Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

A great tree with a long story of a rugged life spent on the side of cold snow burdened mountain. Somewhere up near the tree line and far from the cushy life of domestically grown bonsai A little change of pace today; a rugged mix of yamadori (collected from the wild) pines. We originally found them at Amics Del Bonsai Corbera and featured them here last December. None are identified. Nor are their owners. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received by noon EST today (Monday) will be shipped today HOME STRETCH SALE Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices Order Now for … Continue reading Wild Bonsai from Up Near the Tree Line

Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Though it’s usually considered bad form to lop off part of the pot, in this case it’s all about the color (and the wildly expressive trunk). The variety is listed as Issho-no-haru. This and the rest of the photos in this post are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! No matter what you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), may you and your loved ones enjoy the Season and have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. This post is borrowed from our 2014 archives, so I’m cheating just a bit. But I like it so much and believe that you … Continue reading Happy Bonsai Holidays! Merry Bonsai Christmas!

Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

This berry-laden Cotoneaster belongs to David DeGroot, long time bonsai artist, teacher, museum curator and author (Principles of Bonsai Design). Here’s Dave’s caption… “In honor of the approaching holidays I posed a cotoneaster that is decorated with its own red berries before a celebratory gold screen. The bonsai was originally developed by the late Ann Spencer of Portland, OR. The pot is by Sarah Rayner.” I took the liberty to crop this photo. The original is below I’ve long respected David DeGroot for his bonsai skills and for his contribution the American and world bonsai communities; as teacher, author and as … Continue reading Principles of Bonsai Design with a Personal Touch

Mammoth Masterpiece

This monster Japanese beech is so massive and so masterful, that once you see it, you’ll never forget it. Continuing with our Japanese beech theme from a few days ago, I couldn’t resist this one. It’s from a post we did back in March, 2016. There was no attribution with our source and we still don’t know who it belongs to. IT’S NOT TOO LATE… orders received before noon EST will be shipped the same day orders receive after noon will be shipped the same day or the next day SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything 30% – 70% off List Prices Order Now for Immediate … Continue reading Mammoth Masterpiece

Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Strikingly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai & Paintings – Part 2

The tree is a Sierra juniper and the painting is Yosemite Valley (Half Dome gives it away). From the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s video tour (as are all the photos in this post) Continuing where we left off yesterday with the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s ecstatically beautiful video bonsai tour. And by the way, whoever place the painting and trees together is a brilliant artist… Continued below… It’s not too late… orders received before noon EST will be shipped the same day orders receive after noon will be shipped the same day or the next day SITE WIDE SALE Almost Everything 30% – 70% off List Prices … Continue reading Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Strikingly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai & Paintings – Part 2

A Stunningly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai, Paintings, Natural Backdrop…

This shot was lifted from the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s video tour. Continuing with our Pacific Bonsai Museum theme… I finally took the time to stop and view (again and again) their video tour. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you take a couple minutes and treat yourself. It’s stunningly beautiful with it’s mix of bonsai, paintings, natural backdrop and ecstatic music that captures the soaring feeling of the surroundings. Hats off to Curator Aarin Packard, Executive director Kathy McCabe and the rest of excellent staff for helping to create and maintain such a brilliant bonsai treasure . This just might be the largest and best Sale we’ve ever … Continue reading A Stunningly Beautiful Mix of Bonsai, Paintings, Natural Backdrop…

Arts of the Earth & The Principles of Bonsai Design

Beech with vase. The tree is a Japanese beech ‘Fuji’ by Kazuhiro Ohashi. The photo is from Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Arts of the Earth Exhibit. This exhibit took place in 2006. In 2013 the Weyerhaeuser corporation gifted its entire bonsai collection to what is now know as the Pacific Bonsai Museum. You can read the whole story here. Continuing with our Japanese beech theme (see the tree above), we’re going to journey back to the early days of this century and revisit a unique bonsai and ceramic art exhibition from 2006. I think you’ll like the photos and the commentary by David DeGroot, who was the curator at the WeyerhaeuserPacific Rim Bonsai Collection (now … Continue reading Arts of the Earth & The Principles of Bonsai Design

Bare-Boned Beech

This tipsy planting in its curvy slab has to be one of the most distinctive deciduous forest bonsai anywhere. Like all the trees in this post it’s a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata), a species prized for its brilliant white bark. Japanese beech, with their striking white bark and strong trunks (often with excellent nebari) are a favorite of bonsai artists, especially in Japan. Unfortunately, they aren’t that easy to find here in North America and our native beech (Fagus grandifolia) is too rangy and large-leafed to make for very good bonsai (the European beech, Fagus sylvatica, which you can find here, is a … Continue reading Bare-Boned Beech

Celebrating Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

This brilliant Japanese Maple was donated to our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum by Ryutaro Azuma. It has been in training since 1906. The photo is from Capital Bonsai. It’s time to celebrate our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum once again. If you are anywhere near our nation’s capital, or plan on being anywhere near, don’t miss this phenomenal display. Even if you have no plans on being near Washington DC, you can always make new plans. You won’t be disappointed. SITE WIDE SALE UP TO 60% OFF SOME ITEMS EVERYTHING DISCOUNTED MOST ITEMS 30% TO 60% OFF* This and other specials apply only to … Continue reading Celebrating Our National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

American Bonsai Silhouettes

This snowy American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) forest by Gary Clark won the American Bonsai Society Award for Native Species at this year’s Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Our thanks to Bill Valavanis for this and the other photos shown here. It’s a busy time around here, so with the exception of a few words of my own, this post about the recent Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo is borrowed from Bill Valavanis (though what you see here is only a small piece of what Bill presented). I strongly urge you to visit Bill’s blog to enjoy his captivating first hand stories and insights … Continue reading American Bonsai Silhouettes