Just One Today, but It’s a Good One

Bonsai perfection. Luis Vallejo provides the following information with this tree… “Fortunella hindsii Kumquat, By Nobuichi Urushibata, Taishoen. Luis Vallejo Bonsai Garden, Photo Miguel Krause.” Taishoen is Nobuichi’s bonsai nursery in Japan. Luis Vallejo is an accomplished bonsai artist and the owner of Museo de Bonsai Acalanes in Spain. Fortunella hindsii Kumquat, is of course the type tree, with the Fortunalla hindsii being the smallest of the Kumquats. Just one tree today, but it’s a good one. I found it on Luis Vallejo’s timeline. If you’ve been following Bark for a while, or if you’re someone who appreciates European (particularly Spanish) bonsai, you’re no … Continue reading Just One Today, but It’s a Good One

Small Is Beautiful

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… Bonsai Books all discounted, some up to 60% off Chose from our large selection of quality Bonsai Books Japanese Garden & related Books too We don’t have to guess this time. Here’s the … Continue reading Small Is Beautiful

Continuing Kokufu

Whoa! This magnificent Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) was a prize winner at the 2013 Kokufu-ten. There’s so much you could say about this tree, but we’ll just leave it at ‘magnificent!’ This photo and the two photos below, are from Phoenix Bonsai. Continuing with our Kokufu series from the last couple days… NEW Roshi Bonsai Tool Special 25% TO 40% Off List Prices CHOSE FROM 60 DIFFERENT TOOLS AND TOOL KITS ROSHI SETS THE STANDARD FOR AFFORDABLE, QUALITY BONSAI TOOLS Whoa again! This Kokufu prize winner is a Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora). Japanese black pine. A great Japanese white pine, like … Continue reading Continuing Kokufu

Mugo Pines – Achieving the Recognition They Deserve

This powerful old yamadori (collected from the wild) Mugo pine would be exceptional even if it didn’t have that piece of deadwood that doubles back on the trunk. With this feature it’s a tree you won’t easily forget. My one question has to do with balance. The long left side nebari provides an anchor, but is it enough to visually stabilize the strong lean to the right? I found this photo on Carlos van der Vaart’s timeline. All three bonsai photos shown here are from earlier Bark posts. However, most of the text was written this morning in front of … Continue reading Mugo Pines – Achieving the Recognition They Deserve

The Time Is Right…

One of the over 150 bonsai by Walter Pall that are featured in the gallery of Modern Bonsai Practice, a ground breaking New Bonsai book. Learning the art of bonsai from the best bonsai books is an essential way to upgrade your bonsai skills. Second only to taking live courses from expert bonsai teachers. Many of us have advanced our bonsai skills by relying on books and our willingness to just jump in and learn as we go. You might even say trial and error, though we hope it’s more trial and less error. This post is a reminder about … Continue reading The Time Is Right…

What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) collected by Andrew (aka Andy) Smith and first styled by Walter Pall. It would hard to find a better pair for the job. Andy (Golden Arrow Bonsai) is a professional forester, master collector of wild bonsai and a bonsai artist in his own right, and Walter Pall is a world famous bonsai artist, teacher, trouble maker (in the positive sense of course) and owner of a very impressive bonsai collection. The photograph is by Walter. My apologies for the fuzz. It’s the result of dramatically increasing the image size. On balance I think this size … Continue reading What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself

An Invitation to a Peaceful Lagoon

Peaceful Lagoon, our third in a series of plantings from Toshio Kawamoto’s Saikei classic. The trees are five to twenty-year-old Japanese black pines. The pot (Tokoname) is similar to the ones in the previous two landscapes, though quite a bit larger. Traveling again, so it’s back to our archives. We’ve been resurrecting Toshio Kawamoto’s brilliant saikei plantings lately, so we might as well stay on theme (we could do a lot worse). This was originally posted almost exactly five years ago. It was titled A Lost Treasure #4: Peaceful Lagoon. An invitation The purpose of this section is to show how … Continue reading An Invitation to a Peaceful Lagoon

Taiken-ten – Some Pines First, More Later

The top photo, with its rich deep colors, appears just the way we found it. I lightened up the bottom photo a bit to better show the details, especially the bark. All the photos in this post are from the 34th Taikan-ten Bonsai Exhibition. Taikan-ten takes place once a year in Kyoto and is considered by most people to be the second most important bonsai exhibition in Japan if not in the world (Kokufu is the king of bonsai exhibitions). I found them on Michael Bonsai’s facebook feed. There are more, but I decided to feature some of the … Continue reading Taiken-ten – Some Pines First, More Later

Semi Cascade Not Windswept

After by Kimura (aka the Magician). This photo is from a chapter in our Masters’ Series Pine Book titled Masahiko Kimura Transforms A Semi-Cascade. The tree is a Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora). I’m at the tail end of a short vacation of sorts, so we’ll indulge in one more rerun before it’s back to work full time. This one originally appeared in August 2012. It was titled The Other Cascade: Before & After. The other cascade Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seem to me that, with the exception of Junipers (especially the ever present Procumbens nana) you … Continue reading Semi Cascade Not Windswept

Nest of Cranes, Whirlpool Dancer

Mulitple trunk, raft-style Japanese white pine. This is a truly spectacular example of raft style bonsai. It’s mature and abundant, with a flowing natural feel that is the result of bonsai artistry at its best (nature too). In fact, it’s so spectacular that it has a name (Maiko – Dancer). In Japan, names are usually reserved for the best bonsai. This tree resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, as do all five trees in this post (from Omiya’s timeline on facebook). All the trees in this post are Japanese white pines that reside at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum … Continue reading Nest of Cranes, Whirlpool Dancer