Magician on the Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. Summers are short here in Vermont, it’s Sunday morning and the sun has decided to make an appearance. Time to dig into our archives and vacate this office before petrification sets in. We just mentioned Kimura (last post) so why not show some of his remarkable bonsai? This post originally appeared last summer. To shed a little more light, you might want to visit the … Continue reading Magician on the Rocks

Boxwoods? Serissas? Or…?

This unusual and creative arrangement is from Aus Bonsai on facebook. It would be nice to know who the artist is, but they don’t say. In any case, I like the way each planting looks like it could stand alone, and the way they all work together (even given the one with the mismatched rock). Are they Boxwoods? Serissas? Both? Something else? It’s hard to tell from here. Cropped so you can see a little more detail. Closer (fuzzier too). Is that a flower and some buds? Could it be a Serissa? Here’s another one from Aus Bonsai. The … Continue reading Boxwoods? Serissas? Or…?

Kimura on the Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. Time for another summer rerun. Today I’m embarking on a trip to the other coast, so it seems like a good idea to continue our summer vacation series of resurrected oldies but goodies. This one is from last December. Kimura’s rock plantings. These photos are all from a facebook posting by Alejandro Sartori that he took during a recent visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery. I’ve … Continue reading Kimura on the Rocks

More Root-on-Rock Bonsai & What’s the Difference?

This is what can happen when you have a great rock and excellent plant material to work with (a little skill doesn’t hurt either). It’s by Norboru Kaneko, from our Masters’ Series Juniper book. Last post we featured the development of a root-on-rock planting by Norboru Kaneko from our Masters’ Series Juniper book. Here are two more of his plantings (top and bottom) plus one from Andolfo Bonsai for your enjoyment. If you search for root-on-rock bonsai, what you’ll find, with a few exceptions, are root-over-rock bonsai. I suspect the reason for this is that root-over-rock, though they take longer, … Continue reading More Root-on-Rock Bonsai & What’s the Difference?

Root-On-Rock Bonsai

The result. It’s a Needle juniper (with secondary plants and moss) root-on-rock planting by Noboru Kaneko. All the photos in this post are from our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book. Something I’ve noticed in my countless hours of internet bonsai journeys, is how seldom you see good root-on-rock bonsai (or root-over-rock bonsai for that matter). I don’t know if this is because this style bonsai has fallen out of favor, or if it’s because accomplishing a good root-on-rock is no mean feat, so most people simply don’t try. Or they try and fail. And then there’s the issue of finding … Continue reading Root-On-Rock Bonsai

Three Famous Sargents

Everything about this famous Sargent juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) seems to be flowing, with its shari that looks like melting wax and its gracefully descending foliage. The tree resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. It won the Prime Minister Award at the 1998 Taikan-ten. Its height is 26″ (66 cm) and its estimated age is 200 years. The photo is from Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. Every morning before getting started with my recent bonsai lessons with Michael Hagedorn, we would spend a little time looking through Kokufu albums. The exercise was illuminating and I wanted … Continue reading Three Famous Sargents

Still the Best

When I first saw this tree I thought it might be a Yew. But, the bark isn’t right, and even the foliage, though close, isn’t quite right either. Fortunately, Peter Tea solved the problem in his 2011 Taikan-ten Exhibition post. Peter’s caption reads: “This Yew Hemlock caught many peoples attention. It made sense that it took the prize for medium conifer. We don’t have any Yews here at Aichien because they don’t do well in the hot weather that we have in Nagoya.” As for the species, it turns out that there are two Hemlocks that are native to Japan … Continue reading Still the Best

Kimura on the Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. Kimura’s rock plantings. These photos are all from a facebook posting by Alejandro Sartori that he took during a recent visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery. I’ve chosen to pick out some rock plantings from a much larger selection of Alejandro’s photographs of Kimura’s trees. I think they represent an aspect of Kimura’s revolutionary bonsai journey that may not be as familiar as some of his … Continue reading Kimura on the Rocks

Paying a Visit to an Old Friend

There’s something about a beautiful bonsai in flower. If you let your eyes linger for a few moments, you’ll notice how the seemingly perfectly placed flowers enhance the power of the tree rather than overwhelm it. It’s a bougainvillea by Robert Steven. All this photos in this post are from Robert’s facebook gallery. Always a pleasure It has been a while since we’ve featured the bonsai of Robert Steven. In addition to being one of the foremost bonsai artists and teachers on this fierce and lovely planet, Robert is also a friend. Not in the ordinary sense of buddies you … Continue reading Paying a Visit to an Old Friend

Bonsai Globetrotting, Make Your Own Rock, A Wild & Wonderful Hornbeam, The World’s Most Amazing Garden

This powerful pine with its lush, full (almost yellow on my screen) canopy that’s shaped more like something you’d see on a deciduous tree (or a roof on an abstract pagoda), makes little attempt to appear like a pine in nature. Still, naturalistic or not, it’s hard to deny how the power of its trunk and the lush beauty of its canopy complement each other. I found it here on facebook. It looks like it’s part of a Japanese bonsai nursery, but I couldn’t find any verification. Dan Robinson’s wild and wonderful Hornbeam resides at the Pacific Rim Bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Globetrotting, Make Your Own Rock, A Wild & Wonderful Hornbeam, The World’s Most Amazing Garden