leading name in Japanese Bonsai Tools

 

additional 10% off orders 150.00 or more
FREE Shipping on Continental U.S. orders 75.00 or more
but only if you choose free shipping when you check out

–

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern