“Maybe Not the Best Bonsai in the World, but I Love Them All”

This Trident maple in its coat of many colors belongs to Tobie Kleyhans. One of the great perks of this job is the happy accident. Today’s is the discovery of Tobie Kleyhans’ bonsai. Tobie lives in South Africa and here’s something from his facebook timeline that I like … “Celebrating 20 happy bonsai years! I started this fascinating hobby during the first week of March 1998 and since then had heaps of fun, met the most wonderful people and encountered truly remarkable trees. Here are some of my favourite trees. Maybe not the best in the world, but I love them … Continue reading “Maybe Not the Best Bonsai in the World, but I Love Them All”

Haruyosi’s Flowers

This little Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) looks old and yet is so small. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s something about the brilliance and purity of quince flowers. Time to visit Haruyosi, one of our all time favorites, especially when it comes to very small bonsai. Some of these photos were just taken in the last few days and others are from years gone by NEW BONSAI TOOL SPECIAL 40% off list prices on all our Bonsai Aesthetics Tools see below – This photo was take two days ago (March 3rd). Here’s Haruyosi’s caption… “This cherry tree ‘Okame’ bloomed … Continue reading Haruyosi’s Flowers

Before & After Bonsai, Just for Fun of It

Shimpaku juniper by Suthin Sukosolvisit. Just for the fun of it is Suthin’s tag line with this striking transformation Today we have another extraordinary before and after transformation by our friend, Suthin Sukosolvisit. As always it helps to start with good stock. In fact, good stock is a ticket to great bonsai. Still, could you do what Suthin did? And just for the fun of it? SPECIAL BONSAI AESTHETICS WIRE KILO ROLLS ONLY 15.95 500 GRAM ROLLS ONLY 8.95 100 GRAM ROLLS ONLY 3.45 – Before. So much potential… Bonsai Soil Just Arrived! SPECIAL 20% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL SOIL Akadama, Kanuma, … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai, Just for Fun of It

Feed Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

Lush summer foliage and impressive deadwood on an old Shimpaku juniper.The lush foliage is the result of timely feeding.* The photo is from our Masters Series Juniper book. I know the tree is from Japan, but don’t know who the artist or owner is. For some of you lucky ones, it’s already spring. For most of the rest of us, it’s time* to start enriching the soil with slow release fertilizers. This post is one of our archival favorites (July, 2015). Nothing has changed since then, except our lower fertilizer prices. Many, if not most people underfeed their bonsai. There are … Continue reading Feed Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

The Right Place at the Right Time

That’s a lot of deadwood, but you can see the living vein just peeking out on the far left. Here’s what Bill Valavanis wrote about this remarkable tree… “Sargent Juniper created by Minoru Akiyama who received the coveted Prime Minister Award a few years ago at the Sakufu Bonsai Exhibitions for professional bonsai artists. Here it is displayed under the owner’s name.” This is our third straight Kokufu post. As with the previous two, all the photos were taken by Bill Valavanis. I feel a bit lazy sometimes, borrowing so liberally from Bill. It’s just that he and his camera seem land in the … Continue reading The Right Place at the Right Time

More Kokufu Bonsai!

I borrowed this bonsai that belongs to American Doug Paul and rest of the bonsai shown here from Bill Valavanis. They represent a very small sampling of the photos Bill has taken so far at the ongoing 92nd Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition. Today is my first day back from vacation and as you know, no vacation goes unpunished, so we’ll make this short and sweet. Five more Kokufu photos borrowed from Bill Valavanis. Stay posted, we’ll show you some more, including some prize winners. Meanwhile a visit to Bill’s blog might be a good idea. Two excellent bonsai tool sales end tomorrow night and another … Continue reading More Kokufu Bonsai!

Old Bonsai Bones

We Borrowed this Hackberry from a 2017 Kokufu post on Bill Valavanis Bonsai blog. As soon as I return from vacation later this week, we’ll show you some photos from this year’s Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, which just begun yesterday. Meanwhile, we’ll stimulate your interest with a few photos from last year’s exhibition (borrowed from Bill Valavanis’ excellent bonsai blog) Continued below… Bill offer the varieties on some of the trees, but not this one. I could guess Japanese maple, but my track record isn’t that great. Meanwhile you might appreciate the powerful nebari and the exquisite fine branching. One advantage of winter … Continue reading Old Bonsai Bones

Bonsai Elegance from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum

I’ve never been to the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, but if the elegance of the display shown in this photo is any indication, maybe I should start saving my yen. Continuing our Omiya Bonsai Art Museum theme and still on vacation so we’ll also continue borrowing from our archives (with a little value added today). The three photos shown here were part of a post that appeared in May, 2012. Japanese five needle pine (Goyomatsu) from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum’s gallery. Japanese five needle pines are also called Japanese white pine. The Latin is Pinus parviflora, or sometimes Pinus … Continue reading Bonsai Elegance from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum

Three More Remarkable Yamadori

Colorado spruce from Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai. This one is more about bark than deadwood. Normally bark that covers deadwood is stripped to reveal the deadwood, but in this case it makes sense to leave it. Continuing with Ryan Neil’s bonsai, today it’s three more remarkable yamadori (bonsai collected from the wild). The photos and some of the text are from our archives (April, 2016) Nice pot. Ryan usually provides great close-ups and this one is no exception. Bonsai Aesthetics Wire SPECIal Kilo rolls Only 15.75 500 gram rolls Only 8.95 100 gram rolls only 3.45 – Rocky mountain juniper with some … Continue reading Three More Remarkable Yamadori

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