Backyard Bonsai

Up against the wall! I borrowed this from Rosade Bonsai Studio website. You don’t need new glasses; it’s a little fuzzy because I increased the size to fit it into our format.
I don’t know who lives here, or even what country it’s in. Maybe it’s Spain. I ran into Chase and Solita Rosade there in 2007 at a large show at Mistral Bonsai.
As we mentioned then, it’s a good place with friendly people, and, as far as I know, nothing has changed.






The unfuzzy, uncropped original. Read more!

Fantastic Junipers

This is a Shore Juniper (J. procumbens) by master bonsai innovator, Masahiko Kimura. It combinse the sculptural look that has been favored by some Japanese bonsai artists with a more wild, ruged natural look that is in favour in much for the world bonsai community. If bonsai is an art, then the categories are continually being broken down as artist play, explore and inovate. And no bonsai artist that has played, explored and inovated more successfuly thanMaster Kimura.
Junipers are tough, durable and flexible and pruneable. They don’t mind having their roots hacked and they take to container culture. Their needles tend to be small and dense and both their needles and bark come in a range of attractive colours and textures. Perhaps best of all, junipers take to carving like few other plants and their deadwood is both attractive and long lasting especially if you keep it clean and apply lime sulfur.



Dwarf Japanese garden juniper. One thing I do know is that it is unmistakably a Procumbens nana; a dwarf cultivar of the Procumbnes. Procumbens nana is by far the most popular juniper for beginners, at least here in the States. However, you seldom see a masterpiece, as the trunks tend to stay too thin. The trunk on this one is about a thick as they ever get. Read more!

Sierra/Shimpaku juniper

This magnificent Sierra/Shimpaku juniper is the work of Michael Hagedorn which is a famous bonsai artist.

Re-working a remarkable Weyerhouser Juniper
Here is what Michael told me about the tree above: “A rangy juniper reworked in a half-day refinement session at the Weyerhouser collection in Federal Way, Washington. This 40″ (102cm) tree is a colected Sierra juniper grafted with shimpaku.” Read more!

A Holiday Greeting from Min Hsuan Lo

This perfectly ramified, wonderfuly balanced, natural beauty belongs to Min Hsuan Lo (Min is his family name) of Taiwan. I received it as an email greeting this morning.

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Ichiban #2: Research & Development

Before you make a decision on what might be one of your most important bonsai investments yet, you can do a little research by checking out Marco Invernizzi’s Ichiban site. In addition to being one of the most accomplished and influential Western bonsai artists, Marco is the designer of the Ichiban.



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Nick’s Poison Ivy

 

Poison Ivy bonsai by Nick Lenz, who, in addition to be one of our most talented bonsai artists, is also a master of the unusual. This photo appears in Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (Stone Lantern Publishing).

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