In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

Grotesque is in the eye of the beholder. Every now and then, and only in Japan, you see a nebari like this (pancake nebari is an apt name). Aside from its somewhat strange quality, a couple things jump out about this one. First it’s is a clear example of a fused nebari (except for around the edges, all the exposed roots have fused together), and second is how thin the trunk is in relation to the size of the nebari. This photo and the others in this post were all taken at Fuyo-en by Bonsai in Japan. Back in the … Continue reading In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

Eccentric Bonsai Revisited

Strange as this magnificent old tree is, it all works together to with a perfect blend of eccentricity and balance. But the nebari? That takes some getting use to. (This photo and the others in this post are from Peter Tea Bonsai.) Don’t worry, soon we’ll be back to working up never-seen-before posts. Meanwhile, it’s still mid-summer and we’re still borrowing from the past. This one originally appeared December 2011. A good place to start resurrecting Way back in 2009 and early 2010 we ran a series of posts that we called Eccentric Bonsai (here’s the last one). Maybe it’s … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai Revisited

Change Your Plans

Sometimes it’s helpful to break a bonsai down into its constituent parts. What you might see in this case, is a somewhat classical root-over-rock Trident maple bonsai accentuated by two rather long, undulating branches on either side. For some of us, there might be a temptation to cut them off; to revert to something safer and more recognizable as bonsai. Don’t do it! The photo is from the National Bonsai Foundation’s 2013 calendar. Mr. California Juniper at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. The event is the annual Potomac Bonsai Festival which happens to be coming up this weekend (May … Continue reading Change Your Plans

Bonsai Island Paradise

Though it’s not really a bonsai if it’s in the ground, this one is a very close cousin. This photo and all the photos in this post are from Stone Garden. Our last post was our first ever on Korean bonsai, and, as one thing leads to another, here’s our second post on Korean bonsai. This time the bonsai reside at a place called Stone Garden, which happens to be on an island just south of South Korea and due west of Japan’s Kyushu Island. The island’s name is Jeju and judging by the photo and text at the bottom … Continue reading Bonsai Island Paradise

Still the Best

When I first saw this tree I thought it might be a Yew. But, the bark isn’t right, and even the foliage, though close, isn’t quite right either. Fortunately, Peter Tea solved the problem in his 2011 Taikan-ten Exhibition post. Peter’s caption reads: “This Yew Hemlock caught many peoples attention. It made sense that it took the prize for medium conifer. We don’t have any Yews here at Aichien because they don’t do well in the hot weather that we have in Nagoya.” As for the species, it turns out that there are two Hemlocks that are native to Japan … Continue reading Still the Best

Small Trees with Big Trunks

Root-over-rock Trident maple from Kaede Bonsai-en. In this case, it might be more accurate to say rock-almost-completely-swallowed-by-roots (which have morphed into a trunk). There are several things that stand out about this tree, not the least of which is the near perfect mix of reds, oranges and golds that make for a striking fall color display. Then there’s the trunk (ex-roots) with its impressive character and substantial girth relative to the pot and canopy size. Such thick trunks for such small trees are almost always the result of reducing trees that were grown in much larger containers (or in the … Continue reading Small Trees with Big Trunks

Thematic Incoherence & Embarrassed Apologies

Continuing with Bonsai Today, this gorgeous, sinewy New Zealand tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium) appeared on the cover of issue 96 (still available and 75% off). Not much more needs to be said about this one (it speaks for itself), except maybe to comment on the variety. Though you may occasionally see a New Zealand tea bonsai, in general they are not that common, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere. But, even if you have seen them before, I’ll take a wild guess and venture that you have never seen one quite like this. Thematic incoherence. This post is a … Continue reading Thematic Incoherence & Embarrassed Apologies

Kannst du bonsai auf Deutsch sagen?

Bonsai and half-man. Udo Fischer‘s Trident maple was the winner of the 2009 Noelander’s Trophy. I prefer bonsai photos without posed people; there are other shots of this tree without Udo, but this was only one I could find that captured the beauty of the tree. So, apologies to Udo’s left-out left side. One thing just led to another I didn’t set out to create a post about German (and Austrian) bonsai. In fact, the first photo I put up was a photo from a Bill Valavanis’ Japan tour (stay posted). From there, somehow we got to German speaking bonsai … Continue reading Kannst du bonsai auf Deutsch sagen?

Defoliating, Repotting & Other Tricks

Trident Maple (Kaede) at the Kokufu-ten in 1972. It now lives in Washington D.C. at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. The photo is from Capital Bonsai. Back to square one I’m still trying to get back to square one after the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, so I won’t say too much except that I’ve recently come across two excellent posts about Trident maples. The first is at Capital Bonsai and shows the repotting of a famous old Trident that now resides at the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, and the second, which is about defoliation (and more), … Continue reading Defoliating, Repotting & Other Tricks

Cut Paste Versus Natural Healing

One of Peter Tea’s freshly worked-on Trident maples. You’ll have to use your imagination to get a feel for what this tree will look like when it fills out. But if your imagination fails you, it still looks pretty good, just as it is. Borrowing from Peter… Once again, we are borrowing from Peter Tea’s excellent bonsai blog. This time it’s a story of two Trident maples. We’ll just whet your appetite here; for a whole series of instructive photos and insightful text, you can visit Peter’s blog. Cut paste versus the natural way Here is the West some people … Continue reading Cut Paste Versus Natural Healing