Still Some of the Best Bonsai in the World

This pitch perfect and powerful (sorry, too much coffee this morning) Japanese beech is from Bill Valavaanis’ photos at this year’s Kokufu Exhibiton. It’s a Japanese beech. Here’s Bill’s caption… “Look at the size of the leaf buds. It must have tiny leaves. I asked, it it not a special variety, only the location were it was grown and training techniques developed the small foliage and buds.” Back to Kokufu. Still just a tip of the iceberg. As before, all the photos are from Bill Valavanis, Bonsai blog. One of our regular haunts and always a click worth making Four … Continue reading Still Some of the Best Bonsai in the World

Japanese Black Pine Made in America

“This exposed root Japanese black pine is a blend of Japanese sensibility and American craftsmanship…. Obviously it’s a Japanese species, and it’s hard to argue that several of the styling cues are based on Japanese bonsai. However, this tree is 100% made in America. The tree itself, started from seed and grown as bonsai material in California. The pot, hand made by American potter Dale Cochy, circa 2004. All brought together, styled and finished by me, an American bonsai artists trained in Japan. An exciting collision of several worlds and a respectful nod to all things bonsai from US and … Continue reading Japanese Black Pine Made in America

Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

Dwarf Japanese five-needle Pine at this year’s Kokufu Exhibition. This and other Kokufu photos are from Bill Valavanis’ blog. Here’s Bill’s caption… “Looks like a spruce with the short needles.” Getting ready to throw the switch on our new website, so just some random pine bonsai today. Six from the past and two from this year’s Kokufu Exhibtion (Kokufu photos are courtesy of Bill Valavanis) SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TONIGHT 25% OFF EVERYTHING ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS & AN EXTRA 10% OFF ROBERT STEVEN’S BONSAI AESTHETICS TOOLS 25% OFF … Continue reading Pine Bonsai, Past & Present

Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

This is the after photo from a before and after of a planting by Marc Noelanders, a headliner at the upcoming Mid Atlantic Spring Bonsai Festival (see below). No mention is made of the type tree or what the rock is made of. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark since at least December of last year, or you follow Marc on fb, you’ve already seen this masterpiece. If not, I’m happy you can see it here Continuing from yesterday with two barn burner bonsai conventions coming up this spring. They are the Mid Atlantic Bonsai Spring Festival and the American Bonsai Society (ABS) Convention. Unfortunately, they’re both … Continue reading Two Major Bonsai Events & a Regal Rock Planting

Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Here’s a before and after of a Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi Following up from yesterday, we’ve a couple more Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) for you, including this before and after by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai going way back to early days of Bonsai Bark and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today NEW 25% OFF SITE WIDE SALE ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS 25% OFF APPLIES TO EVERYTHING ON ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE INCLUDING ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY DISCOUNTED A llttle fuzzy, but I wanted … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Bonsai Before & After – Three Year Progression

A three year progression on a Himalayan juniper (Juniperus squamata) by Josef Burschi We’ve got new Before & After for you. This time with an intermediate stage between the before and after. There is a small caveat however. The tree is a Tanuki* (Phoenix graft). I think most Japanese bonsai artists frown on Tanuki, or at least they don’t value them as much as other bonsai. But the tree looks good, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. You can see this tree and some other good ones on Josef Burschi’s fb timeling NEW SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF … Continue reading Bonsai Before & After – Three Year Progression

Flowering Cherry Bonsai – Few and Far Between

This is perhaps the strongest Flowering cherry we’ve featured in our ten years of posting. Its muscular trunk, aged bark and profusion of lovely flowers make for an impressive showing Good Flowering cherry bonsai seem to be few and far between. In our ten years of posting (about 3.500 posts), we’ve only featured three flowering cherries and I’m not sure about one (here’s one, here’s another and here’s the one I’m not sure about). We found this one on Michael Bonsai fb timeline, a steady source for quality bonsai photos NEW 25% OFF TURNTABLE DISCOUNTS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE GREEN T … Continue reading Flowering Cherry Bonsai – Few and Far Between

Elements of a Bonsai Forest

I stumbled across this European hornbeam (Carpinus betulas) by Walter Pall on his Bonsai Adventures blog. The shot looks like spring with some trees lagging behind others Following up on yesterday’s forest post, here’s one that originally appeared here in 2014. I think it’s one of our best on forests and worth another look Focal point. Without the dominant tree this forest planting by Walter Pall would be a lot less interesting. With the dominant tree contrasted with rest of the trees, the planting has a focal point. With that focal point to organize around, balance, scale, a feeling of age … Continue reading Elements of a Bonsai Forest

What Do FREE Bonsai Fertilizer & Football Have in Common?

This might pass as artistic, but it’s really just a miserably failed photoshop effort. The bonsai drawing is by Rueben Roig I was going to do a post on the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s powerful new website, but WordPress decided to upgrade last night, and now I need to relearn how to put up a new post. Meanwhile, we’re digging deep into our archives for this one (Feb 2015). I know you’re probably sick of hearing about football by now, but there’s always our FREE Green Dream Fertilizer Special to peak your interest (details below) FREE green dream Bonsai FERTILIZER Superbowl … Continue reading What Do FREE Bonsai Fertilizer & Football Have in Common?

A Steady Stream of High Quality Shohin Bonsai

There are few things more delicate than fresh spring Maple leaves (Trident maple in this case). This and the other bonsai in this post are by Haruyosi Still on vacation so we’ll keep borrowing from our past. This time it’s Haruyoshi’s little trees. Haruyosi has been making and photographing a steady stream of high quality shohin bonsai (including the pots) for a long time MID WINTER SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS and AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS – Red on red. In a previous Haruyosi post (Very Red and Very Rare), we mentioned that red glazes … Continue reading A Steady Stream of High Quality Shohin Bonsai