Staying on Theme – Fall Bonsai Color

In addition to brilliant fall color, this Trident maple has almost everything you’d want in a bonsai; a massive trunk, fluid natural looking nebari, good lines, a well-matched pot and healthy green moss. The artist is German Gomez. Still on what I call a vacation. Family friends, hiking, eating, drinking (in moderation of course) and only four hours of work a day instead of eight. Close enough. The photos shown here first appeared on Bark way back in 2010. I’ve changed most of the text We knew our New Tie Pots would be well received but we had no idea … Continue reading Staying on Theme – Fall Bonsai Color

Pomegranate Bonsai in Full Fall Color

You can find this brilliant, full fall color Pomegranate (Punica granatum)and a whole host of other powerful bonsai at Bonsai Mirai. I’m on vacation so we’ll resort to our old tricks. This one originally appeared October of last year. It’s the beginning of fall color time at home, so the time is right I’ve been meaning to feature Ryan Neil’s Bonsai Mirai since we saw them at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibiton with their vendor’s display of some of the best trees in the building (including the display area). If you don’t know Bonsai Mirai, you’re in for a treat. And if you’re … Continue reading Pomegranate Bonsai in Full Fall Color

Hand Held Bonsai & a Glass of Good Red Wine

The leaves are very large in relation to the size of the tree, but this often happens with small bonsai and seems to work. At least in this case and many others I’ve seen. No variety is given, but clearly this is a Japanese maple. I cropped this photo and most of the others shown here for a closer look I like good photos of hand held small bonsai. Mostly because it’s an aesthetically pleasing way to provide scale. A much better effect than a soft drink can (though Suthin’s glass of wine does the job without offending my sensibilities). I borrowed … Continue reading Hand Held Bonsai & a Glass of Good Red Wine

Another Impressive Before & After Bonsai Transformation

Though we often expect miracles when it comes to transforming mediocre or otherwise undeveloped bonsai into something as impressive as this one, in reality seven years strikes me as about right amount of time for such a radical transformation. The artist is Alfredo Salaccione and the tree is a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Today’s before and after Scots pine is rather famous. So famous that is has a name of its own – Black Desire (Desiderio Nero).* Actually, I’ve seen not-so-famous trees that have been given names, but in this case I think famous works – at least in Europe – as witnessed … Continue reading Another Impressive Before & After Bonsai Transformation

2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendars Are Here

This magnificent tree is from the cover page of our New 2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendar Our 2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendars are here with a special price to reward those of you who plan ahead list price 19.95 Special Only 16.95 15.50 each if you order two Enjoy 26 powerful Japanese bonsai while you check the date on your beautiful new 2019 calendar May 2019 Cover page and speaking of high quality Japanese bonsai products… Our 30% off Koyo Japanese Tool Sale will end soon Special includes koyo masters grade stainless tools STONELANTERN.COM –

One More Time – A Spectacular Bonsai Event

Kuhen Smith’s Rough bark Japanese maple won the Finest Japanese Style Display at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Unfortunately you can’t make out the bark in this photo. No blame to Oscar Jonker, the photographer. The lighting in the display area was good for viewing but not necessarily for photos. I cropped Oscar original. The original is below Today, it’s the final two prize winning bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. And some more photos by (or of) Candy Shirey. I hope you have enjoyed the series and maybe this will encourage you to make the trip to Rochester in 2020 Thanks to … Continue reading One More Time – A Spectacular Bonsai Event

Two More Award Winning Bonsai Favorites

I like the undulating parallel living veins on Jeremiah Lee’s ABS award winning Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). I cropped the original (see below) for a closer look Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning ABS Award Bonsai and the Finest Tropical Bonsai POTTING SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY 30% OFF LIST ON OUR HIGH IMPACT PLASTIC BONSAI POTS 30% OFF LIST ON BONSAI SOIL & SOIL INGREDIENTS special ends tomorrow, Sunday Sept 16th at 11:59pm EDT – This one of my favorites. For starters its sheer size is a mind stopper. I don’t know the … Continue reading Two More Award Winning Bonsai Favorites

Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

The winner of the Finest Mame Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Willow leaf ficus (Ficus neriifolia) that belongs to Johnson Teh. No dimensions are given, but some sources list mame as up to 4″ (10cm) tall. Others go a little taller. Oscar Jonker took the photo. I cropped it for a closer look. Oscar’s original is below Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning Mame bonsai and the winning Shohin display NEW KOYO JAPANESE TOOL SPECIAL 30% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL KOYO TOOLS – The winner … Continue reading Winning Shohin & Mame Bonsai

More Winning Bonsai & Some Value Added

The winner of the Finest Evergreen Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It’s a Rocky mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) that belongs to Tim Priest. Oscar Jonker took the photo. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got Oscar Jonker’s photos of the winning evergreen bonsai and the winning medium size bonsai. We’ve also got a couple more people shots by Candy Shirey (apologies to Candy for misspelling her name yesterday), only this time with their exhibition trees NEW KOYO JAPANESE TOOL SPECIAL 30% OFF LIST … Continue reading More Winning Bonsai & Some Value Added

Winning Deciduous Bonsai & a Little Break with Tradition

Winner Finest Deciduous Bonsai at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. The tree is a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) that belongs to Dennis Vojtilla. I cropped Oscar Jonker’s original photo (see just below) for a closer look Continuing with the prize winning bonsai from the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, today we’ve got the winning deciduous tree and another couple bonsai photos by Oscar Jonker (Bonsai Empire), as well as a couple photos of people at the event by Candy Shirey (Candy’s eye and feeling for people are spot on) The break with tradition mentioned in the title of this post, is the shots … Continue reading Winning Deciduous Bonsai & a Little Break with Tradition