Roshi Bonsai Tools

Expertly Rendered & Beautiful

This drawing is by Michele Andolfo, as are the others in this post. We just gave you three straight brand new posts. Now I need to catch my breath and catch up with some new products (including several new Roshi bonsai tools) and as always, continue the heroic quest to subjugate the horrible email beast (100 plus emails a day can wear on you). Long story short, this post is from our archives. October, 2015. All the drawings shown here are from a program Michele Andolfo led in Quebec this year (last year). You can view more of these expertly … Continue reading Expertly Rendered & Beautiful

A Great Bonsai Story & the Tree Isn’t Half Bad Either

Shimpaku juniper from a Peter Tea post, titled Shimpaku, The Unexpected Surprise. My apologies to Peter for cropping the bottom of the pot to get rid of a distracting white band that appears in the the original (it’s below so you can decide for yourself if my pickiness has gotten out of control). Just back from a total non-working vacation/ retreat. I usually work some during so called vacations, but this time I went whole hog and almost completely avoided work. I mention this as an excuse for resurrecting this old Bark post from 2013. If you’re not familiar with … Continue reading A Great Bonsai Story & the Tree Isn’t Half Bad Either

Tiny Bonsai Master?

Bright yellow flowers and a light yellow pot makes for a soft contrast. Haruyosi doesn’t identify this little gem, but the flowers look a lot like Potentilla. Though the yellow Potentilla I have in my yard has much smaller leaves relative to the flowers. We’ll continue with tiny bonsai today, though not all are by Shohin master Haruyosi, who we’ve been featuring lately (I originally wrote tiny bonsai master Haruyosi, but that doesn’t work so well). Yesterday we featured freshly trimmed Shimpaku juniper by Haruyosi, now it’s a freshly trimmed Ezo spruce (aka Yezo spruce), also by Haruyosi. I love … Continue reading Tiny Bonsai Master?

Tiny Trees, Brilliant Flowers & Wild Horses

This sweet little quince with its brilliant flowers belongs to Haruyosi. It’s a safe bet that he also made the pot. It has been several years since I first stumbled upon Haruyosi. Every since that fortunate day, we periodically return to him and his delightful tiny trees and pots. In this case, it’s a rerun (we last showed these photos a little over a year ago), but it’s a good one, so I don’t think you’ll mind. I happen to believe that quince flowers are as brilliant and pure as any flowers anywhere. So we’ll stick with quince this time … Continue reading Tiny Trees, Brilliant Flowers & Wild Horses

A Great Time to Upgrade Your Bonsai Tools

A small sampling of our large selection of Koyo Japanese Bonsai Tools all now 25% off as are all of our Bonsai Tools don’t lose this chance sale ends tonight at 11:59pm EDT 25% off our vast selection of Bonsai Tools ends tonight this a great chance to upgrade your tool collection but if you wait, this opportunity will slip away sale ends tonight, August 5th at 11:59pm EDT Plus FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 49.00 or more and reduced shipping on all other orders tool sale includes some items you might not expect turntables, watering cans, sharpening stones & … Continue reading A Great Time to Upgrade Your Bonsai Tools

Twisting versus Bending Shari (Something You Don’t See Everyday)

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Juniper that was submitted by Joe Graviss (the original photo is below). Robert Steven’s critiques have been an anchor here on Bonsai Bark for almost six years. His first of approximately forty critiques (so far) appeared in 2010 (Bark dates to 2009). Each critique is a lesson in bonsai styling and taken together they constitute an extensive course in Robert’s bonsai tradition (if you asked me about Robert’s tradition I’d say his primary expertise lies in Penjing and tropical bonsai, but extends well into other areas of bonsai… though I’m not sure that’s how he … Continue reading Twisting versus Bending Shari (Something You Don’t See Everyday)

Colin’s Moon Pot Bonsai

The first time we showed this splendid Shimpaku was back in 2010. Now time and Colin Lewis’ deft touch has wrought some positive changes. Here’s Colin’s caption for this latest iteration. His Majesty: Another last minute de-wiring before sleepy time…. I guess Majesty is Colin’s way of saying he likes this one. Or maybe there’s a fascinating story behind it… At least two things unite the three trees shown here; they all below to Colin Lewis and they are all in moon pots. All three are from Colin’s facebook photos. Colin also has a website with an extensive gallery.   … Continue reading Colin’s Moon Pot Bonsai

Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Harry Harrington’s latest iteration of his English yew. Here’s what Harry said about this tree three days ago: ” Finally, work on my Taxus baccata/ Yew bonsai completed with the branches wired and laid-out. Height 25″/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12″/30cm. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.”  I’ve been watching the evolution of Harry Harrington’s bonsai for a long time now. In fact, one of our first posts is from Harry’s bonsai4me (March 2009). Now, almost seven years later we have the (you can supply your own adjectives) tree shown here. It’s an English (aka European) Yew  (Taxus baccata). … Continue reading Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Bonsai from Nothing

Robert Steven’s simulation of a tree that was submitted by David Royinsyah (below). The following is from two years ago today (the first time I rehashed this post): “Even though I promised I wouldn’t do any rehashed posts for a while, my day is already full and it just happens to be my birthday, so I’m going to cut myself a little slack. Anyway, what better to rehash than a Robert Steven critique? This one originally appeared almost three years ago.” After featuring a couple dozen of Robert’s critiques over the years, I’m still impressed. This one is quite unusual … Continue reading Bonsai from Nothing

What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) collected by Andrew (aka Andy) Smith and first styled by Walter Pall. It would hard to find a better pair for the job. Andy (Golden Arrow Bonsai) is a professional forester, master collector of wild bonsai and a bonsai artist in his own right, and Walter Pall is a world famous bonsai artist, teacher, trouble maker (in the positive sense of course) and owner of a very impressive bonsai collection. The photograph is by Walter. My apologies for the fuzz. It’s the result of dramatically increasing the image size. On balance I think this size … Continue reading What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself