Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition

In addition to the strong trunk and nebari, there’s so much dynamic and expansive movement with this tree. The fruit looks like what you might find on a Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) and the tree could certainly pass, so quince is a safe guess. I don’t know who the artist or owner is This post is the first of a series on the recent Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition. The photos were taken by Mu Jong Park and posted on facebook. The trees aren’t identified, nor are the artists or owners, so I’m already breaking my New Year’s resolution not to post unattributed bonsai. However, I think … Continue reading Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition

An Old Bonsai Favorite

If you know Gedemerta’s bonsai, you’ll recognize this as one of his many Pemphis acidula. The rough bark, preponderance of deadwood and the tiny leaves give it away The photos shown here are from an old favorite of ours, Gedemerta Bonsai Bali. Though I just discovered these (on facebook of course), I also just noticed they date all the way back to 2012, so they may be familiar to some of you. In fact, at least one of them has been shown here on Bark (the Barbados cherry, but with a different pot) and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than one. MID-WINTER … Continue reading An Old Bonsai Favorite

Fancy Bonsai Flowers

This Chojubai Dwarf Flowering Quince belongs to Michael Hagedorn. I took the liberty to crop Michael’s original photos for a closer look at the trees (all 4 uncropped versions are at the bottom of the post). It has been a while since we visited Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai, one of our favorite destinations and a reoccurring presence here on Bark. Anyway, it’s always best to let Michael speak for himself (from December 26th)… “A couple weeks back we photographed all the Dwarf Flowering Quince ‘Chojubai’ that were looking fancy, as they all decided to bloom at the same time this year. Which … Continue reading Fancy Bonsai Flowers

Floating Clouds

Here’s an unusual tree for your enjoyment. Or, for your criticism if you feel the profusion of small foliage pads (floating clouds) is unnatural. Personally I don’t have a problem with it. It’s rich and full of energy, with all those intriguing little pieces that hang together so well. The kind of tree you could look at for a long time and still see some feature that you missed. It belongs to Hsiu Yang, one of Taiwan’s many great bonsai artists. It’s obviously a Juniper, but no species is given. Just one tree today. I borrowed the photo above from a post we did in September, … Continue reading Floating Clouds

Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Root-over-rock Japanese black pine by Suthin Sukosolvisit. No major restyling, but what a striking improvement. Sutin’s caption reads simply… “Japanese black pine 2011-2013” The original before and after photos are from Suthin’s timeline A big part of learning about bonsai involves transforming rough stock into beautiful, or at least passable bonsai. However, it’s equally important to do the periodic work necessary to keep a bonsai beautiful, or soon enough it will return to its rough state (or worse). Allowing a tree to just grow on its own for a while is essential to its health, and bringing it back into shape after this period of unrestrained growth is also … Continue reading Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

It takes a lot of experience and strong sense of design to effect a transformation as good as this one. The tree is a Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the artist is Martin Bonsai Kolacia. I don’t read a word of Czech, so aside from figuring out that Martin Bonsai Kolacia lives in The Czech Republic (it’s the cz at the end of his url that gave him away) and that he has inserted Bonsai into the middle of his name, there’s not too much more I can say about him. If you’d like do your own research here’s your link to his fb page and here’s … Continue reading Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

More Bonsai Berries & a New Year’s Resolution

Pyracanthas are prolific bearers of berries and this one is no exception. It’s from a post we did in 2012. I don’t know who the artist or owner is, but my guess is the tree is in Japan (more about this just below) Continuing our berry theme from yesterday… But first, my New Year’s Resolution. NO MORE UNATTRIBUTED TREES on this blog (uh… except for the one just above).* Bonsai Aesthetics Tool Special 30% to 50% off our list prices this applies to all our Aesthetics tools including kits & sets a small sampling of your large selection of Bonsai Aesthetics … Continue reading More Bonsai Berries & a New Year’s Resolution

Bonsai Berries and Other Winter Delights

Nothing like brilliant little berries to brighten things up in this white winter deep freeze we’ve been ‘enjoying’ lately (it’s 11am and my thermometer says -9F). The translation of Katsumi Komiya’s caption for this tree says simply… “Plum” I did quick online search and didn’t come up with a match for a plum with fruit this small, but if you really want to know, my guess is you might find it with a little perseverance. And it might help not to take plum too literally. Today’s bonsai all belong to Katsumi Komiya and there’s plenty more where these came from (you guessed it… facebook) OUR BRILLIANT SITE WIDE … Continue reading Bonsai Berries and Other Winter Delights

An Impressively Massive Japanese Maple Bonsai & an Equally Impressive Japanese Garden

This impressively massive Momiji (Japanese maple), perched on its Green T Turntable, belongs to Jean-Paul Polmans. Today’s post is mostly about Jean Paul Polmans‘ extraordinary blending of powerful bonsai and beautiful gardens, and just a bit about our powerful and beautiful Green T Professional Turntables. Continued below… Extended One Day OUR BRILLIANT SITE WIDE SALE has been extended until 11:59pm EST January 1st Almost Everything Discounted Some Items as much as 70% off List Prices SALE ENDS AT 11:59pm EST, TOMORROW, JANUARY 1st The entryway into Jean Paul Polmans’ Japanese style garden and bonsai collection. I borrowed this photo and the one below from Andys Shohin … Continue reading An Impressively Massive Japanese Maple Bonsai & an Equally Impressive Japanese Garden

Bonsai Flowers, Snow & Nasty Bugs

Japanese Flowering apricot (Prunus mume). This would be a remarkable tree even without the flowers. With the flowers… well, you can see for yourself. The tree resides at Bonsai Aichien in Japan. Speaking of snow & winter, we seem to be entertaining a nasty flu bug in these parts. I’ve been down for a couple days, so if you’re wondering why we’re a little slow answering emails, and why we’re resorting to recycled photos (February, 2014), now you know. Both the photos here were posted on facebook by Juan Andrade who is (was?) an apprentice at Bonsai Aichien and a great … Continue reading Bonsai Flowers, Snow & Nasty Bugs