Bonsai Rafting – Sinuous & Straight

This rugged sinuous root raft-style planting is by our friend, Robert Steven. I don’t know the variety, but my guess is that Robert will let us know. We’ve added one photo (just below) to this post on raft-style bonsai that originally appeared here in August 2015 We don’t need to say much about raft-style bonsai – Peter Adams has it covered below -except that all the bonsai rafts shown here are sinuous root style (netsunagari in Japanese) as opposed to rafts with straight line trunks, like nature’s raft just below NEW LOWEST PRICE YET KILO BONSAI WIRE ONLY 14.95 PER ROLL Only 13.45 off with your … Continue reading Bonsai Rafting – Sinuous & Straight

Adding Drama to an Already Dramatic Bonsai

Is this spectacular Juniper in its equally spectacular pot, listing just a tad to the left? Or is it just me? No matter, to my eye at least, the tension set up by this feeling adds a little more drama to an already very dramatic tree Here’s a post from our archives (Novemeber, 2012). It was titled Getting It Right This Time (you can visit the original if you’d like to know what we were getting right). I picked it mostly because I thought you might appreciate the rather spectacular tree above, though the others aren’t half bad either The photos you see here … Continue reading Adding Drama to an Already Dramatic Bonsai

Marc’s Masterpiece

Whoa! Marc Noelanders posted this exquisite composition and my guess is he’s the artist behind it. Here’s his caption… “Another huge wooden wall.Hopefully we’ll see you all next year at Bonsai namaste Convention.” Not a bad idea. Here’s your link to 2018 If you follow Marc Noelanders on facebook you’ve already seen this masterpiece and its 10,000 rave reviews. If not, I’m happy you can see it here I cropped this one for a closer look, though I’m a little nervous about messing with something like this. Maybe you can just imagine that you are standing very close. While you’re here … Continue reading Marc’s Masterpiece

Bonsai in the Palm of Your Hand

The trunk on this sturdy little tree reminds me of any number of massive yamadori Junipers we’ve seen (and featured) from the mountains of western North America. Difference is, there’s no way they’d fit in the palm of your hand Yesterday, was Haruyosi. Today it’s Haruyosi and soon enough it will be Haruyosi again… Roshi Tool Special ALL ROSHI BONSAI TOOLS NOW 25% TO 40% OFF OUR LIST PRICES ROSHI SETS THE STANDARD FOR AFFORDABLE HIGH QUALITY BONSAI TOOLS Another sweet Shimpaku. A favorite of Haruyosi And another… This one is already in a bonsai pot. And just … Continue reading Bonsai in the Palm of Your Hand

Shopping for Bonsai in Japan

I’ve always had a soft spot for three fingered Shohin bonsai (bonsai that are easily held with three fingers). Particularly ones from Japan, where most of the good ones seem to show up… at least in photos. This one looks like a Shimpaku juniper. It’s from Bonsái Pavía, as are all the photos in this post. Today must be my lucky day. Not only did I discover a new bonsai company (new to us at least), I also discover a never before used theme for Bonsai Bark… shopping for bonsai in Japan. The new company is Bonsái Pavía in Madrid, Spain. They’re the ones doing … Continue reading Shopping for Bonsai in Japan

Winter Bonsai Silhouettes – Coming Sooner than You Think

In addition to the massive nebari and the lush soft green foliage contrasted with the soft creme pot, you might appreciate the near perfect photograph. It was taken by the omnipresent Joe Noga (all the photos in this post are his as are numerous other bonsai photos featured on this blog and elsewhere). As you can see, the tree is a Willow leaf ficus. No mention is made of the artist. The photo is from the 2016 Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo gallery. I can’t say with certainty that this year’s Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo will be the best yet, but there’s a good … Continue reading Winter Bonsai Silhouettes – Coming Sooner than You Think

To Deadwood or Not to Deadwood (for My Friend Sal)

There’s deadwood and then there’s deadwood. It’s a safe guess that this crazy tree is a juniper, just like the other two trees shown here (it may also be a safe guess that it’s a tanuki*). There’s no mention of the artist/owner. Ditto for the other two. Every few days we get a comment from someone objecting to all the deadwood you see on bonsai these days. I get it, things get overdone. Including deadwood. But if we’re going to consider bonsai an art, then we might want to leave room for experimentation. And if we do that, there’s always … Continue reading To Deadwood or Not to Deadwood (for My Friend Sal)

Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai

In Jeremiah Lee’s own words … “Here are a couple trees that Juan recently worked on. I got to see him clean up and style this bad ass twisty Shimpaku.” From Jeremiah’s two week apprenticeship at Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery. Juan is Juan Andrade, a now well-known international bonsai artist. This and the other photos in this post are by Jeremiah. Today is Honeydew day. Time is short and getting shorter, so it’s back to our archives. This one, from January 2015, features the bonsai of Juan Andrade (yesterday’s artist) I’ve been a fan of Jeremiah Lee’s Yenling Bonsai blog for … Continue reading Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai

Flowering Bonsai & an American in Tokyo

Not a prize winner, but still a mind stopper. Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about this remarkable quince: “An unusual cultivar of Japanese flowering quince. This is NOT the Toyo Nishiki cultivar, but rather ‘Takane Nishiki’. Beautiful flowers, unusual container, but I personally do not like the design of the bonsai, so enjoyed the blossoms.” Vacation time is archive time (with some new posts thrown in). This one is from July, 2011. I was looking for something more on Doug Paul’s Kennett Collection (see yesterday). The tree below is his, and the tree above has beautiful flowers and … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai & an American in Tokyo

A Juniper, Two Pines & an Unusual Flowering Tree

This stately (and sturdy) Shimpaku belongs to Suthin Sukosolvisit. Looks like the lime sulfur is fairly fresh and the bark was recently brushed, so I’m going to guess Suthin was preparing for a show when this picture was taken. He still has to dress up the soil surface and oil the pot, though I’d bet these were next on his list. It’s our old friend Suthin today. I’d feel remiss if we didn’t feature his trees every few weeks. There’s no particular theme to this collection (a juniper, two pines and an uncommon flowering tree). Except maybe that they are … Continue reading A Juniper, Two Pines & an Unusual Flowering Tree