Bonsai Before & After – Foundations & Inspirations

English field elm, after & before by Harry Harrington. Here’s Harry’s caption… “… before and after images of my Ulmus minor/English Field Elm Bonsai. The ‘before’ image was taken in 2006, a couple of years after I had collected the tree and while I was still grafting in a few roots at the base. Height 27″/66cm, trunkbase 9″/22cm in diameter. Collected in August 2004. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.” It has been a while since we visited our friend Harry Harrington. You can enjoy Harry’s ongoing bonsai endeavors on facebook and you can can visit his extensive bonsai4me website. Better still, … Continue reading Bonsai Before & After – Foundations & Inspirations

Before & After Bonsai, Six Years Later

Before and after six year later. It’s a European yew (Taxus baccata ‘Summer Gold’) that was dug in 2011 and completed (not that a bonsai is ever completed) in 2017. Sometimes before and afters only show just that… the before and after photos. This time we got lucky with a series of photos (from Josef Burschi’s timeline) that make it a lot easier to understand how the process evolved. Josef Burschi lives in Kisújbánya, Baranya, Hungary. This is his first appearance on Bonsai Bark MID-WINTER SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT Almost All Items Discounted 25% to 40% off List Prices Some Items … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai, Six Years Later

Elevating the Bonsai Experience

There’s a lot to like here. The obvious part is the perfect little tree itself (looks a lot a Japanese five needle pine) and, in addition to other outstanding features, there’s the way the moss and lichen seamlessly tie the trunk and soil surface together, enhancing the feeling of age. There’s also the cleaned and polished pot and stand and the professional quality photo that elevate the whole experience.* The photos in this post are all from Katsumi Komiya’s timeline and I’m reasonably sure the trees are all his, though I can’t verify this. He doesn’t identify them all, but we’ll do our best. … Continue reading Elevating the Bonsai Experience

Which Pot Would You Choose?

Because this is such an exceptional tree, it would look good in almost any pot. And the pots you see here are no exception. But does it look even better in one of them? This post stands squarely in our venerable tradition of borrowing Which Pot? posts from Boon Manakitivipart. The tree is a Shore pine (Pinus contorta) that Boon is getting ready for Bay Island Bonsai’s 19th Annual Exhibit. If you’d like, you can chime in and offer your choice in the comments on our facebook timeline. Or you can visit Boon’s. Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Is Back in every weight & … Continue reading Which Pot Would You Choose?

Dynamic Bonsai – Korea Exhibition 2

Does this dynamic tree say something about Korean bonsai style? Maybe, maybe not, though I have notice several Korean trees that share a similar feel. This post is the second of a series on the recent Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition. The photos were taken by Mu Jong Park and posted on facebook. The trees aren’t identified, nor are the artists or owners, so for the second day running, I’m breaking my New Year’s resolution not to post unattributed bonsai. But I have my reasons (see yesterday if you care). Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Is Back Kilo rolls Only 15.75 500 gram rolls Only 8.95 100 gram rolls only 3.45 … Continue reading Dynamic Bonsai – Korea Exhibition 2

Bonsai Island Paradise

Though it’s not really a bonsai if it’s in the ground, this one is a very close cousin. This photo and all the photos in this post are from Stone Garden. Continuing with our Korean bonsai theme. This one is from our archives (April, 2014). Tomorrow we’ll return to the Korean Bonsai Artists Exhibition. The bonsai shown here reside at a place called Stone Garden, on an island just south of Korea and due west of Japan’s Kyushu Island. The island’s name is Jeju and judging by the photos, it’s a rather magnificent place, with warm enough weather for plants that are … Continue reading Bonsai Island Paradise

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