Double Take: A Snapshot In Time

One of the famous old ’Chabo-hiba’Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa, Chabo-hiba) at Boston’s Arnold Arboretum. This one was dates back to 1787 and it looks like it’s still in the original pot. It’s been three weeks since we dug into our archives, so after putting up one post already this Sunday morning (our 20% to 25% off tool sale) I think it’s okay to take a small break. Besides, how many of you remember (or even saw) this post from two years ago? Snapshot in time The Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection (the first bonsai collection in North America that is still … Continue reading Double Take: A Snapshot In Time

Kimura on the Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. Time for another summer rerun. Today I’m embarking on a trip to the other coast, so it seems like a good idea to continue our summer vacation series of resurrected oldies but goodies. This one is from last December. Kimura’s rock plantings. These photos are all from a facebook posting by Alejandro Sartori that he took during a recent visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery. I’ve … Continue reading Kimura on the Rocks

Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

Picasso’s (aka Dan Robinson’s) now famous wild and wonderful Hinoki. It’s from Will Hiltz’ excellent book, Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, about Dan’s life and work. It’s no longer available through Stone Lantern, but I think they might still have some at Dan’s Elandan Gardens. Here’s the original Bark post. It’s Independence Day (here in the USA at least)! To help you celebrate, why not enjoy a sampling of home-grown (and a couple recent immigrant) bonsai from previous Bark posts? But first, because many of our readers are not US Americans (and because some US Americans don’t know much about history … Continue reading Born in the U.S.A. & A Couple Recent Immigrants

That Old Argument Resurfaces

Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai. Judging from your comments… There are two ways we can gauge reader interest. One is by the number of visits to a particular post (our host keeps track for us), and the other is your comments. Judging from your comments, the discussion about the virtues of highly refined Japanese bonsai vs a more naturalistic western style (championed by Walter Pall among others) is a topic that at some of you are interested in. I count myself among this interested group. An impassioned comment … Continue reading That Old Argument Resurfaces

Inspired by the Master

I found this striking forest-on-a-cliff on facebook. It was posted by Dario Ascoli. It caught my attention for two reasons: first it stands on its own as decent bonsai with good potential for further development, and second, it is reminiscent of a famous Hinoki forest by Kimura (see below). Though I can’t find any information on this (who’s the artist etc), I’d wager that the trees are also Hinokis. Mature trees vs young trees Though comparisons are often odious (and unfair, especially when it’s with Kimura), still, older trees make for much more interesting forests. In this case, Kimura’s hinokis … Continue reading Inspired by the Master