This elegant beauty resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan

We're still in isolation and perhaps you are too. Either way, be well and I hope you enjoy these as much as we do

No captions came with these Omiya Bonsai Museum photos, so we'll leave it that way.

The only photo with a caption...  "History of bonsai in the Edo period"

 Here's you link to more exquisite photos from the Omiya Bonsai Museum

This magnificent mixed forest is by Saburo Kato, who was one of the original old masters of Japanese bonsai. You can find it and other remarkable trees in his timeless classic "Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai." You can also find some of the most comprehensive how-to bonsai instructions anywhere

Here we are again, staying home, staying healthy and waiting for the ground to thaw so we can start digging.

Meanwhile, this might be a good time to exploring forest plantings. Something anyone can do. All you need is a suitable low pot (even plastic will do just fine), some medium to small forest type plants, soil and a a few handy bonsai tools.

And of course Saburo Kato's "Forest, Rock Plantings & Ezo Spruce Bonsai." By far the best book on the topic. Especially if you like beautifully rendered, easy to follow how-to illustrations along with photos of some of the most inspiring forest plantings anywhere

Part of this post appeared here just over a year ago while some of the text and photos are new. You can expect a follow up how-to post on forest plantings soon.

This remarkable slab planting shows how much drama and power one strong tree can add to a forest. It's also a good example of what you can do with ground cover to enhance realism and beauty. Though the original, which appeared in Bonsai Today issue 23,  doesn’t say, it might be safe to guess that it's also by Saburo Kato. The trees look a lot like Ezo spruce (Picea glehnii), a specialty of Mr Kato's

Saburo Kato's remarkable book features 30 full pages
of beautifully rendered, easy to follow
how-to illustrations, and numerous other pages
with mixed text and illustrations 

This very large forest was on display at the 2017 World Bonsai Convention in Japan. Like so many other Ezo spruce forests, it was originally created by Saburo Kato. The photo was borrowed from Mark Fields, one of our lucky friends who made the trip to Japan.

 Same forest, different perspective. Both this photo and the one above include people, which helps show just how immense this planting is. The photo was sent to us by Felix Laughlin, who is, in addition to being another lucky friend, is the President of the U.S. National Bonsai Foundation

Close up. Realistically sized ground cover is an important piece in most great forest bonsai. This photo was also taken by Felix Laughlin.

The Remotest Hill, Mr Kato's most famous Ezo spruce forest from the cover of his internationally renowned book, Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai. Here's Mr Kato's caption: "Ezo spruce (Picea glehnii). Sixty years ago I often traveled with my father to Ezo spruce in the large virgin forests on Kunashir Island off the cooast of Hokkaido. I selected the finest material to create this bonsai entitled The Remotest Hill."

 The cover of Saburo Kato's "Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai"
The benchmark book for appreciating, understanding & making forest bonsai
(Ezo spruce bonsai too)
Available at Stone Lantern

A piece of Dan Dolan's backyard

Over the years we've featured a series of Backyard Bonsai posts. About fifteen in all. Now, because most of us are confined to our homes and backyards anyway, the time is right to resurrect one of our favorites as an inspiration for you and your bonsai (watching Netflix or whatever can get tedious after while anyway.)

This yard and the bonsai, as well as the Japanese influenced landscaping and structures, belong to Dan Dolan. Here's what Dan wrote about his garden at the time (September, 2015)...
“Unlike many enthusiasts who heed the remonstrance of American bonsai masters to acquire only the best material upon which to work…… I take only the least promising and strive to make them a little bit above average."
Continued below...

Dan Dlolan continued from above...
"As a previous Board Member of the Midwest Bonsai Society at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I spoke often on the subject of bonsai display.

"My theme was to encourage our members to invest at least as much on the environment in which they grow, develop, refine and present their trees in training (99% of our trees are in training, as Walter Pall acknowledges) as they do on the material, containers, tools and supplies.”

 Boon is at it again... One American larch, five pots (the original pot is below)

A quick note about Stone Lantern and the virus...
As you might imagine things are a little crazy right now. All four of us on staff are in full or partial quarantine. Ric is coming in to ship orders and is alone in the warehouse. Barbara and I are self quarantined but our office is attached to our house, so we can still work. And Corey is staying home with her family.

