Before and After on a Well Established Bonsai

A maintenance before and after. No variety is listed, but it looks like it might be a Shimpaku juniper. The artist is Jan Culek. You might notice the GREEN T Hydraulic Lift Turntable Sticking with Jan Culek, our newfound bonsai artist (see yesterday). This one is a fairly simple maintenance before and after. The shape and other main features have already been established, so it’s time to bring it back to its previous beauty (and beyond). Mostly it’s a matter of thinning the overgrown foliage, cleaning the deadwood and applying lime sulfur, and also cleaning and brushing the the live veins to bring out their natural beauty. … Continue reading Before and After on a Well Established Bonsai

Hanging off a Cliff Somewhere in the Alps

This very distinctive bonsai belongs to Mauro Stemberger. The rock was made by Erik Križovenský, a master of unique pots and other creative vessels for planting bonsai. No mention is made of the type tree, but it looks like some type of Juniper. I cropped Mauro’s original photo (below) to get a closer look and to eliminate some background noise It’s past due time to revisit Mauro Stemberger, an old favorite here on Bark. If you’d like to see more of what Mauro is up to you can visit him on facebook and on his Italian Bonsai Dream website. You can also visit … Continue reading Hanging off a Cliff Somewhere in the Alps

A Most Unusual & Provocative Bonsai Extravaganza

I don’t know how big this planting is, though I’m leaning toward pretty big. Impressive too with its sophisticated sense of depth (larger trees in front and smaller toward the back). Not to overlook the very large pot with its flowing lines and no doubt hefty price tag. This photo and the next three below are from Bill Valavanis’ blog Continuing with yesterday’s mixed media bonsai theme, this one is from Robert Steven’s 2014 1st International Bonsai Biennale. At the time we referred to it as the most unusual and provocative bonsai extravaganza ever TWO NEW TOOL SPECIALS Famous Roshi BONSAI Tools 30% … Continue reading A Most Unusual & Provocative Bonsai Extravaganza

Heavenly Bonsai, an Old Larch, a Tree that Never Gave Up & a Terrific Subtext

American Larch (Larix laricina – aka Tamarack) by Larch Master Nick Lenz (from our archives). This brings us to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (September, 8th and 9th in Rochester). We will bring some field grown larches of our own. Nothing like this masterpiece. Just some rough stock, mostly 15 to 25 year old that originally came from a friend’s land. We have been digging some every year and growing them on here at my place, for the last 14 years or so. We’ve been pruning for taper, so we’ve got some pretty good trunks. We’ll try to have some … Continue reading Heavenly Bonsai, an Old Larch, a Tree that Never Gave Up & a Terrific Subtext

Backyard Bonsai 14 – “A Little Bit Above Average”

Bird’s eye view of Dan Dolan’s backyard. It’s Monday Monday and I’ve been at work since 7:00am, mostly answering emails and putting out small fires. Given that time is of essence, we’ll get out our tools and dig back into our archival mine. This one, Dan Dolan’s backyard, originally appeared in September, 2015. It fits well with our recently resurrected backyard theme Dan Dolan sent along some of his thoughts on bonsai and bonsai display… “Unlike many enthusiasts who heed the remonstrance of American bonsai masters to acquire only the best material upon which to work…… I take only the least promising … Continue reading Backyard Bonsai 14 – “A Little Bit Above Average”

Revisiting the Great Bonsai Debate

A naturalistic Norway spruce (Picea abies) by Walter Pall (from Bonsai Today issue 106) A blast from the past. This post originally appeared here in July, 2009, our 6th month Barking (this means we’ve been doing this for almost ten years). I don’t know if the topic is still relevant to any of you, but there was a time when it created a bit of a buzz and I think many of us can learn something by reading what Walter Pall has to say about the topic (below). As always with reruns, I’ve made a few changes. In the expanding galaxy of … Continue reading Revisiting the Great Bonsai Debate

Selling Bonsai & Buying Time – Bill’s Fire Sale

This awesome Full moon maple with its fiery foliage belongs to Bill Valavanis. Here’s Bill’s caption. “The Full moon maple was well developed, one of my favorite developed bonsai. Usually a colorful ribbon was tied to the lower branch to caution people not to damage the lovely branch. As many of my bonsai are, this Full moon maple is often changed in the garden according to season. It is always tied down with one or two pieces of sissy wire.” We can’t go too long without featuring Bill Valavanis. Especially getting this close to the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (in … Continue reading Selling Bonsai & Buying Time – Bill’s Fire Sale

Japanese Beautyberry & other Fruiting Bonsai

This brilliant little Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is well named indeed (it’s nice when the name of a plant says something about how the plant looks; an onamonapia of sight). I found this photo on Bonsai Empire They attribute it to AR&B*, but I think AR&B picked it up somewhere else and failed to attribute. Looking at the tree, I’m almost certain that the pot, tree and photo are from Japan. The rest of the photos in this post are from an old Bark post called Luminous Fruit. The artist is Katsumi Komiya. If you’ve ever tried to grow fruiting … Continue reading Japanese Beautyberry & other Fruiting Bonsai

Suthin’s Bonsai & New Import Duty on Bonsai Wire

You can see Suthin’s mastery in the way this little Japanese black pine undulates (like waves) all the way from the base of the trunk down to the tip of the cascade. You can enjoy this tree and some other new offerings on Suthin’s website Our friend (everybody’s friend) Suthin Sukosolvisit has added the three trees shown here plus some others to his site’s sale page. I think you’ll like them and that you might like to know how to go about ordering from Suthin. Many of you know Suthin, but just in case you don’t, Suthin is a highly skilled and prolific bonsai artist. One of our best. If you’d like … Continue reading Suthin’s Bonsai & New Import Duty on Bonsai Wire

If you only visit one bonsai event this year, make it the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition

I borrowed this famous cascading Juniper from the 5th National Bonsai Exhibition website (cropped to better fit a certain social media’s format). If you only visit one bonsai event this year, make it The 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Rochester NY, September 8th & 9th. Do whatever it takes! Rearrange you life if necessary so you can be there. Each National Bonsai Exhibition is better than the last, and the last one was mind-stopping. The buzz was palpable and from conversations with dozens of others, the feeling was universal. And it wasn’t just the bonsai, though they amazed me more each time … Continue reading If you only visit one bonsai event this year, make it the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition