American Tropical Bonsai, Hurricane Andrew & One Penjing

Would you say that this prize winning Ficus neriifolia by Ed Trout looks relaxed and sensuous? Maybe, but it’s hard to deny its powerful trunk and nebari which lend stability to the tree’s natural uncontrived look. Monday morning and too much going on around here, so it’s time to dig into our archives once again. This one is from all the way back in April 2010. It was titled Tropical Bonsai with Mary Miller & Friends. I’ve enlarged and brightened the photos a bit, and done a little rewriting. All the photos were originally from Bonsai Mary. Mary Miller is … Continue reading American Tropical Bonsai, Hurricane Andrew & One Penjing

Not to Swamp You with So Many Flowering Bonsai…

An exposed-root, semi-cascade Satsuki azalea with passionate pink flowers. The photo was taken by Hiroyuki Suzuki at the recent Ueno Satsuki Festival. I don’t mean to swamp you with so many flowering Satsuki photos these days, but this is (or just was) their time to shine. And most are high quality bonsai that would be worth a look even without the flowers. With the flowers they are brilliant (unless of course, you’ve become completely jaded). For a little change of pace, we’re intentionally staying away from the heavy trunks and featuring exposed-root and other unusual trunks this time. I borrowed all … Continue reading Not to Swamp You with So Many Flowering Bonsai…

More Stunning Bonsai Brilliance

In addition to its stunning (some might say gaudy) floral display, this Satsuki azalea possesses some other powerful features. Though when it’s in full bloom like this, they might be easy to overlook. A couple posts ago we featured some flowering bonsai brilliance from the 2016 Satsuki azalea Bonsai festival at Ueno Park in Tokyo. To continue in the same vein, I thought we would dig up last year’s post on the 2015 Ueno festival. Not only does it have information you might find interesting, but most of you probably haven’t seen it anyway. And if you’re anything like me, even … Continue reading More Stunning Bonsai Brilliance

Flowering Bonsai & Dissolving Boundaries

It’s a little strange to see such prominent deadwood on an azalea. But then boundaries between acceptable and strange are dissolving in the world of bonsai as they seem to be almost everywhere. A year ago we posted some photos from the 2015 Uneo Satsuki Azalea Festival. Now we’ve got some from the 2016 festival that we lifted from a video by hermanbaik. Most were blown up to fit our format, thus the fuzz. Still, the brilliance of the trees and their flowers can’t help but shine through. More conventional to be sure, but there was a time not too … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai & Dissolving Boundaries

Bonsai by Fields

Like most people, I’m a sucker for showy flowers (subtle flowers too, but that’s for another time). On bonsai and everywhere else. In this case it’s a very showy Azalea bonsai that belongs to Mark Fields. Often azaleas and flowering bonsai are designed to show off the flowers, and though you’d have to ask Mark to be sure, I suspect that was his intention. I found the three trees shown here on Mark Field’s facebook feed. There are some other good ones that are definitely worth a click, but rather than show them all, we’ll just whet your appetite. Mark’s … Continue reading Bonsai by Fields

Flowering Bonsai – Choosing the Best Angle

This looking-up-into-the-tree shot, shows off the powerful trunk, excellent nebari, good branching and taper from bottom to top. If you wanted to accentuate the flowers, you might shoot from a point considerably higher. I don’t know who this tree belongs to and an image search came up empty. How you chose to photograph a bonsai, makes a world of difference.* Without going into the obvious, like good lighting and a simple, uncluttered neutral background (bad photos are often worse than no photos at all), just the angle you chose can make a big difference. In the photo above a very … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai – Choosing the Best Angle

Brilliant Bonsai Berries

Pyracanthas (aka Firethorns) are prolific when it comes to berries and this one is certainly no exception. It’s from a post we did in 2012. Just back from a way too short vacation and now it’s catch up time, so once again we’ll dig into our archives. This one is borrowed from last June. In just a few short months it will be fruit and berry season (sooner for some of you), so in anticipation here are three photos of Pyracanthas with berries and one in full flower. From the many to the few. It’s another Pyracantha. By Shohin … Continue reading Brilliant Bonsai Berries

Can There Ever Be Too Many Flowers?

This azalea would be an excellent bonsai even without the flowers. With the flowers, well, you can see for yourself. Getting ready to leave for a couple days and running late (what else is new?), so we’ll dip into our archives. This one originally appeared in 2012. BTW, my source for the photo above was Tae Kukiwon Bonsai. Can there ever be too many flowers? If you look at the two azaleas in this post, you’ll see that the one above is covered with flowers, while the one below shows a mix of flowers and foliage. Some bonsai and landscape … Continue reading Can There Ever Be Too Many Flowers?

A Scent of Spring

I like it when azaleas show some leaves when they bloom. Sometimes you see them completely covered with flowers, which can seem a little unnatural. This magnificent Nyohozan Satsuki Azalea belongs to Melvyn Goldstein. Its height is only 10 inches (25cm). It, along with nearly two hundred of North America’s other greatest bonsai, can be found in the 2nd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album (out of print – Albums 3 & 4 are still available). We’re not out of the winter woods yet here in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, but there is a slight scent of spring in the breeze. Still, … Continue reading A Scent of Spring

In Relentless Pursuit of Color

This one is more about its outrageously rugged shape and texture (who says Japanese bonsai is too stylized?) than its rather subdued flowers. But that’s okay, it’s not every day you see a tree quite like this. Our friend Bill Valavanis has done it again. This time it’s a very impressive collection of photos from the recent 2016, 90th Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition in Tokyo (report one & report two). Unlike me, Bill actually travels to the source and takes the photos himself. In appreciation of his efforts, you might want to click over to Bill’s blog and see them all … Continue reading In Relentless Pursuit of Color