So, long story short, in order to manage my work load I am resurrecting this post from exactly one year ago today. I hope you enjoy it. And more importantly, I hope you are well

If you need bonsai wire, there is an important message for you below...

 Continued below...

 Pot number 1

Continued from above….
Boon is at it again. This time it’s our favorite tree here in northern Vermont, the American larch (Larix laricina). Most people around here call it Tamarack, the Algonquian name that means wood used for snowshoes. No matter what you call it, it’s our best local species for bonsai. Bar none

All the images in this post were borrowed from Boon Manakitivipart’s fb timeline (the image at the top is a composite that we put together)

Pot number 2

Pot number 3

Pot number 4 

 The original pot

 We are going to run out of Kilo wire

Because of the virus, our next order of wire hasn't left China yet
with no ETD in sight. Normally it would have arrived by now

In order to help insure the survival of our business
we are going to raise the price of Kilo wire on Saturday, March 21st
from our discounted 19.95 to our full price of 21.95

100 and 500 gram rolls will stay the same for now,
though we are almost out of most 100 gram sizes
Our supply of 500 gram rolls is good for the moment

Thank you for your understanding
Our menu with wire and other products is above

Here's some of what Michael Hagedorn wrote about this old Styrax... "A natural, flowing styrax from Japan with gorgeous multiple trunks and branching. This is a pot-grown tree." And... "with this naturally styled tree, notice that there’s little distinction between a trunk and a branch. The flow from a trunk into a branch is invisible."

When I started this post I thought it would be easy. I'd just show you these photos and some of Michael Hagedorn's text and encourage you to visit his blog for the rest.

However, the photos and text we're using are from the forth part in Michael's series on developing deciduous bonsai, so jumping in this late in the game, might be putting the cart before the horse

In light of this, I'll encourage you to visit Michael's blog for part 1 so you can work your way through the series (if you insist on skipping ahead, you can go straight to part 4)

But, before you go, there's one salient point worth mentioning here. It's the difference between pot growing and field growing or collecting from the wild (both of the trees shown here were pot grown). Here's part of what Michael has to say about this...

"Many of the old deciduous bonsai in Japan were grown in containers. They weren’t collected, and many weren’t grown in the ground.

"In general we tend to have less focus in the West on pot-grown bonsai. By pot-grown, I also mean growing in a flat or other nursery container for a while. And by this method there is much greater control over results—but of course, it is also slower. Reason enough to dismiss it."

Here's part of what Michael wrote about this pot grown old Styrax...
"In this photo, look at the branch halfway up that comes right at the viewer.
In that upper trunk area of bonsai throw out the idea of ‘eye poker’ branches,
as without them we get a naked frontal view."

And now, a brief word from our sponsor...
(we usually try to keep Bonsai Bark commercial free, but every now and then...)

Save a bit of money and Pre-Order Michael's new book, Bonsai Heresy 
which promises to be not only an earth shaking, myth busting best seller,
but a great read for anyone interested in anything about bonsai (and beyond)
due in early May

BONSAI HERESY

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due in early May
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The Back Cover

Evidence that Mark Twain would have loved Bonsai Heresy...
...and so will you!

This one might be just a little too lush for a Literati but it's close enough for me. The others tend towards  the more humble and sparse look you might expect with literati

I'm floored by these stunningly graceful and unique Chinese Literati treasures. For me, they provide a break from the numerous photos I see daily of wonderful but more conventional bonsai. Their unpredictable shapes and directions and sometimes just plain weirdness make me want to try my hand (there are a few candidates on my land, but we'll have to wait a couple generations to achieve the aged bark that pushes these over the top). And by the way, great pots and stands never hurt.
Continued below...

