Soft & Squishy

Juan Andrade’s caption for this photo is… “Keto, mochi and wet cement. Soft and squishy was today’s theme.” We’ll skip the mochi and wet cement for now, and focus on the Keto. BTW: I don’t know if you noticed, but this is a very unusual tree (eccentric works)… one feature that stands out is the trunk’s horizontal thrust and then the sudden shift to vertical. This abrupt effect is softened by all the movement. In particular the way the live vein snakes along the deadwood and the curlicue vertical section. There are other striking peculiarities, but we’ll leave those to … Continue reading Soft & Squishy

New Free Shipping Rates & Discounting at Stone Lantern

Starting Monday, May 8th, we will initiate the following changes FREE Shipping for Continental U.S. orders 100.00 or more Extra 10% off for all orders 150.00 or more These changes will allow us to keep our prices down and continue to offer deeply discounted Sales on a range of items… …including 3 excellent sales currently running for bonsai wire, bonsai tools & embroidered bonsai clothing Thank you for your continued support

Bonsai Monarch

Full cascade Japanese black pine (Pinus thumbergii). Japanese for Black pine is Kuromatsu (kuro is black and matsu is pine). Busy trying to keep up with the much-stronger-than-anticipated results of our 20% off Site Wide Sale, so once again we’ll call up a favorite from our archives. Japanese black pines are sometimes referred to a the king of bonsai. This may be in part due to their natural strength; they tend to have powerful trunks and thick lush foliage. Rugged bark doesn’t hurt either. King or not, the best of the black pines are undeniably among the most powerful bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Monarch

Brilliant Spring Color on a Snowy Winter Morning

Good snowy morning to you. Thought I’d remind you that spring is just around the corner (ha!) by showing you three Satsuki azaleas from our New 2017 Bonsai Calendar. There’s a lot more where these came from. Twenty six specimen quality Japanese bonsai to be exact. SITE WIDE SALE Everything at Stone Lantern now 20% to 25% off* Including our 2017 Calendars time to get a jump on December madness 20% to 25% off Site Wide Sale Bonsai Books make great gifts for any bonsai lover (including yourself) and now all books and everything* else are 20% to … Continue reading Brilliant Spring Color on a Snowy Winter Morning

The Best in Bonsai Design

This has got to be one of the most magnificent Chinese hackberry (Celtis sinensis) bonsai anywhere. Though the distinctive split trunk needs no comment, you might also notice the highly developed ramification (fine branching). The tree was donated to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection (now the Pacific Bonsai Museum) by Ben Oki. It has been over a year now since we posted our glowing introduction to Dave DeGroot’s indispensable Principles of Bonsai Design. With the slow inexorable erosion of print media in this digital age, we never thought we would see another bonsai book this popular. But popular it is. … Continue reading The Best in Bonsai Design

Great Photos from Our Deeply Discounted Bonsai Books

This luscious Satsuki azalea is one of a multitude of remarkable bonsai photos from the very aptly named, Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. There’s a theme to this large gallery and a method to our madness. All the photos are from bonsai books that we sell and all our books are currently on sale at Stone Lantern. We also offer books on Japanese Gardening and related topics. Bonsai Books 25% off our already discounted prices plus FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00 or more A piece of the cover of Francois Jeker’s excellent, one-of-a-kind new book (well, almost new). … Continue reading Great Photos from Our Deeply Discounted Bonsai Books

Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai

This powerfully built gem is from Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai by Jerry Meislik. It’s a Ficus Microcarpa. In addition to its rugged good looks, small leaves and a strong penchant for survival make it a bonsai favorite. The photos shown here originally appeared way back in January, 2010. I enlarged them to fit our current format and I’ve tried to bring the text up to date. If you want to grow bonsai indoors (winter or year round), you’ll be hard pressed to find subjects better suited than Ficus. But not all Ficus are created equal when it comes bonsai and … Continue reading Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai

Brilliant Bonsai Color Combinations

You don’t see that many bright yellow pots. The glaze is expensive and hard to come by and the brilliance of the color can be overwhelming. But in this case the little tree holds its own. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a better choice of pots to set off the the richly hued Trident maple leaves. Yesterday one of the trees we featured was by Haruyosi, when reminded me how much I like his seemingly endless collection of Shohin bonsai. This post originally appeared November 2014. I think you could spend a lifetime browsing bonsai images and never find another bonsai … Continue reading Brilliant Bonsai Color Combinations

The Winners & the Wonderful & Well-Organized Chaos & Delights of the Artisans Cup

The winner (captured by my cellphone camera amidst the push and pull of ten thousand museum visitors). It’s a Rocky mountain juniper that belongs to Randy Knight. Up early to catch a plane and still reeling from the wonderful and well organized chaos and delights of the Cup. The people, the venue, Portland, old friends. And of course the truly amazing bonsai. I’ll apologize up front for any mistakes in attribution and failures to link. I haven’t had time to begin to sort through the hundreds of photos of trees people and places, but we have start somewhere and that … Continue reading The Winners & the Wonderful & Well-Organized Chaos & Delights of the Artisans Cup

Copper Wire & Bonsai Books

This luscious Satsuki azalea is one of a multitude of remarkable bonsai photos from the very aptly named, Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. This post, which happens to be a near perfect way to roll out a new book sale, is borrowed from February of this year. There’s a theme to this large gallery and a method to our madness. Most of the photos are from bonsai books that we sell and all our books are currently 25% off (plus and additional 10% orders 100.00 or more). Gardening books are also 25% off. You can find this somewhat unruly … Continue reading Copper Wire & Bonsai Books