Ficus bonsai

An Eccentric Bonsai with a Exceptionally Long Cascade

We found this exceptionally long cascading bonsai on the Bonsai South (Australia) website (the old link no longer works). I’ll guess it’s Ficus of some sort. The blank gap above the photo is intentional and has to do with how our posts appear on social media. The original photo is below. It’s time to dig way back into our archives. This one originally appeared in 2009,  our first year. It was part of a series of posts on eccentric bonsai and was titled Eccentric Bonsai #4: A Very Long Cascade. The trees and the photos belong to Bonsai South. It’s … Continue reading An Eccentric Bonsai with a Exceptionally Long Cascade

Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

This magnificent Juniper bonsai is said to be 800 years old, which makes it a very old bonsai. But not the oldest bonsai we know of and nowhere near the oldest living tree in the world. It resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. I borrowed the photo from Bonsai Empire. Old Tjikko. This lonely Norway spruce (Picea abies) is said to be 9,500 years old. But the trunk you see in this photo is only a few hundred years old. The tree above is called Old Tjikko. It originally gained fame as the world’s oldest tree, but … Continue reading Old Bonsai & Ancient Trees

Abstract Bonsai Art & Carving Deadwood, Sidiao Style

Abstract bonsai art. I think there’s a temptation to judge trees with elaborately carved deadwood (like this one). But maybe it’s best to just appreciate the the skill involved and not worry about too much deadwood or whether the result looks natural or not. Yesterday we featured Cheng, Cheng-Kung’s colorful side. Today we’ll touch upon his famous Sidao carving method and some results. Hopefully this will peak your interest. If it does, you can visit his website for more.   Cheng, Cheng-Kung’s Sidiao method in a nutshell. There’s a lot more where this came from.   Just another Shimpaku with … Continue reading Abstract Bonsai Art & Carving Deadwood, Sidiao Style

A Dose of Creative Bonsai Energy

I’m running out of superlatives. How about ‘somewhere north of magnificent.’ My only question is; could the pot be a little bigger? It’s a Ficus by Hsieh, Shun-Chin. This is one of our two busy seasons (the other is spring). Of the two, this is the most intense; everything comes to a head in just a few short weeks. Long story short, I’m swamped. One solution is to resurrect old posts from our vast archives. This one is from December, 2010. Though the Taiwanese aren’t alone, a large dose of creative bonsai energy seems to be emanating from that unique … Continue reading A Dose of Creative Bonsai Energy

Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai

This powerfully built gem is from Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai by Jerry Meislik. It’s a Ficus Microcarpa. In addition to its rugged good looks, small leaves and a strong penchant for survival make it a bonsai favorite. The photos shown here originally appeared way back in January, 2010. I enlarged them to fit our current format and I’ve tried to bring the text up to date. If you want to grow bonsai indoors (winter or year round), you’ll be hard pressed to find subjects better suited than Ficus. But not all Ficus are created equal when it comes bonsai and … Continue reading Ficus, the Exotic Bonsai

Stumbling Upon Some Strange & Wonderful Bonsai After Six Plus Years of Blissful Ignorance

I’ve never seen a bonsai quite like this. It would be unusual even without that long joining root and those stubby trees in the back. With these almost alien features (and others), it stands alone as an absolute one-of-a-kind bonsai. It is also the only photo in this group (from bonsai4me) to give the artist’s name (Richard R Gomez) and the type tree (Strebulus asper). This is a first. A post on bonsai in the Philippines. After over six years of blissful ignorance, I discovered these wonderful (and in some cases, strange) bonsai by accident this morning. I won’t bore … Continue reading Stumbling Upon Some Strange & Wonderful Bonsai After Six Plus Years of Blissful Ignorance

Three Ring Bonsai Circus

Luminous Bougainvillea. Yesterday we featured a Buttonwood by Paul Pikel. Today we’ll stay with Paul (while inviting some other Florida artists) and we’ll start with this Bougainvillea at the Epcot (2009). You can read about it and more at Orlando Bonsai. Yesterday and today could be called Paul Pikel day here at Bark. Yesterday we headlined a famous Buttonwood of Paul’s (a better photo is below) and today I borrowed the Three Ring Bonsai Circus title (above) from an article by Paul at Orlando Bonsai. In the course of exploring Paul’s bonsai and his writing, it was a very short … Continue reading Three Ring Bonsai Circus

More Bougainvillea Bonsai but More Elegant & Less Showy this Time

There’s something about a beautiful bonsai in flower. If you let your eyes linger for a few moments, you’ll notice how the seemingly perfectly placed flowers enhance the power of the tree rather than overwhelm it. It’s a bougainvillea by Robert Steven. All this photos in this post are from Robert’s facebook gallery. Yesterday we featured three Bougainvillea Bonsai. The first two were covered with brilliant flowers (actually bracts) and the third was less showy, more like the two you see here. From a purely bonsai perspective, these two are splendid and elegant, with or without flowers, though the flowers … Continue reading More Bougainvillea Bonsai but More Elegant & Less Showy this Time

What’s Wrong with these Trees (or not)?

This sturdy little Ficus may (or may not) have a problem. Is there anything wrong with the trees shown here? Robert Steven, world famous bonsai artist, teacher and author thinks so. In his own words: “Have you ever made the same mistake I did on my deciduous/broad leaf/ tropical bonsai? …..and what are they? (Don’t be ashamed, they are common mistakes being taught all over the world).” Take a look at the trees shown here. Start at the top and look at the first four photos. Is there something wrong? If you can’t find what’s wrong (according to Robert at … Continue reading What’s Wrong with these Trees (or not)?

Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan

The sheer size and power are of this magnificent tree places it in elevated company. It’s a 50cm (20″) tall Ficus microcarpa by one of our favorite South American bonsai artists, Nacho Marin of Venezuela. The pot is by John Evans from the USA. Though this post was inspired by Nacho Marin’s powerful Ficus (above) and though Nacho is South American, when we start looking at Ficus bonsai we seem to circle back to Taiwan. In this case, much of the elevated company (mentioned in the caption above) comes from that island nation. It doesn’t hurt that they have the … Continue reading Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan