Robert’s Super Mini Bonsai

Several super mini Premna microphylla arranged on an impressive stone. This planting and the rest of the mini bonsai shown here are by Robert Steven. All good things… Today is packing up and leaving day. The end of an excellent vacation. I’ve been trying to post every day,* even if it means dipping into our archives. This one originally appeared in 2010. I’ve made a few changes, but it’s still about the same amazingly small bonsai (all Premna microphylla). The smaller the more difficult… Robert Steven sent us these incredibly tiny bonsai a few days ago. Here’s what he has … Continue reading Robert’s Super Mini Bonsai

Sweet Bonsai – Still Fat and Happy

Sweet tree, phenomenal pot. The little tree is a Pyracantha coccinea Roem by Haruyosi. The pot is also by Haruyosi. All the trees and pots in this post are by Haruyosi. Yesterday it was Flowing quince bonsai by Haruyosi. Today it’s Pyracantha bonsai by Haruyosi. Five trees, two varieties. All flowering. There are two common names for Pyracantha: One is Pyracantha (it’s not that often the Latin name and common name are identical) and the other is Firethorn. Either way, and as you can see, they make good bonsai (especially miniature bonsai); both the leaves and flowers are small and … Continue reading Sweet Bonsai – Still Fat and Happy

Wild Horses, Tiny Trees

This sweet little quince with its brilliant tiny flowers belongs to Haruyosi. It’s a safe bet that he also made the pot. It has been a couple years since I first stumbled upon Haruyosi and his delightful tiny trees and pots and though I’m usually loath to use the term bonsai master (once you introduce the term, pretty soon you see even moderately accomplish bonsai artists called bonsai master and that just ain’t right), if I were to use it, Haruyosi would be a good place to start. Or, more precisely, Shohin Bonsai Master. While were throwing the term around, … Continue reading Wild Horses, Tiny Trees

Easy to Move and a Delight to Behold…

I think this one qualifies as Mame (‘bean’ in Japanese). Bonsai-wise, mame is a common word for the very smallest bonsai. When we originally posted this, I didn’t know who this lovely little bonsai belonged to. I’ve since been told that it is a Haruyosi tree. Strange how once you know something it’s obvious. And btw, the sweet little pot was no doubt made by Haruyosi as well. Oh, and I’m pretty sure the tree is a Pyracantha. On the road again (and out of the bone chilling cold for a precious minute) so we’ll go archiving once again. This … Continue reading Easy to Move and a Delight to Behold…

A Soft Spot for Tiny Trees

This remarkable little tree has a whole lot going in a very small space: three trunks, great branching, good movement, taper, nebari (more or less) and a well developed apex (tiny leaves don’t hurt either). Altogether, no mean feat. It belongs to Ipunk Bonsai Pasuruan, one of our ten million facebook friends. Beyond that, the only pieces of information listed are: sancang ny (I’m guessing Vietnamese) and SOLD. I have a soft spot for tiny trees. Especially tiny trees where scale is provided by hands and fingers. Almost everyday I scroll through ten thousand photos waiting for something to jump … Continue reading A Soft Spot for Tiny Trees

Daring & Over-the-Top Brilliant

Daring and brilliant. I think the daring part is combining such a strong and unique pot with such a brilliant little flowering tree. Each could stand on its own, no problem. But together the brilliance is multiplied. This photo and the other photos in this post are from Machiko Koide’s timeline on facebook. I don’t know much about Michiko Koide and google didn’t help. All I could find is her facebook timeline. Turns out, based on the photos, that’s plenty These pots are most excellent, with or without little trees. The two handed approach (see our last post). Contrast … Continue reading Daring & Over-the-Top Brilliant

Exquisite Trees, Exquisite Pots

There are few things more delicate and beautiful than fresh spring Maple leaves (Trident maple in this case). This exquisite tree and exquisite pot are perfect expressions of the artistry of Haruyoshi. The only hard part with a post like this, is figuring out which photo to show first (the one that shows up on facebook and in our newsletter). We had the same problem with our previous two posts that featured Haruyosi pots and bonsai (here and here). I won’t bore you much more, except to say that Haruyosi does a couple things that set him apart. First, he … Continue reading Exquisite Trees, Exquisite Pots

The Most with the Least

Even though the crown is leaning back a bit in this shot, still, I’m going to call this side the front. Especially if we take front to be the best view of the trunk and deadwood rather than imposing some imagined rule. The four photos of this tree are by Haruyosi, as is the tree itself. We don’t usually show four shots of the same bonsai, but I like this little tree a lot and the shots were just sitting there begging to picked up and shared. It’s a Shohin (you could even say Mame) Shimpaku juniper by Haruyosi. From … Continue reading The Most with the Least

Less Is Still Enough

Shimpaku juniper. This photo is titled ‘Shugaten 2013 – Tokyo Ueno.’ Guillaume Billaud posted it on facebook. I’m not sure I need to say anything about this magnificent little bonsai except that that’s a whole lot of tree to fit into such a small pot and I’m delighted that someone bothered. BTW: Shugaten is being held right now (until the end of this month). Shohin again (see our previous post). Enough said for now… Shohin Pyracantha with yellow berries. A couple things jump out. First are the luminous berries. Without these, I don’t think we’d bother. With these, we’d … Continue reading Less Is Still Enough

Less Is Enough

I think this one qualifies as Mame (‘bean’ in Japanese). Bonsai-wise, mame is a common word for the very smallest bonsai. I found it on Pinterest. It says Repinned via Luciano Guimarães. I’m not sure exactly what that means but my best guess is that this tree does not belong to Luciano. The photo had the Bonsai Empire logo in the corner (now cropped out to magnify the tree), but I couldn’t find it on their site. In any case it’s a sweet little gem and so’s the pot. “Shohin are small bonsai. When compared to large bonsai, shohin cost … Continue reading Less Is Enough