Continued from above...
Thanks to John Cavendish (JC Bonsai) president of the Hastings Bonsai Group, Port Macquarie Australia, for cluing us in to these great photos. John's source is Penjing Australia. The original source is in Chinese. Here's what Amazon Free Translation came up with... The weeping branches are incredible (Han Xuenian, Master Album)

Here's your link for more of these great trees

Though the trunk on this two header monster expresses sheer power, the branches and foliage are surprisingly delicate and graceful. The tree is a Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), a species* that happens to be the tallest tree on this planet (there are a few hidden in the wilds of northwest California that tower to as high as 400 feet - 122 meters)

You don’t see that many top notch Redwood bonsai and when you do, there's a good chance that they come from members of the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society, those fortunate few bonsai artists that live along or near the Northern California coast, home of the world's tallest and perhaps most magnificent trees (rivaled only by the Giant Sequoias of California's Sierras - imho)
Continued below…

We found all the photos shown here on Pinterest. All but one are from Redwood Empire Bonsai Society. We originally featured them in November, 2017

Here's the one that's not from REBSociety. The caption on Pinterest says... "Photograph by Cedric Wiens (via Portland Japanese Garden)" 

 *Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest tree in the world (up to about 400 feet – 122 meters) and one of the world's oldest trees as well. It’s cousin, the Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) which grows in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, happens to be the largest tree (in mass) in the world

This photo is from Michael Hagedorn's Crataegus Bonsai blog. It was taken just after restyling by Micheal and friends. The tree is a Ponderosa pine that is called 'Stampede.' The story is below.

If you think we're featuring Michael Hagedorn a lot these days, you are correct. There are two good reasons why; Michael is one of our favorites when it comes to Bonsai knowledge and wisdom, and we are now Pre-Selling Michael's new book, Bonsai Heresy which is due to arrive in early May

Two for one. This post features a story about a Ponderosa pine named Stampede (see below) and some very useful insights on removing and not removing wire. Both are borrowed from Michael Hagedorn's Crataegus Bonsai blog
Continued below...

Here's Michael's photo from You Don't Need to Remove ALL the Wire

And here's some of what Michael has to say on the topic... "Fall is a good time to check on what wires may be biting in on the branches. If you see some, don’t go for the default of taking it all off. That is very often a simple waste of your past work, the work you did putting it on."

"To make it simple, the question of when to remove wire is actually broken down into two questions:

1. Is the tree a conifer or a deciduous tree

2. Is the wire biting in?

And the answers are, if the tree is a conifer, we need to let the wire bite in a little bit before taking it off. If we don’t, the work will be worthless. We’ll have wasted our efforts.

If the tree is deciduous, try (this is nearly impossible, but try anyway) to take it off just before it bites in. If a wire bites into a branch on an old deciduous tree, you might as well cut it off and start again. If it’s a young deciduous tree or young branch, it might grow out of a modest wire scar just fine.

The reasons for the difference? Conifer branches are springy, and need more cambial growth and wood production to ‘set’ the branch. Deciduous branches will set easier, and need less time. Also, conifers tend to mask their branches somewhat with year-round foliage and often rougher bark. Deciduous trees are shy when naked, and prefer to be viewed sans-scars."

A close up of the Ponderosa trunk

And now for the tree's strange name... "There’s a story about the name ‘Stampede’. The Backcountry Bonsai guys enjoy naming the trees they collect, and having received several with memorable names I asked if this Ponderosa Pine had one. I only got an abbreviated version by text and maybe not the full story, but I gather it involved some galloping extraterrestrials or horned animals that were shooed away by Steve Varland, saving the pine’s life. Dust cloud from retreating herd of mysterious animals…mountain peaks…a man bent over, worrying over an old tree…you can sort of see the ageless moment there. And the name Stampede was born."

 BONSAI HERESY

Michael Hagedorn's much anticipated second book
is due here in early May
Pre-order yours now and save 5.00

Here’s what our friend Michael Hagedorn has to say about this lovely Japanese maple: “This maple in Shinji Suzuki’s tokonoma is in a pot typical of this kind of tree. It works better aesthetically, in two ways. A shallow pot will make the nebari continue spreading, and the delicacy of the trunks is enhanced by a shallower pot. But a maple is also a tree that appreciates water. And a shallow pot will retain more moisture than a deeper one, in a soil-to-soil relative way. It’s a wetter pot.” All the photos in this post are from Crataegus Bonsai

It's warming early here in Vermont. Not warm enough for digging, transplanting and potting yet (we've still got about six weeks), but just a little reminder. A good time to take inventory of pots, soil, bonsai wire and the various bonsai tools you might need for the occasion. 

Another part of preparation is reviewing what the pros say about transplanting. A good place to start is with an article by Michael Hagedorn about pot depth for various type trees. You don’t see much about pot depth, but it turns out to be critical when it comes to plant health. The reference to Happy Zone in the title is about finding the right depth pot for the type tree your are transplanting.

By the way, Michael is a real bonsai pro and a very good writer and his article bears this out as do Michael's two books, Post-Dated and Bonsai Heresy (Bonsai Heresy is due in early May but you can order yours now and save 5.00)  I won’t say much more except to quote just a bit from Michael and encourage you to visit Crataegus Bonsai.

“Many trees like their roots far away from anything saturated, which is the bottom of the pot. Two in particular, pines and azaleas. And in muddling about the Western bonsai world I’ve been haunted by the number of pines planted in very shallow containers.“ 

 This White pine is ready for Shinji Suzuki’s inspection and then Kokufu (Suzuki was Michael’s teacher, lord and ruler during his apprenticeship in Japan). This photo is from the previous Crataegus post titled Kokufu, Matt Reel, Snow. Notice that the pot is suitably deep for a pine.

Michael remembering his apprentice days.
“You can certainly plant your pine in a shallow pot
(loud thwack of a chopstick on my fingers), but consider mounding it.”

 BONSAI HERESY 
Michael's much anticipated second book
order yours now



Bonsai Heresy - Pre-order Yours Now and Save 5.00
We expect it to arrive here in early May

Here's some of what our favorite heretic, author Michael Hagedorn wrote about his new book... "Bonsai Heresy is about the myths of common bonsai technique and thought. The book recounts some of my past misdeeds, looks into our group fallacies, and works to correct the most ill-advised of these techniques and ideas using the tools of tradition, science, common sense, and embarrassing stories."
Continued below...

 
Michael (right) and one of his Seasonal students doing something strange to that poor tree 

Micheal Continued from above...
"The book has over 50 chapters of technical and aesthetic myths, including some half-correct ones like ‘Choose the front first’ and ‘Pigeon breasts are naughty’, lays out the debunking science behind B1 and other chemical additives, offers new thoughts in such debates as ‘Any soil the nursery industry uses will work fine for bonsai’, ‘Copper wire is for boneheads / Aluminum wire is for sissies’, and dives into the myth-laden morasses around using / not using wound sealant, the inner core at repotting time, moss, plant hardiness, sacrifice branches, age in bonsai…and on and on."

The choice of chapters was based on topics I’d overheard multiple times and felt were in need of correction or clarification."
Continued below...

An Ezo spruce from Michael's bonsai garden. Here's what he had to say about it..."Ezo Spruce clump with a small Satsuki Azalea, Kokinsai, in the rear. For anyone interested in spruce development there's several blog posts about this one on my website, going back to the first styling of a gangly, thin tree...must have been 2009."

And here's something Michael wrote about yours truly (aka me)... "Finally, in a shocking display of loyalty, my distributor for Post-Dated, Wayne Schoech of Stone Lantern, offered to front the printing costs for the first run of Bonsai Heresy. In the publishing world supporting self-publishing truants such as myself and having them keep their rights is unheard of (my designer Jennifer Omner said she’d actually never heard of it... uh oh) I’m delighted by our long association and by his offer. And Stone Lantern is the place to buy a copy of Bonsai Heresy when it sees the light of day"

No that's not Michael working on a super sized bonsai. But it is in his front yard. Here's what he wrote about it... "Wildlife arborist Brian French creating a dead tree snag for bird habitat. Before two days had gone by we had chickadees and nuthatches investigating the cavity he made in it. If you've ever wondered how the Jin and Shari of bonsai function ecologically on larger trees..." 

 Bjorn Bjorholm, who like Michael apprenticed in Japan wrote about Bonsai Heresy
"Not only does Michael dispel long-held bonsai myths,
but he wonderfully weaves personal, often self-deprecating anecdotes into the mix.
Well written, deeply researched, and perfectly timed,
Bonsai Heresy is a must-read for every bonsai enthusiast." 

If you're one of our twelve readers
who doesn't yet own Michael's Post-Dated,
you can order yours along with Bonsai Heresy

Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk
Michael's first book and our favorite bonsai read (until Bonsai Heresy that is) 
Available at Stone Lantern

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