Spring Is Coming! Only About Twelve Weeks Until Our Bonsai Awaken

The new growth on some Spruce is often a brilliant yellow. Almost like yellow flowers. In this case the spruce is an Ezo (Picea jezoensis). This one resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum as do the other trees in this post. Continuing with trees from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, this time with a touch of spring, which will one day come. Even here in Northern Vermont the snow will melt and the ground will thaw. Meanwhile, we can dream For a lot of people, Satsuki azaleas are all about the flowers, so it doesn’t matter that you can’t see the trunk … Continue reading Spring Is Coming! Only About Twelve Weeks Until Our Bonsai Awaken

Redwood Country Is Bonsai Country

This contortionist tree is a Procumbens juniper (Juniperus chinensis procumbens). Northern California’s Redwood country is the home of some of nature’s finest trees and some very good bonsai as well. All the photos shown here were taken by Don Van Dyke at Redwood Empire’s 2016 Bonsai Show. No artists or owners are listed, but we do have the varieties. Here’s a link to Redwood Empire’s website and here they are on facebook Reclining Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia) in flower Bonsai Aesthetics Tool Special 40% OFF LIST PRICES THIS APPLIES TO ALL OUR AESTHETICS TOOLS INCLUDING KITS & SETS – You might expect to see some of … Continue reading Redwood Country Is Bonsai Country

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

Six Sweet Little Trees

Here’s a rather famous dwarf Princess persimmon that we’ve shown several times over the years and is still worth another look. Aside from the luminous fruit, distinctive little pot and the twisted trunk, it’s also hard not to notice the spots on the leaves. No matter, it’s still a sweet littl tree. If you’ve ever tried to grow fruiting bonsai, you know that getting healthy fruit to grow and to stay on your trees is no mean feat (birds, wind, insects and other problems will conspire against you). Like yesterday the images in this post are all from Katsumi Komiya’s facebook … Continue reading Six Sweet Little Trees

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

An Old Bonsai Favorite

If you know Gedemerta’s bonsai, you’ll recognize this as one of his many Pemphis acidula. The rough bark, preponderance of deadwood and the tiny leaves give it away The photos shown here are from an old favorite of ours, Gedemerta Bonsai Bali. Though I just discovered these (on facebook of course), I also just noticed they date all the way back to 2012, so they may be familiar to some of you. In fact, at least one of them has been shown here on Bark (the Barbados cherry, but with a different pot) and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than one. MID-WINTER … Continue reading An Old Bonsai Favorite