Hand Held Bonsai & a Glass of Good Red Wine

The leaves are very large in relation to the size of the tree, but this often happens with small bonsai and seems to work. At least in this case and many others I’ve seen. No variety is given, but clearly this is a Japanese maple. I cropped this photo and most of the others shown here for a closer look I like good photos of hand held small bonsai. Mostly because it’s an aesthetically pleasing way to provide scale. A much better effect than a soft drink can (though Suthin’s glass of wine does the job without offending my sensibilities). I borrowed … Continue reading Hand Held Bonsai & a Glass of Good Red Wine

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

Twisted – a Happy Accident

Here’s what Scott Lee wrote about this tree… “A sad day for me. I had my bonsai selected for the 1st Artisans Cup in Portland, Oregon. This year the weather has been unpredictable and challenging for my area. The tree’s health is not up to my standards nor Ryan’s…” Continued below the next photo… I just stumbled upon this unusual beauty in a post Scott Lee put up back in 2015. Purely a happy accident. The tree is a great example of an unconventional bonsai where little effort is made to make it naturalistic. Though there are plenty of twisted bonsai, especially yamadori from high elevations, I don’t … Continue reading Twisted – a Happy Accident

Deconstructing Nacho

Even though Nacho Marin doesn’t mention the species, the origin of the crazy pot or give any indication of the tree’s size, I couldn’t resist. Here’s Nacho’s caption… “El estudio de la dinamica y el movimiento en el proceso de la deconstruccion de la imagen siempre arroja resultados impactantes.” And here’s my translation… “The study of the dynamics and movement in the process of deconstructing the image, always yields impressive results” All the images in this post are from Nacho’s timeline It has been awhile since we visited Nacho Marin, someone who was an accomplished artist before he started with bonsai. This … Continue reading Deconstructing Nacho

2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendars Are Here

This magnificent tree is from the cover page of our New 2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendar Our 2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendars are here with a special price to reward those of you who plan ahead list price 19.95 Special Only 16.95 15.50 each if you order two Enjoy 26 powerful Japanese bonsai while you check the date on your beautiful new 2019 calendar May 2019 Cover page and speaking of high quality Japanese bonsai products… Our 30% off Koyo Japanese Tool Sale will end soon Special includes koyo masters grade stainless tools STONELANTERN.COM –

One More Time – A Spectacular Bonsai Event

Kuhen Smith’s Rough bark Japanese maple won the Finest Japanese Style Display at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Unfortunately you can’t make out the bark in this photo. No blame to Oscar Jonker, the photographer. The lighting in the display area was good for viewing but not necessarily for photos. I cropped Oscar original. The original is below Today, it’s the final two prize winning bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. And some more photos by (or of) Candy Shirey. I hope you have enjoyed the series and maybe this will encourage you to make the trip to Rochester in 2020 Thanks to … Continue reading One More Time – A Spectacular Bonsai Event

Natural Bonsai Winner

Mark Arpag’s American larch won the All American Bonsai award at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The rough hewn pot and stand (looks like a piece of wood), along with the wild ground cover, provide the perfect complement to the natural feel of the tree. I cropped Oscar Jonker’s photo for closer look at the tree. The original photo is below Just one tree today in our series on the prize winning bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a American larch (Larix laricina) and its natural untamed look strikes me as the right choice for this species. This might be because … Continue reading Natural Bonsai Winner

Two More Award Winning Bonsai Favorites

I like the undulating parallel living veins on Jeremiah Lee’s ABS award winning Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). I cropped the original (see below) for a closer look Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning ABS Award Bonsai and the Finest Tropical Bonsai POTTING SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY 30% OFF LIST ON OUR HIGH IMPACT PLASTIC BONSAI POTS 30% OFF LIST ON BONSAI SOIL & SOIL INGREDIENTS special ends tomorrow, Sunday Sept 16th at 11:59pm EDT – This one of my favorites. For starters its sheer size is a mind stopper. I don’t know the … Continue reading Two More Award Winning Bonsai Favorites

Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

The winner of the Finest Mame Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Willow leaf ficus (Ficus neriifolia) that belongs to Johnson Teh. No dimensions are given, but some sources list mame as up to 4″ (10cm) tall. Others go a little taller. Oscar Jonker took the photo. I cropped it for a closer look. Oscar’s original is below Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning Mame bonsai and the winning Shohin display NEW KOYO JAPANESE TOOL SPECIAL 30% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL KOYO TOOLS – The winner … Continue reading Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

More Winning Bonsai & Some Value Added

The winner of the Finest Evergreen Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Rocky mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) that belongs to Tim Priest. Oscar Jonker took the photo. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning evergreen bonsai and the winning medium size bonsai. We’ve also got a couple more people shots by Candy Shirey (apologies to Candy for misspelling her name yesterday), only this time with their exhibition trees NEW KOYO JAPANESE TOOL SPECIAL 30% OFF LIST … Continue reading More Winning Bonsai & Some Value Added