The Magician Playing with Bonsai

This rock forest is by the Magician, Masahiko Kimura. A master of the art of bonsai, professionally and at play Bill Valavanis is in Japan again and we’re all the better for it. Especially if you like a steady stream of great bonsai photos. In fact, I wouldn’t be offended if you just skipped out and headed over to Bill’s blog (after you take note of our book special). Meanwhile, if you’re still here, today it’s Kimura at play. Here’s a quote from Bill… “Our first stop was the bonsai garden of Masahiko Kimura, The Magician. I immediately noticed the increased number of tall rock plantings he created … Continue reading The Magician Playing with Bonsai

Natives Is Here! Brilliant & Unique, Bonsai at Its Best

We’ve all waited long enough and now the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Natives is here. We’ve featured some photos in the past, but now we’ve got the real thing. One hundred and five mind stopping pages. Now available at Stone Lantern Here’s the Museum’s description… “As artistic representations of trees, bonsai are collected from the wild to be cultivated as works of art. While the natural forces that shaped the tree are visibly echoed in its trunk and branches, the direct link between a bonsai and its native habitat has been lost. By displaying a tree with a portrait of its … Continue reading Natives Is Here! Brilliant & Unique, Bonsai at Its Best

New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Colorful fall highlights at Morten Albek’s Shohin bonsai garden NEW ONLINE BONSAI COURSE Morten Albek of Shohin Bonsai Europe and Oscar Jonker at Bonsai Empire have teamed up to create a Brand New Online Shohin Bonsai Course. I am familiar with both of these gentlemen (Stone Lantern published and edited Morten’s Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature – sorry, out of print – and I’ve been borrowing great photos from Oscar for a long time), so if my two cents are still worth anything, I’m betting it’s a winner You’ll need some good tools if you’re going to take the course NEW ROSHI TOOL SPECIAL 30% … Continue reading New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Bill Valavanis’ famous Full moon maple in all its glory I’ve been meaning to knock your socks off (do people still say that?) with these photos of Bill’s Brilliant back yard for a few days now, but wanted to get all the fact straight first. Turns out time isn’t on my side so far this week, so I’ll just put the photos up as I found them on Bill’s fb timeline. If you want more info, feel free to follow the link. Continued below… 30% off Tool Specials End Soon OKATSUNE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS KOYO BONSAI TOOLS – Here’s a note Bill … Continue reading Bill’s Blazing Backyard Bonsai Brilliance

Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Potentilla fruticosa before and after from Lakeshore Bonsai. There’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to styling and caring for Potentilla Yesterday we featured a couple little Potentilla, so let’s stay on theme. This one was styled by Aaron at Lakeshore Bonsai in Toronto. The following is quoted directly from Lakeshore’s site… “This Potentilla is as fragile as a stained glass window and parts of it literally crumble away every time I work on it. It has undergone some pretty radical changes since I acquired it in 2011, and certainly does not look like the tree I initially envisioned it would … Continue reading Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Contrast! This shot has to go in our Bonsai Bark hall of fame photos (if we had such a thing). The big one is a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) and the small one is unidentified, though it looks a lot like a Shimpaku juniper. Both belong to Mariusz Folda Suddenly we’re inundated with fall color bonsai photos. Our colors in northern Vermont peaked three weeks ago and now the rest of the world is catching up. Mariusz Folda, a long time favorite here on Bark is from Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland Two New 30% off Tool Specials Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Koyo … Continue reading Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Tea Time – Best in Show

Here’s the caption that was posted with this photo… “Congratulations Peter Tea, professional bonsai artist and instructor, Auburn, California, for judged bonsai competition winning Best Conifer and Best in Show (California Juniper) at the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) Convention 41, October 24-28, 2018, Sacramento, California – “Creativity Taking Flight”. Photo by Peter Camarena.” I cropped the original photo (see below) to enjoy a closer look I was beginning to think Peter Tea had gone into hiding and then this popped up. Turns out he was hiding in plain sight. I just lost track for a while and that’s too bad, … Continue reading Tea Time – Best in Show

Shape Shifting by Robert Steven

Before and after by Robert Steven. The tree is a Casuarina that originally belonged to Ismail Saleh and now belongs to Robert. Here’s part of what Robert wrote about this transformation… “I changed the viewing angle, squeezed the dead part close to the living part then reset the foliage pads. Sooner or later the dead part will rot, then I should redesign the composition again” Here’s a little history from Robert about this famous tree… “The Legend ! This is one of the oldest Casuarina bonsai in Indonesia which has been going through a long path of transformation and survival, yet still keeps changing … Continue reading Shape Shifting by Robert Steven

Monster Mash

Bud Fulton sent us this scary photo. He took it at the North Carolina Bonsai Expo in Asheville. We don’t know who the tree belongs to, but we do know it’s a yew (Taxus) and that it suits our annual Halloween post to a tee. Just got this note from Bill Valavanis… “The Japanese yew belongs to Jim Doyle who also displayed it at the 2018 6th US National Bonsai Exhibition” Just in case you live in a cave (or in a place where October 31st has no particular significance), today is Halloween. Time to break out some scary trees… – FREE SHIPPING for Orders 75.00 … Continue reading Monster Mash

Before & After Bonsai – Three in One

Three before and after bonsai styled by Juan Andrade. The trees are from top to bottom: Shimpaku juniper, Japanese black pine and a Needle juniper trunk with Shimpaku juniper foliage grafted on Continuing with our current before and after series… Juan Andrade served as a long term apprentice at Bonsai Aichien nursery in Japan. We’ve been following Juan’s progress for years (here’s a Bark post from 2012 that features a tree of his). Juan posts regularly on facebook, which is where we found these photos. TWO GREAT SPECIALS END TONIGHT see below This pine has a bunjin feel, but I think the … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Three in One