Stupendous Bonsai – a Good Place to Start

Stupendous is a good start in the search for words to describe this old full cascade Pemphis acidula by Budi Sulistyo. Ahh, to live in the tropics where stuff like this grows everywhere (well, not exactly like this, but still…). I first saw it in facebook in an album entitled My bonsai by Budi. By the way, Budi lives in Indonesia I’d venture that we’ve seen as many astounding Pemphis acidula as almost any other bonsai variety. Especially if we’re talking tropicals. Yesterday we featured three (along with some other tropical wonders), which got me thinking. Why not take a … Continue reading Stupendous Bonsai – a Good Place to Start

Magnificent Monster

In addition to its brilliant color, this powerful Trident maple has almost everything you’d want in a bonsai, including a massive trunk, fluid natural looking nebari, good lines, a well-matched pot and healthy green moss. The artist is German Gomez. Continuing with our Maple theme… Leaving for vacation in two days and still have a million things to do, so to save some time we’ll go back in time. The photos shown here first appeared on Bark way back in 2010. OKATSUNE TOOL SPECIAL ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT 25% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL OF OUR OKATSUNE JAPANESE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS Special … Continue reading Magnificent Monster

A Happy Bonsai Accident

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” From this we might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. The three trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s fb photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A very happy accident indeed. After yesterday’s post featuring two Savin junipers (Juniperus sabina) by Gaicomo Pappalardo, I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how … Continue reading A Happy Bonsai Accident

Sweet Trees, but They Grow Microscopically…

You can tell this is a genuine Dwarf Kingsville boxwood by the tight tiny leaves. This planting by Boon Manakitivipart was the winner of the Certre Award at the 2010 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Continuing with Kingsville boxwoods and with Boon (see above), we’ve got three more Dwarf Kingsvilles today. Sweet trees, but they grow microscopically, so don’t expect fat trunks any time soon. NEW Bonsai Book Special 50% off list on Stone Lantern & Haskill Creek Publishing Books 30% off list on All Other Books This has to one of the most perfectly conceived and executed Kingsville boxwoods you’ll see … Continue reading Sweet Trees, but They Grow Microscopically…

Rugged Bonsai in the Perfect Setting

The natural look. This photo captures two things I love about Eladan Gardens. The first is the rugged uncontrived feel that characterizes Dan Robinson’s bonsai, and the second is the perfect setting. The tree is a Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). We seem to be stuck on Sierra junipers lately, but who’s complaining? In this case it’s only one (see above and a closeup below) with several other non-Sierra photos to enrich the experience. This post (with some changes today) originally appeared in May 2016. Back in May, 2016 I finally visited Dan and Diane Robinson’s magnificent Elandan Gardens. It was a quick visit … Continue reading Rugged Bonsai in the Perfect Setting

Messages from Our National Bonsai Treasure

John Naka’s famous Pomegranate (Punica granatum) has been in training since 1963. It was donated to the North American Collection at the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum by Alice Naka in 1990. There’s something about a quality bonsai displayed with a beautiful scroll. Our thanks to Alexander Voorhies for this and the other photos shown here. Our friends at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum invite you, as a fellow lover and supporter of bonsai, to sign up for Museum Messages today. Once you join the mailing list, we hope you will see and appreciate all the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum has … Continue reading Messages from Our National Bonsai Treasure

Deciduous Bonsai & Fine Ramification

Please excuse the fuzz. I lifted this image from youtube and the fuzz came along on its own (there are some still shots below without much fuzz). It’s a Field Elm (Ulmus minor) that belongs to Davide Cardin. The youtube video was shot at the 2016 Bonsai San Show in France. You can learn a lot about deciduous bonsai in the winter. Particularly ramification (see below). Deeply Discounted Bonsai Wire KILO ROLLS 17.95 ONLY 15.95 EACH FOR 3 OR MORE 500 GRAM ROLLS 9.95 ONLY 8.95 EACH FOR 3 OR MORE 100 GRAM ROLLS ONLY 3.95 – Same tree, different pot in this shot from Bonsai … Continue reading Deciduous Bonsai & Fine Ramification

Before & After Bonsai with at Least Five Names

Suthin’s before and after Japanese five needle pine, aka Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora aka Pinus parvifolia). This is the only variety tree that I know of that has two common names in English and two botanical names. To further confuse the issue, in bonsai circles it is sometimes referred to as Goyomatsu (Japanese – Goyo = five needle, Matsu = pine) We never go too long without visiting our friend Suthin Sukosolvisit. If you’d like more, here’s a link to dozens of other Suthin posts we’ve featured over the years. Before. A tree in need of styling and a new pot Wanna learn … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai with at Least Five Names

Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

Before and after. This impressive and very unusual European olive (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris) was styled by Javi Campos Juan. Continuing with Javi Campos Juan (see two posts from earlier this week)… You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t follow this standard often look unnatural. Still, there’s a lot to like about this one and beauty doesn’t always conform to our expectations. New Site Wide Sale 20% to 70% OFF LIST ON ALMOST EVERYTHING* see … Continue reading Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

A Bonsai in Hand…

No variety is given with any of the photos featured here and we won’t bother to guess. Another big snow storm is blowing in and there’s too much to do, so we’ll take a shortcut and resurrect a post from August 2016 while staying with our Javi Campos Juan theme (see yesterday). I’ve always liked photos of hand held bonsai. The hand immediately provides a way to determine the size of a tree and it adds a personal touch, without the more intrusive photos of the proud artist posing with the tree. All the photos shown here were posted on Facebook by Javi Campos Juan. … Continue reading A Bonsai in Hand…