A Celebration of American Bonsai

Coming sooner than you think! The 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition is the premier North American celebration of bonsai. The one event you don’t want to miss If you would like to submit any bonsai, the deadline for entries is June 1, 2018 (or until the exhibition is filled). If you’re like most people and just want to be there, it’s not too soon to make your plans This Colorado blue spruce won the ABS North American Bonsai Award at the 5th U.S. Exhibition. It belongs to Todd Schlafer The following is from Bill Valavanis’ Exhibition website… “The world bonsai community will once again be enriched by the … Continue reading A Celebration of American Bonsai

Naturally Dramatic Bonsai

A particularly dramatic and complex Pemphis acidula. Not that Pemphis don’t tend to be dramatic anyway, but this one is almost unrivaled. It was collected and styled by Gedemerta. Height 82cm (32″). Continuing from yesterday with more bonsai by Gedemerta, we’ll borrow a few photos from our archives (June, 2015). All but one of the trees here are Pemphis acidula which has to be one of the most naturally dramatic trees in the world. It’s a safe bet that they were all collected from the wild. In fact, it might not be too far fetched to assume that Pemphis bonsai only originate in the wild, … Continue reading Naturally Dramatic Bonsai

Bonsai Boug Before & After by Suthin (with Value Added)

Bougainvillea, before and after by Suthin Sukosolvisit. I’m not sure how much time elapsed from before to after, but given that Suthin lives in a cold climate and Bougainvillea are tropical and semi-tropical plants, my guess is at least several years. Trying to find time to get outside today, so we’ll resort to our archives once again. This one features one of our all time favorite bonsai artists, Suthin Sukosolvisit. It originally appeared here in March, 2015. As usual, I’ve made a few changes. Here’s your link to Suthin’s original before and after post ROSHI TOOL SPECIAL ENDS TONIGHT 40% OFF LIST PRICES ON ROSHI … Continue reading Bonsai Boug Before & After by Suthin (with Value Added)

Before & After – Antes y Despues

Before and after Itoigawa juniper (Juniperus chinesis ‘itoigawa’) by David Benavente. It helps to start with a magnificent tree. Still, this takes nothing away from the considerable skills of an artist like David Benavente. In fact, bringing a great tree back to shape and taking it to the next level is one of the things that defines a highly accomplished bonsai artist. Sticking with our reoccurant Before & After theme, today’s Itoigawa juniper is one of several remarkable Before & Afters (Antes y Despues) that David Benavente posted several years ago. By the way, if you’re confused about the difference between Shimpaku, Kishu and Itoigawa, here’s something from … Continue reading Before & After – Antes y Despues

Floating Clouds

Here’s an unusual tree for your enjoyment. Or, for your criticism if you feel the profusion of small foliage pads (floating clouds) is unnatural. Personally I don’t have a problem with it. It’s rich and full of energy, with all those intriguing little pieces that hang together so well. The kind of tree you could look at for a long time and still see some feature that you missed. It belongs to Hsiu Yang, one of Taiwan’s many great bonsai artists. It’s obviously a Juniper, but no species is given. Just one tree today. I borrowed the photo above from a post we did in September, … Continue reading Floating Clouds

Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Root-over-rock Japanese black pine by Suthin Sukosolvisit. No major restyling, but what a striking improvement. Sutin’s caption reads simply… “Japanese black pine 2011-2013” The original before and after photos are from Suthin’s timeline A big part of learning about bonsai involves transforming rough stock into beautiful, or at least passable bonsai. However, it’s equally important to do the periodic work necessary to keep a bonsai beautiful, or soon enough it will return to its rough state (or worse). Allowing a tree to just grow on its own for a while is essential to its health, and bringing it back into shape after this period of unrestrained growth is also … Continue reading Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Two More Reasons to Visit the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

This has to one of the most perfectly conceived and executed Kingsville boxwoods you’ll see anywhere. It belongs to Rodney Clemons. We first featured it and Rodney’s Winged Elm (below)just over a year ago in a post titled There’s No Better Time… The other two bonsai shown here are new to us. The other day I rediscovered the Kingsville above (facebook of course) along with this quote by Rodney Clemons… “I am feeling honored I received word this week that two of my trees have been accepted for the 2018 US National Exhibition. I think they just really love to travel. Photo by Joe Noga, … Continue reading Two More Reasons to Visit the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

It takes a lot of experience and strong sense of design to effect a transformation as good as this one. The tree is a Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the artist is Martin Bonsai Kolacia. I don’t read a word of Czech, so aside from figuring out that Martin Bonsai Kolacia lives in The Czech Republic (it’s the cz at the end of his url that gave him away) and that he has inserted Bonsai into the middle of his name, there’s not too much more I can say about him. If you’d like do your own research here’s your link to his fb page and here’s … Continue reading Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

An Impressively Massive Japanese Maple Bonsai & an Equally Impressive Japanese Garden

This impressively massive Momiji (Japanese maple), perched on its Green T Turntable, belongs to Jean-Paul Polmans. Today’s post is mostly about Jean Paul Polmans‘ extraordinary blending of powerful bonsai and beautiful gardens, and just a bit about our powerful and beautiful Green T Professional Turntables. Continued below… Extended One Day OUR BRILLIANT SITE WIDE SALE has been extended until 11:59pm EST January 1st Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices SALE ENDS AT 11:59pm EST, TOMORROW, JANUARY 1st The entryway into Jean Paul Polmans’ Japanese style garden and bonsai collection. I borrowed this photo and the one below from Andys Shohin … Continue reading An Impressively Massive Japanese Maple Bonsai & an Equally Impressive Japanese Garden

Bonsai Flowers, Snow & Nasty Bugs

Japanese Flowering apricot (Prunus mume). This would be a remarkable tree even without the flowers. With the flowers… well, you can see for yourself. The tree resides at Bonsai Aichien in Japan. Speaking of snow & winter, we seem to be entertaining a nasty flu bug in these parts. I’ve been down for a couple days, so if you’re wondering why we’re a little slow answering emails, and why we’re resorting to recycled photos (February, 2014), now you know. Both the photos here were posted on facebook by Juan Andrade who is (was?) an apprentice at Bonsai Aichien and a great … Continue reading Bonsai Flowers, Snow & Nasty Bugs