Bonsai Flower Dreams

If you can get past the flowers, you might pull your eyes down to the trunk. While you’re down there, you might also notice the pot. The photo is from an exhibit called “Japanese Flower Dreams – 1st Azalea Festival” in Schwetzingen, Germany. I found the photo on bonsaipots.net. The caption reads: “A lovely example by Udo Fischer Bonsai Design.” Lots of azaleas lately. Response is good and who’s to argue with all the brilliant colors? You can see the photos shown here and others on bonsaipots.net. It’s not always about the flowers. Some azaleas are powerful enough to hold … Continue reading Bonsai Flower Dreams

Unlocking Valuable Bonsai Wisdom

This remarkable Satsuki azalea belongs to Teunis Jan Klein. It’s not very often you see a cascade with such a long reach. What’s more remarkable is the mass of flowers around the tip, which seems to be as strong as the crown. That much strength so much lower than the base is no mean feat. This photo is from Hans Van Meer’s blog. It was taken at the 7th Het Westen Bonsai Show in Delft. The photo above is to grab your attention. Now that we’ve succeeded in that, we’d like to help unlock some valuable bonsai wisdom (borrowed from … Continue reading Unlocking Valuable Bonsai Wisdom

More Bonsai Color & a Snake About to Strike

This is one of those azaleas that would look good even without the flowers. Speaking of the flowers, I suspect the photo has been shopped a bit as the color is a little too bright. You can find this and the other four photos shown here (along with a couple dozen others) at the Akademia Bonsai web gallery. We’ve been featuring a lot of color lately, especially Satsuki azaleas in bloom and the response has been very positive, so here are a couple more azaleas for your enjoyment and some fall color as well (apologies for those of you who … Continue reading More Bonsai Color & a Snake About to Strike

Crème de la Bonsai

2012 Kokufu Prize winning Informal upright Shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. shimpaku). This and the other images in this post are from Phoenix Bonsai. Just back and trying to dig out (no good vacation goes unpunished), so once again we’ll dip back into our archives. This one is from 2013. It’s titled Kokufu: More of the Very Best Bonsai. Just in case you haven’t heard of Kokufu, it is generally regarded as the Crème de la Crème when it comes to Bonsai Exhibitons. As long as we’re stealing images from Phoenix Bonsai Society we might as well pillage their text: … Continue reading Crème de la Bonsai

Minimizing Aggravation

I’m on the coast of Maine. You might even call it a vacation, though work tends to follow me. The wifi here isn’t so great, so to minimize aggravation, I’m just gonna show you some nice pics and leave it at that. Except to say that they are all Satsuki azaleas and all the photos were lifted from Omiya Bonsai Museum. One of our favorites. Enjoy.

More Satsuki Flowers & Other Spring Surprises

The new growth on some Spruce is often a brilliant yellow. Almost like yellow flowers. In this case the spruce is an Ezo (Picea jezoensis). This one resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (Saitama, Japan) as do the other trees in this post. We’ve got a few themes running here; spring Satsuki flowers (last post), new spring growth and one of our favorites, the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. For a lot of people, Satsuki azaleas are all about the flowers, so it doesn’t matter so much that you can’t really see the trunk in this photo. You can … Continue reading More Satsuki Flowers & Other Spring Surprises

Satsuki Azaleas, the Never Ending Quest

We borrowed this stunning (some might say gaudy) Satsuki photo and the other photos here from Empire Bonsai. The photos shown here are from a recent Satsuki azalea Bonsai festival at Ueno Park in Tokyo. Satsuki means fifth month (May) in Japanese.In this case late May (the dates on the festival sign below say May 27th to June 1st). You might imagine Satsuki would bloom a little earlier in more southerly environs. Satsuki, almost more than any other plant, show just how far humans will push nature in the quest for beauty and distinction. Robert Callaham’s benchmark book, Satsuki for … Continue reading Satsuki Azaleas, the Never Ending Quest

Dazzling Death Threats

This Nikko Satsuku Azalea is from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s Japanese collection. It was donated by Masayuki Nakamura. This post features three azaleas from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and a book about azaleas. Specifically, Satsuki azales. Satsuki means fifth month in Japanese. We’ll let you figure out why they call them that … This and the next paragraph were lifted directly from Wikipedia: Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, particularly sections Tsutsuji (evergreen) and Pentanthera (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under … Continue reading Dazzling Death Threats

Spring Flowers, Fleeting Bliss

Satsuki azalea displaying a perfect blend of white with a touch of pink and the soft green of the new leaves. The flowers dominate right now, but it’s no accident that the color of the pot enhances the not-so-shabby trunk and nebari. An earlier shot of the same tree appears below. On the road again so we’ll resort to our old tricks and plunder our endless archives (from May, 2011). Today it’s the Guggenheim (NYC) and then home to Vermont. Mis Arboles by Andres Alvarez Iglesias The first three photos in this post are part of a photo album by … Continue reading Spring Flowers, Fleeting Bliss

The Golden State of Bonsai

Whoa! I am floored. Have you ever seen a bonsai feature more dynamic and powerful than this tree’s massive deadwood swirl? If so, please send a photo. The tree is one of many large bonsai from the private collection of Frank Bardella that were delivered to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. The image is from Golden Statement Magazine’s facebook photos. If you love bonsai but don’t know Golden Statements Magazine, it’s time to get acquainted. I won’t say much more, except that Golden Statements has been around for a long time (it must have been one … Continue reading The Golden State of Bonsai