Japanese black pine bonsai

Winter Bonsai Silhouettes – Coming Sooner than You Think

In addition to the massive nebari and the lush soft green foliage contrasted with the soft creme pot, you might appreciate the near perfect photograph. It was taken by the omnipresent Joe Noga (all the photos in this post are his as are numerous other bonsai photos featured on this blog and elsewhere). As you can see, the tree is a Willow leaf ficus. No mention is made of the artist. The photo is from the 2016 Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo gallery. I can’t say with certainty that this year’s Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo will be the best yet, but there’s a good … Continue reading Winter Bonsai Silhouettes – Coming Sooner than You Think

Celebrating Forty Years of Bonsai

This sweet Japanese black pine with its thinned and reduced needles and its gnarled old trunk jumps right off the page. The luminous pot and the way it accentuates the color of the tree’s bark doesn’t hurt either. Together they provide a study in simplicity and attention to detail. It belongs to Michael (of Michael Bonsai). Here’s his caption… “Ready for the 40th Midwest Bonsai Show. My kengai kuromatsu. Japanese Black Pine. – Come visit the show next weekend August 18th – 20th at the Chicago Botanic Garden.” I’ve been a fan of Michael Bonsai for a long time, and he’s been a … Continue reading Celebrating Forty Years of Bonsai

Meandering Myrtles

Here’s the copy from our source (a Bark post last November titled Meandering Lines)…  “This Myrtle (Myrtus communis) belongs to Andrea Albergo. The pot is by Greg Ceramics and the photo is by Harry Harrington. I chose it for the lead tree for several reasons; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Myrtle with such a massive trunk (turns out I had), deadwood on most non-conifers isn’t all that common (though becoming more common) and I like the loose abstract meandering lines of the deadwood and living veins.” Yesterday we feature a very muscular Myrtle (Myrtus communis) for your viewing … Continue reading Meandering Myrtles

Even Though No Vacation Goes Unpunished, We’re Back & Ready for the Next Round

You almost never see Myrtles this massive. And when you do, they’re never from North America (go ahead, prove me wrong). This one is from Spain. It belong to Gabriel Bonsaisantboi Romero Aguade (something of a regular here on Bark). Here’s his caption… “After a day and a half removing inner leaves, it’s ready for a wire and correction.” We’ll just feature one tree today. I’m recovering from jet lag and worse, buried in two weeks of work (no vacation goes unpunished). Anyway, I’m back and Ric (our warehouse master) will be back and recovered from routine surgery on Monday Continued below…  … Continue reading Even Though No Vacation Goes Unpunished, We’re Back & Ready for the Next Round

Botanical Misnomers & an Old Tree from Left Field

You like unconventional? Crazy? How about daring? Notice how the color and design of the pot plays with the wild deadwood and the small touch of moss on the left mirrors the foliage. Just another bonsai from left field by crafty old Nick Lenz, master left fielder, author and preeminent collector-from-the-wild of cedars, larches and other North American gems. This photo is from North American Bonsai (out of print). Still on vacation (we’ll be back and Stone Lantern will be open on the 14th). The photo above originally appeared on Bark in a post titled Eccentric Bonsai #8, Nick’s Crafty Cedar,  from … Continue reading Botanical Misnomers & an Old Tree from Left Field

Two More Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

  We found these two photos at Bonsai Shikoku. All the text is Japanese and there are no intermediate photos, so what you see is what you get. At a glance you can see that there have been two major changes. First, the foliage has been thinned in order to expose most of the trunk and some of the branching. This allows for an unobstructed view of the deadwood and the lower sections of the living veins. The other obvious change is the result of meticulous cleaning and brightening of the deadwood and living veins. Here’s an excellent video if … Continue reading Two More Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

Pine Bonsai – A Less Common Cousin

This handsome cork bark (see corrections below*) Japanese red pine, with its deeply grooved bark tells a story of age and beauty. The artist is Enrico Savini. If someone asked you to name two Japanese pines, you’d probably answer, Japanese black pine and Japanese white pine. This would make sense as most of the Japanese pine bonsai you see are Black or White. However, there is another important Japanese pine. It’s the Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). One reason you might not think of the Red pine is that it is less common than the Black or White pine and, … Continue reading Pine Bonsai – A Less Common Cousin

Two Powerful Bonsai & A Point of Distinction

This gnarly old Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora) (completely asleep at the wheel… but thanks to our friend Ryan Bell, we now know that the tree is 2 needle pine rather than a 5 needle… thus a Japanese red or Japanese black pine)is from a Japanese gallery that originally appeared in Bonsai Today* issue 85. It looks a bit like something you might find on Point Lobos (more about that below). Artist unknown. This post originally appeared in January 2010. It was inspired by a visit to Point Lobos on California’s Monterrey Peninsula. Hyperbole aside, it’s one of the most … Continue reading Two Powerful Bonsai & A Point of Distinction

More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Always nice to lead with a little color. This cheerful full fall color Trident maple belonged to Suthin Sukosolvisit when we first showed it way back in 2009. I don’t know who the lucky owner is now. Continuing with yesterday’s fully fledged admiration of Suthin and his bonsai, here are a few choice trees dug out from our archives. Continued below… A great sale ends tonight Bonsai Aesthetics Wire Sale 25% to 30% off 500 gram Bonsai Aesthetics Wire 25% off 2-5 rolls (10.12 each) 30% off 6 or more (9.45 each) this sale ends tonight, Sunday at 11:59pm EST … Continue reading More Prolific Bonsai Brilliance

Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines

This sweet luminous little Japanese white pine belongs to Suthin. A total winner, right down to the perfectly pitched pot and the vivid yellow-green moss. Even given the fresh scar where a branch was just removed, it’s still simply superb (must be alliteration day today). Another reminder of Suthin’s bonsai vision and skills. I don’t usually pour it on quite so thick, but there’s something about Suthin* and his prolific bonsai brilliance, that brings out my adolescent star struck nature. And I’m not the only one. Go to any show where Suthin is vending and watch the bonsai devotees gather … Continue reading Suthin’s Small, Strong & Sweet Japanese Pines