Flowers & Snow (& Too Good to Pass Up)

Japanese Flowering apricot (Prunus mume). This would be a remarkable tree even without the flowers. With the flowers… well, you can see for yourself. The tree resides at Bonsai Aichien in Japan. Speaking of snow, we’re expecting a foot or more over the next day or so. Time to run to the store to stock up on half and half. Meanwhile, we’ll borrow today’s post from February 2014. Both the photos here were posted on facebook by Juan Andrade who is (was?) an apprentice at Bonsai Aichien and a great source of excellent bonsai photos. Continued below… Too Good to … Continue reading Flowers & Snow (& Too Good to Pass Up)

Three Bonsai – Before & After

Three before and after bonsai styling by Juan Andrade. The trees are from top to bottom: Shimpaku juniper, Japanese black pine and a Needle juniper trunk with Shimpaku juniper foliage grafted on. Juan Andrade is a long term apprentice at Bonsai Aichien nursery in Japan. We’ve been following Juan’s progress for a long time (here’s a Bark post from 2012 that features a tree of his). Juan posts regularly on facebook, which is where we found these photos. This pine has a bunjin feel, but I think it’s a little too lush to qualify as bunjin, though I suspect … Continue reading Three Bonsai – Before & After

Barked up & Brilliant

Ume (aka Flowering apricot, Prunus mume). This brilliant tree resides at Bonsai Aichien in Japan. Ume tend to grow fast and bark up while still fairly young, so this tree may not be as old as it looks. Also, you might notice the deadwood. Ume are one of the few deciduous trees that hold deadwood over the years (lime sulfur doesn’t hurt either). Next month we’ll celebrate Bonsai Bark’s eighth anniversary. Our best estimate is we’re closing in on 2,000 posts (maybe more). Some, like this one, are reposts (Feb 2014), but most are new. Snow has been slow coming … Continue reading Barked up & Brilliant

Snow & Flowers

Ume (aka Flowering apricot, aka Prunus mume). This fantastic tree resides at Bonsai Aichien in Japan. Both the photos here were just posted on facebook by Juan Andrade who is an apprentice at Bonsai Aichien and a great source of excellent bonsai photos. Bonsai Aichien Nursery. This photo could almost pass as black and white with the snow and the diminished light. It’s snowing here in Vermont too. More than 14 inches of fresh pow so far the last couple days. BTW: have you ever noticed all the power lines in photos from Japanese nurseries?

Circling Back to Needle Junipers

This luscious Needle juniper turned up on Juan Andrade’s latest facebook post. Juan is (or was?) an apprentice at Bonsai Aichien in Japan, where this tree resides. BTW, we featured a Before, During and After post by Juan exactly one month ago. Don’t be misled by the title; this is not another trip back into our archives, though the second tree in this post is from an earlier bark post. The rest of the photos are all originals for us. It has been over three years since we devoted a whole post to just Needle junipers (Juniperus rigida). This juniper … Continue reading Circling Back to Needle Junipers

Before, During and After

After. A very unusual tree with three trunks merging into one thicker trunk (you can just see a small piece of the third trunk). You could say the reviled RT word (reverse taper) but who cares? By Juan Andrade. From facebook. Just couldn’t pass this one up. This Japanese white pine transformation is so unusual and the result so striking and unique, that… well, you can see for yourself. The artist, Juan Andrade is one of a whole host of young apprentices who are studying or have studied in Japan. At least one other bonsai by Juan has appeared on … Continue reading Before, During and After