Snake Skin Bonsai

The contrast of black background and red leaves works to a tee. The tree is a Arakawa (Snake skin) Japanese maple that belows to Luis Vallejo. All three photos shown here are by Miguel Krause. Just a quickie today while I continue to try to catch up from vacation (no good vacation goes unpunished). I found the photos on Luis Vallejo’s facebook feed. This is not the first time we’ve shown Luis’ bonsai and I don’t think it will be the last. In addition to showing you the striking color contrast, I want to remind you that 4 excellent sales … Continue reading Snake Skin Bonsai

Bonsai Book & Wire Sales End Monday Night

Cover tree from Fine Bonsai (see below) 25% off Bonsai Book Sale ends tomorrow night (Monday) at 11:59pm EDT Bonsai Wire Sales also end Monday night 30% off 500 gram rolls of Bonsai Wire 30% off 1 lb rolls of Copper Bonsai Wire 30% off Yoshiaki Japanese Bonsai Wire Plus an Extra 5% off orders 100.00+ FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00 plus The cover The tree is a Sargent juniper (aka Shimpaku) The artist is Seiji Morimae The pot is by Adachi Choka list price for the book is 150.00 only 107.00 with current sales plus FREE Shipping in … Continue reading Bonsai Book & Wire Sales End Monday Night

Buttonwoods, Books & Bonsai Wire

This powerfully compact Buttonwood belongs to Nacho Marin, as do all four Buttonwood bonsai shown here. Continuing with yesterday’s Buttonwood theme, while we pack for our journey back to the real world… all four trees shown belong to Nacho Marin and were featured on Bark in February, 2015. With Buttonwoods it’s nature that does the real work. Humans find them, dig them, pot them and eliminate branches and other parts that distract from the natural beauty of the tree. But nature does the twisting, turning and scouring by sand and wind that results in such unusual shapes and magnificent deadwood. … Continue reading Buttonwoods, Books & Bonsai Wire

Fall Transplanting – Timing and a Light Touch

A freshly transplanted Black pine. From our Masters’ Series Pine book. When it comes to transplanting, timing depends on your climate. Here in northern Vermont seasons can change rapidly and winters are very cold. If you live in a warmer climate fall comes later for you and there is more margin for error. One advantage to transplanting in the early fall is when the spring season starts, little or no growing time is lost. Roots grow in the fall when the soil is still warm and after diminished light and cool nights have shut top growth down. By the time … Continue reading Fall Transplanting – Timing and a Light Touch

Sumptuous Satsuki Bonsai & 3 Big Sales End in 2 Days

This sumptuous Satsuki is from Bill Valavanis’ 2014 Japan Satsuki tour. Based on the massive trunk there’s a good chance that it was originally field grown or dug up after a long time in someone’s garden. I was going to make this post about digging from the wild and field growing, but it’s a very large topic and it’s Monday morning and ten thousand emails await, so we’ll just have to postpone until there’s more time to dig (intended) into it. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these two sumptuous Satsuki azaleas. Here’s another powerful Satsuki azalea that may have been … Continue reading Sumptuous Satsuki Bonsai & 3 Big Sales End in 2 Days

Late Summer Bonsai Brilliance

Brilliant Bougainvillea from a post titled Welcome Summer! by Salvatore Liporace. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below. Not only are Bougainvilleas brilliant when flowering, but they are easy to grow. That is if you live in a tropical or subtropical climate. Here in the North, wintering is a challenge, which isn’t that much different than with many other tropical or subtropical bonsai. When it comes to care, two things stand out. Bougs are sun lovers and they don’t like to stay wet for too long. In order for Bougainvilleas to flourish and most importantly to flower, … Continue reading Late Summer Bonsai Brilliance

If you only visit one bonsai event this year, make it the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

I borrowed this famous cascading Juniper from he 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition website (cropped to better fit a certain social media’s format). If you only visit one bonsai event this year, I suggest you choose the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Rochester NY, September 10th & 11th. Rearrange you life if necessary so you can be there. Each one is better than the last and the last one (two years ago) was mind-stopping. The buzz was palpable and from conversations with dozens of others, the feeling was universal. And it wasn’t just the bonsai, though they amazed more each … Continue reading If you only visit one bonsai event this year, make it the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

An Awesome Adventure Awaits…

The 8th World Bonsai Convention is a big deal in our world. So were 7th, 6th and so forth, though I’m not so sure I remember that much about the earliest ones. Anyway, they’ve got a website waiting for you and they’ve got an awesome bonsai adventure waiting for you too. I’d like to say ‘see you there‘ but we’ll see about that. As long as we’re promoting something, we might as well do a little of our own. Take a look at our Bonsai Book Sale. 25% to 32.5% off our already discounted prices (see below). It’s great opportunity … Continue reading An Awesome Adventure Awaits…

Sacrificing for Better Bonsai

The huge girth and dramatic taper on this powerful Satsuki azalea, were achieved primarily through the use of sacrifice branches. In fact, some are still being employed to help thicken the primary branches. This photo is from The Magician: The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2, by Stone Lantern Publishing. I just received an email from Morten Albek about a new post on sacrifice branches on his Shohin Bonsai blog (I pity the poor English teacher reading this). NOTE: it was just pointed out to me that this reads as though I am mocking Morten’s English, but what I was trying … Continue reading Sacrificing for Better Bonsai

Before & After – Yearly Work on any Juniper

Before and after on cleanup day. It’s a Tam juniper (Juniperus sabina ‘Tamariscifolia) that belongs to Michael Hagedorn. Here’s copy about the tree shown above that I lifted from Michael Horndorn’s Crataegus Bonsai: “The day these photos were taken was a basic ‘clean up day’ for the juniper—no wire was applied, removing only old and dangling foliage and shortening shoots that were overlong, and also sanding the bark, cleaning deadwood, and applying lime sulfur. This is yearly work on any juniper.” It’s a little hard to fathom that the tree above is the exact same variety as this low … Continue reading Before & After – Yearly Work on any Juniper