5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition – See You in Rochester

This sumptuous Japanese maple is from the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition website. I know that we featured this post a mere two months ago, but thought you might need the reminder. Plus it’s a shortcut so I can get out of here to enjoy the rest of the Holiday weekend. I also wanted to let you know that our FREE Bonsai Wire giveaway* ends Monday night, as do three of our current sales. Details are below. It’s time to start thinking about the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. All of the previous Exhibitions were wonderful events and they just … Continue reading 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition – See You in Rochester

47 Years – An Exercise in Patience & the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about this tree: “Happiness is finding a new much needed bud for a future branch on my maple bonsai! Now, lets see if I can encourage its growth. I only had to wait 47 years for this bud……” The tree is Bill’s famous old Shishigashira Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira’). According to The Art of Bonsai Project, Bill started training this tree from a five year old container grown grafted plant in 1969. Another photo of a famous bonsai here on Bark. Nothing to get too excited about. Except that 47 years is … Continue reading 47 Years – An Exercise in Patience & the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

Rebar, Turnbuckles, Stones & Wire for Shaping Bonsai

This is what you can do with a little daring and more than a little skill. The huge crack just up from the base of the trunk is intentional. Without it, there’s no way this old pine is surrendering to that first subtle bend and without the rebar and wooden peg there’s no way the second larger bend is holding. This photo and the before photo below are from David Benavente’s Estudio de Bonsai. We featured this one fairly recently (August of last year), but, because it shows techniques you might never see, I think it’s worth another look. Before. … Continue reading Rebar, Turnbuckles, Stones & Wire for Shaping Bonsai

250 Million Year Old Bonsai?

This is the same tree we showed yesterday. Same pot too. Just a few months earlier. I borrowed the photo from Bill Valavanis’ blog, Welcome to My Bonsai World. You don’t see that many Ginkgo bonsai. My guess is that this is because they are limited in terms of what you can do with them. For the most part the branches grow more or less straight up and tightly bunched and trunks typically lack movement and grace; staying more or less short and squat as they age. Still, once you accept that Ginkgos are unique and unlike most other bonsai, you might … Continue reading 250 Million Year Old Bonsai?

Bonsai You Just Can’t Resist

It’s not just the color. Once the vivid yellow leaves grab you, you might notice there’s a lot going on here. This Ginkgo, like all the other bonsai shown here, belongs to Bill Valavanis. Good Ginkgos aren’t all that common. They have strange shapes and don’t conform to bonsai conventions. The branches tend to grow straight up and the trunks usually lack movement and grace. But sometimes, in spite of all this (or because of all this) you’ll find a Ginkgo that you just can’t resist. Like the one above. All the photos shown here were posted by Bill Valavanis … Continue reading Bonsai You Just Can’t Resist

Playing It Straight

Straight line raft Juniper. I borrowed this photo from Bill Valavanis’ blog. Bill took the photo at the 2015 38th Mid America Bonsai Exhibit. This is a somewhat failed attempt to finish our series on forest plantings. Specifically raft style forest plantings. More specifically straight line raft plantings. Problem is, couldn’t find good photos of straight line rafts (the exception is above). So rather than spending more time searching, we’ll settle for some informative text on raft-style borrowed from ofBONSAI Magazine (one of the better online bonsai sites). “Raft style bonsai mimic a natural occurrence when a tree topples onto … Continue reading Playing It Straight

Going Rafting on Sinuous Roots

This amazingly rugged sinuous root raft style planting is by our friend, Robert Steven. I don’t know the variety, but my guess is that Robert, who seemingly keeps track of the entire bonsai universe, will let us know. Rounding out our discussion of forest bonsai, it’s time to take a look at raft style bonsai. I don’t need to say much (Peter Adams has it covered below) except that all the rafts shown here are sinuous root style (netsunagari in Japanese) as opposed to rafts with straight line trunks (stay posted). The section just below by Peter Adams originally appeared … Continue reading Going Rafting on Sinuous Roots

Pointing the Way

Three years ago when we originally showed this tree we didn’t have any idea who the artist was. We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments (from the second posting last year ): “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find this newer and better photo (the original is below). This post is worth a third time. It’s rich in bonsai beauty and information. First time was titled The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous (be sure to read the comments). The second was There Are … Continue reading Pointing the Way

Mastering Worlds, Exploring Bonsai & Tribal Art

This ‘living room’ shot (cropped from a larger photo below) is actually a part of an important art exhibition titled Mastering Worlds; Exploring Space and Scale in Tribal and Asiatic Art that is taking place in NYC this weekend. Not too long ago there was a debate in the Western bonsai community about whether bonsai should be recognized as an art. Fortunately, that debate has been put to rest (for most of us, at least). Bonsai at its best qualifies as art in every sense of the word. Now to get the rest of the world and particularly the art world … Continue reading Mastering Worlds, Exploring Bonsai & Tribal Art

Just for Fun – A Short & Sweet Bonsai Gallery

Bill Valavanis just put this remarkably brilliant Seigen Japanese maple up on facebook (with a value added short story). Just got back from two day trip with some catching up to do, so we’ll make this one a short and sweet three tree gallery (by three of our favorite bonsai artists). Suthin just put this Shimpaku and friends up with “Just for fun” as a tag line. BTW Though most people know him as just Suthin, his whole name is Suthin Sukosolvisit. Robert Steven put this distinctively thin tree up a few days ago. You don’t see slant … Continue reading Just for Fun – A Short & Sweet Bonsai Gallery