Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Bill Valavanis’ famous Full moon maple in all its glory I’ve been meaning to knock your socks off (do people still say that?) with these photos of Bill’s Brilliant back yard for a few days now, but wanted to get all the fact straight first. Turns out time isn’t on my side so far this week, so I’ll just put the photos up as I found them on Bill’s fb timeline. If you want more info, feel free to follow the link. Continued below… 30% off Tool Specials End Soon OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS KOYO BONSAI TOOLS – Here’s a note Bill … Continue reading Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Tea Time – Best in Show

Here’s the caption that was posted with this photo… “Congratulations Peter Tea, professional bonsai artist and instructor, Auburn, California, for judged bonsai competition winning Best Conifer and Best in Show (California Juniper) at the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) Convention 41, October 24-28, 2018, Sacramento, California – “Creativity Taking Flight”. Photo by Peter Camarena.” I cropped the original photo (see below) to enjoy a closer look I was beginning to think Peter Tea had gone into hiding and then this popped up. Turns out he was hiding in plain sight. I just lost track for a while and that’s too bad, … Continue reading Tea Time – Best in Show

Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about Harvey Carapella’s backyard bonsai garden… “Enjoy the colorful bonsai garden of Harvey Carapella. His outstanding private bonsai collection is a joy to appreciate, especially at this time of year. I’m quite proud of my friend’s bonsai talent and accomplishments. WOW!” From Bill’s timeline It’s a small world…. It turns out that our Bonsai Star for the Day, Harvey Carapella is an old friend of a good friend of mine here in Vermont. It’s not a bonsai connection, just one of those serendipity type things. When we discover these kinds of connections, my question … Continue reading Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

Wild Plum Bonsai, Before & After

Walter Pall’s Wild plum (Prunus cerasifera) before and six years later Continuing with our latest before and after series… Walter Pall has long been a favorite of ours. Aside from his massive bonsai collection and his considerable skills in developing and maintaining that collection, Walter takes the time to walk us though step by step transformations with a series of sharpe uncluttered photos. And not just three or four photos. In this case there are upwards of fifty (that’s on the high side even for Walter, but he’s always generous in this regard). We’ll show you five photos here and encourage you … Continue reading Wild Plum Bonsai, Before & After

Before & After Bonsai – the Desire to Improve What Most of Us Might Settle For

Before and after Shohin pine by Koji Hiramatsu. No size or species is mentioned, but you can tell it is quite small and you might guess it’s a Japanese black pine simply because it’s a favorite in Japan and the after shot looks like it might be one Continuing with another before and after, though moving way down in scale from yesterday’s monster. The photos are from Koji Hiramatsu’s fb timeline TWO NEW TOOL SPECIALS 40% off list prices on all Bonsai Aesthetics Tools & Tool Kits 40% off list prices on all Stainless Steel Tools Includes Roshi, Koyo & Other Tool Brands … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – the Desire to Improve What Most of Us Might Settle For

Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

Before and after Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) by Todd Schlafer. The tree belongs to Mike Andrews. For the Godzilla reference, scroll down to the bottom of the post Continuing with another before and after transformation by Todd Schlafer (see Oct 19th). Here’s a quote by Mike Andrews (facebook)… “Progression of collected Rocky Mountain Juniper. Collected by Randy Knight, delivered to my house September 2016. Initial design and structure setting with Mauro in April 2017. Fertilized heavily and full sun 2017 and 2018 growing seasons resulted in very nice dense foliage. Finally detail wired and pad formation by Todd yesterday. … Continue reading Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

A Piece of Rebar, Some Nerve & More than a Little Skill

This before and after by David Benavente provides a look at what you can do with a piece of rebar, some nerve, and more than a little skill. I originally posted this in 2010 and can longer find David’s original, but if memory serves, the tree is a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) Continuing with David Benavente (see yesterday’s post) and our before and after from the day before… The photos for this post are from a a 2010 Bark post. I’ve reworked them some, and the text is new. For more on David, you can visit his website and you can visit him … Continue reading A Piece of Rebar, Some Nerve & More than a Little Skill

Bonsai Skill & Vision – Before & After

Before and after Procumbens Juniper by Todd Schlafer at the Des Moines Botanical Gardens Continuing with our venerable Before and After tradition… This is only the second time* we’ve featured bonsai by Todd Schlafer, but there will certainly be more. Todd is one of a significant (in numbers and skill) crop of young North American bonsai artists . You can enjoy more of Todd’s bonsai on his First Branch Bonsai website, on facebook and in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album BONSAI SOIL SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY 25% OFF LIST PRICES Special ends Sunday at 11:59pm EDT Before. As you can see, the trunk is already … Continue reading Bonsai Skill & Vision – Before & After

More Tiny Trees from Our Mystery Bonsai Artist

A lot of age and character packed into such a small pot. I’m not sure what kind of tree it is. Perhaps and Ilex of some sort? Continuing with our unknown artist’s tiny trees from the other day and our love affair with small bonsai. A love affair that grows as we age (sooner or later old backs and heavy bonsai must part ways). There are no varieties listed, but some are easy. Others, not so much. Here’s your fb link for our source BONSAI SOIL SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY 25% off list prices The berries look like Pyracantha and so do the leaves … Continue reading More Tiny Trees from Our Mystery Bonsai Artist

Coming Soon! Another Great Bonsai Expo

Based on what we’ve seen and heard about their past shows, this one promises to be a real winner. I wish we could say see you there, but we’ve got other plans. Still, I hope you can make it. I’m sure you’ll be happy you did. Here’s your link to their website Our Enormously Popular Tie Pots Are Back! We just got a shipment of 81 Tie Pots Monday and 36 more yesterday, and already there are only about 40 left. We’ve got more coming in 3 or 4 weeks, but if you’d like some sooner, better order yours now… 18.00 each for 1 or … Continue reading Coming Soon! Another Great Bonsai Expo