Juniper bonsai

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

To Deadwood or Not to Deadwood (for My Friend Sal)

There’s deadwood and then there’s deadwood. It’s a safe guess that this crazy tree is a juniper, just like the other two trees shown here (it may also be a safe guess that it’s a tanuki*). There’s no mention of the artist/owner. Ditto for the other two. Every few days we get a comment from someone objecting to all the deadwood you see on bonsai these days. I get it, things get overdone. Including deadwood. But if we’re going to consider bonsai an art, then we might want to leave room for experimentation. And if we do that, there’s always … Continue reading To Deadwood or Not to Deadwood (for My Friend Sal)

Juniper Bonsai Before & After – Cleanup Day

Before and after on cleanup day. It’s a Tam juniper (Juniperus sabina ‘Tamariscifolia’) that belongs to Michael Hagedorn. It’s finally sunny after interminable and often torrential rains, so it’s time to dig back into our archives so we can get outside asap. This post originally appeared almost exactly a year ago to the day. Here’s copy about the tree shown above that I lifted from Michael Horndorn’s Crataegus Bonsai: “The day these photos were taken was a basic ‘clean up day’ for the juniper—no wire was applied, removing only old and dangling foliage and shortening shoots that were overlong, and … Continue reading Juniper Bonsai Before & After – Cleanup Day

More North American Bonsai Excellence

Winner of the Creative Award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The tree is a Dwarf Japanese garden juniper (Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’) and the artist is Creighton Bostrom. The photo is by Joe Noga, as are all the photos in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album To continue where we left off yesterday… we just got our new 2017 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album and it’s the best yet. We’ll show two more photos here and leave the rest up to you Time to Stock Up on Bonsai Wire   1 Kilo (2.2 lb) Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading More North American Bonsai Excellence

Michelangelo, Picasso & Other Great Bonsai Artists

Even though we know this tree has been worked by human hands, the link to its natural state hasn’t been lost. If anything it has been enhanced. No variety is given, though it looks like a collected juniper. Back from vacation for well over a week and still locked in mortal combat with paperwork demons. Time for a short cut. This post originally appeared almost exactly one year ago. Nacho Marin is someone who was already an artist when he discovered bonsai and who brought his vision, talent and experience to the art. And though people often say that we … Continue reading Michelangelo, Picasso & Other Great Bonsai Artists

Silver Fir Bonsai – A First (for us at least)

This European silver fir (Abies alba) belongs to Walter Pall.  We borrowed this and the other photos shown here from Walter’s Bonsai Adventures Blog. It’s not that often we discover a suitable-for-bonsai plant species that we’ve yet to feature (300+ posts a year for 8 years covers a lot of ground). So, as you might imagine, our interest was peaked when we landed on this European silver fir while cruising Walter Pall’s famous bonsai blog. Continued below… Our Long Awaited Yoshiaki Bonsai Turntables just arrived this morning Including our popular all-weather turntables All at New Lower Prices – The same … Continue reading Silver Fir Bonsai – A First (for us at least)

Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai

In Jeremiah Lee’s own words … “Here are a couple trees that Juan recently worked on. I got to see him clean up and style this bad ass twisty Shimpaku.” From Jeremiah’s two week apprenticeship at Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery. Juan is Juan Andrade, a now well-known international bonsai artist. This and the other photos in this post are by Jeremiah. Today is Honeydew day. Time is short and getting shorter, so it’s back to our archives. This one, from January 2015, features the bonsai of Juan Andrade (yesterday’s artist) I’ve been a fan of Jeremiah Lee’s Yenling Bonsai blog for … Continue reading Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai

Fertilize Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

Lush summer foliage and impressive deadwood on an old Shimpaku juniper.The lush foliage is the result of timely feeding. The photo is from our Masters Series Juniper book. I know the tree is from Japan, but don’t know who the artist is. Time for a reminder from one of our archival favorites (July, 2015). Nothing has changed since then, except our new lower fertilizer prices. Many, if not most people underfeed their bonsai. There are many reasons why ample fertilizing is critical to developing healthy and beautiful bonsai… 1. It’s up to you. Most bonsai soils don’t contain nutrients. This … Continue reading Fertilize Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

Bonsai, It’s About the Soil – An Informed Approach

This Japanese maple belongs to Mariusz Folda. I don’t know if Mariusz also made the pot, but based on what I’ve seen of his ceramics, I wouldn’t be surprised. Yesterday’s post on Mariusz Folda’s Shimpaku serves as lead in for today’s comments by Mariusz on his soil mix, and more specifically on the uses and limitations of Akadama, the most famous and widely used imported Japanese soil. Here’s Mariusz’s quote on Akadama in its entirety… “I look after some bonsai that are very old, like a very old Fagus crenata (Japanese beech) or an old Carpinus koreana (Korean hornbeam). I … Continue reading Bonsai, It’s About the Soil – An Informed Approach