Happy Bonsai New Year!

Just couldn’t resist posting yet another yew (there have been several lately). This time it’s an English yew (Taxus Baccata) by Stefano Frisoni. It’s almost 2018 and there are countless loose ends to tie up, so with time being precious, we’ll dig up part of a December 2012 post with some trees that I particularly like. Meanwhile, may you and yours enjoy a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! And thank you for helping to make 2017 a happy bonsai year. Only 4 More Days for Our SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices SALE ENDS AT 11:59pm EST, … Continue reading Happy Bonsai New Year!

Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

A great tree with a long story of a rugged life spent on the side of cold snow burdened mountain. Somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai A little change of pace today; a rugged mix of yamadori (collected from the wild) pines. We originally found them at Amics Del Bonsai Corbera and featured them here last December. None are identified. Nor are their owners. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received by noon EST today (Monday) will be shipped today HOME STRETCH SALE Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices Order Now for … Continue reading Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Though it’s usually considered bad form to lop off part of the pot, in this case it’s all about the color (and the wildly expressive trunk). The variety is listed as Issho-no-haru. This and the rest of the photos in this post are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! No matter what you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), may you and your loved ones enjoy the Season and have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. This post is borrowed from our 2014 archives, so I’m cheating just a bit. But I like it so much and believe that you … Continue reading Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

This berry-laden Cotoneaster belongs to David DeGroot, long time bonsai artist, teacher, museum curator and author (Principles of Bonsai Design). Here’s Dave’s caption… “In honor of the approaching holidays I posed a cotoneaster that is decorated with its own red berries before a celebratory gold screen. The bonsai was originally developed by the late Ann Spencer of Portland, OR. The pot is by Sarah Rayner.” I took the liberty to crop this photo. The original is below I’ve long respected David DeGroot for his bonsai skills and for his contribution the American and world bonsai communities; as teacher, author and as … Continue reading Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

Mammoth Masterpiece

This monster Japanese beech is so massive and so masterful, that once you see it, you’ll never forget it. Continuing with our Japanese beech theme from a few days ago, I couldn’t resist this one. It’s from a post we did back in March, 2016. There was no attribution with our source and we still don’t know who it belongs to. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received before noon EST will be shipped the same day orders receive after noon will be shipped the same day or the next day SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything 30% – 70% off List Prices Order Now for Immediate … Continue reading Mammoth Masterpiece

Celebrating Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

This brilliant Japanese Maple was donated to our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum by Ryutaro Azuma. It has been in training since 1906. The photo is from Capital Bonsai. It’s time to celebrate our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum once again. If you are anywhere near our nation’s capital, or plan on being anywhere near, don’t miss this phenomenal display. Even if you have no plans on being near Washington DC, you can always make new plans. You won’t be disappointed. SITE WIDE SALE UP TO 60% OFF SOME ITEMS EVERYTHING DISCOUNTED MOST ITEMS 30% TO 60% OFF* This and other specials apply only to … Continue reading Celebrating Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

American Bonsai Silhouettes

This snowy American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) forest by Gary Clark won the American Bonsai Society Award for Native Species at this year’s Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Our thanks to Bill Valavanis for this and the other photos shown here. It’s a busy time around here, so with the exception of a few words of my own, this post about the recent Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo is borrowed from Bill Valavanis (though what you see here is only a small piece of what Bill presented). I strongly urge you to visit Bill’s blog to enjoy his captivating first hand stories and insights … Continue reading American Bonsai Silhouettes

Small Is Beautiful

This little deciduous tree with its profusion of small orange fruit isn’t identified, so we can only guess. Based on the fruit and the bark we’ll try Crab apple. If we’re wrong and you know what it is (or think you do) you can put it in the comments on our timeline. It’s Shohin time today. All the photos shown here are from a facebook page, called, of all things… Shohin. Continued below… Bonsai Books all discounted, some up to 60% off Chose from our large selection of quality Bonsai Books Japanese Garden & related Books too We don’t have to guess this time. Here’s the … Continue reading Small Is Beautiful

Classic Beauty – Flowering Bonsai from Japan

Tomentosa cherry (Prunus tomentosa: Japanese Yasura-ume). The Japanese love of flowering cherries is evident in this gnarled old shohin size (5″) bonsai. Lots to do today, so we’ll make it short and sweet. All three photos are from Classic Bonsai of Japan (Nippon Bonsai Association), one of the best bonsai books we’ve seen. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for several years 30% to 40% off ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS 30% TO 40% OFF LIST PRICES ALL roshi BONSAI TOOLS & TOOL KITS plus an extra 5% off all orders 150.00 or more – Japanese apricot (Prunus mume: Japanese Ume). My apologies for cutting off … Continue reading Classic Beauty – Flowering Bonsai from Japan

Before, During & After – Seven Years & Some Serious Wiring

Here’s Mariusz Komsta’s captiion for this tree… “Momiji Polmans & Bonsaimotorworld bonsai school is finally paying off, great job by Jean-Pierre Reitz , Pinus nigra” (Austrian black pine). I found these photos of Jean-Pierre Reitz’ superb before and after bonsai on Mariusz Komsta’s timeline. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark for a while, you’ll know that Mariusz is one of our favorites. Jean-Pierre however, is new to us. Looks like a good discovery SITE WIDE SPECIAL Up TO 60% OFF Some items 20% TO 60% OFF LIST PRICes* *there are 4 individual items we cannot discount – see below This and other … Continue reading Before, During & After – Seven Years & Some Serious Wiring