Based on what we've seen and heard about their past shows, this one promises to be a real winner. I wish we could say see you there, but we've got other plans. Still, I hope you can make it. I'm sure you'll be happy you did. Here's your link to their website

Close up of the intricate deadwood on a Sabina juniper (Juniperus sabina) that belongs to Xavier Massanet. You can see the whole tree below

Finally, some good photos from the recent European Bonsai-San Show! Salvatore Liporace was kind enough to post them on his timeline under the heading European Bonsai Show Saulieu Awards 2018!!!. No mention is made of which tree won which award, but Salvatore did bother to put up the names of the owners and the names of the trees, a real plus in our sometimes sketchy online universe, where these valuable pieces of information are often overlooked

By the way, Salatore Liporace is one of Europe’s most accomplished bonsai artists. Here’s a link to some Bark posts that feature his trees

A deadwood feast. This European yew (Taxus baccata) belongs to Alberto Baleato Pumar. Speaking of deadwood, if there's one thing that ties all the trees shown here together, it's a profusion of deadwood. That and the high degree of skill and artistic vision they express

You can barely see the living vein on this Mugo pine (Pinus mug0). It belongs to Nik Rozman

Several things stand out on this highly refined Itoigawa juniper (Juniperus chinensis Itoigawa). The complex movement of the trunk which is so well framed by the foliage, and the highly contrasted and perfectly finished living wood and deadwood. This along with the refined foliage add up to a highly stylized tree. Too stylized? I don't think so, but I'm sure there are people out there who do

Xavier Massanet's Sabina juniper (see the lead photo above).

This magnificent tree is from the cover page of our
New 2019 Japanese Bonsai Calendar

May 2019

Cover page

STONELANTERN.COM
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This muscular olive is from the recent Asheville Bonsai Expo. The photo and the others shown here are by Owen Reich. I cropped most of Owen's originals, including this one (see below) for closer looks

All the photos shown here were taken by Owen Reich at the recent Asheville Bonsai Expo. Owen doesn’t mention the varieties or the owners, but this is common with photos taken at shows, where distractions (mostly people) are everywhere and it’s hard to keep track. For more photos from the Expo you can visit Owen’s timeline. I’m busy today, so I’ll spare you my usual comments. 

I cropped out the edges for a little closer view

The olive from the top of the post. This time with the stand

I've never seen such a small bonsai with so much deadwood. Looks like it a must be a tanuki (Phoenix graft). There no varieties given in English where I found this, but it's pretty clear that this is a Shimpaku juniper

There’s something about very small bonsai. Especially when they are hand held… a good way to tell just how small they are. There’s also something about discovering a new (to me at least) bonsai artist. Even if I can’t read their name (there is a hint in their email address – see below) 

Here's your fb link to our source of the photos show here. And here's a link to their website. I can't provide the name of the site because I can't read it, nor will this program accommodate the name in the text provided (on fb). However, we have this logo just above and this email address info@kawaguchibonsaimura.com which does contain a name or two 

Another tiny Shimpaku with an abundance of deadwood

And another...

This one looks like a Needle juniper and it's most def not a tanuki

Stampede. 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. The story of its name 'Stampede' is in a caption below (second photo down)

Two for one. I wanted to show you a post about removing wire that Michael Hagedorn put up on his Crataegus Bonsai blog recently. Problem is, we need a good lead photo of a bonsai for all our posts (don’t ask, it’s just the way we’ve always done it) and Michael doesn’t provide one in his removing wire post. So I picked some photos and text from a post Michael did on styling a  Ponderosa pine not too long ago. Here’s you link to each of the two posts: You Don’t Need to Remove ALL the Wire, and ‘Stampede’ Ponderosa Pine Styling…
Continued below...

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Here's Michael's photo from You Don't Need to Remove ALL the Wire. And here's some of his text 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."

Here's closeup of the Ponderosa trunk. And here's what Michael wrote about this 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."

The trunk even closer...

I borrowed this luminous Amur maple (Acer ginalla) from Mariusz Folda's Ibuki Studio Bonsai & Ceramics. Here's Mariusz' caption... "Everybody who knows the growth characteristics of the variety knows how ginalla is unique with their branch structure. It happens that It just grows against all 'the rules of bonsai’ ?  Still I wanted to show the true nature of the tree. It was developed from a yamadori. It was a perfect stamp (does he mean 'stump'?) and the rest is a result of many years of our cooperation (?). 75 cm high. Pot and table by Ibuki." We found all three images shown here and this caption on Mariusz' fb timeline

Continuing with our fall color theme, we’ve got a tree that you seldom see used for bonsai and that we’ve never featured after ten years of posting. I can think of at least two reasons for this absence: First (as mentioned in the caption above) it just grows against all the rules of bonsai. Second, it is considered an invasive species (at least here in the U.S., see below), so it may be difficult or impossible to find in nurseries
Continued below…

Close of the trunk and luminous leaves...

Continued from above…
Here’s a quote from the Morton Arboretum… “Amur maple has invasive traits that enable it to spread aggressively. This tree is under observation and may be listed on official invasive species lists in the near future. Review of risks should be undertaken before selecting this tree for planting sites. One tree can produce more than 5,000 two-winged seeds that are widely spread by wind. In open woods, Amur maple displaces native shrubs and understory trees. In prairies and open fields, it can shade out native species of plants, disrupting the ecosystems that plants and animals depend on.”

Tree and stand which, along with the pot, was made by Ibuki Studio

Our first photo from the just completed 2018 European Bonsai Sans Show. The tree belongs to Carlos Beto. I couldn't find the species or size, but it looks like a Sohin (small) Cotoneaster. In any case, it's got all the right stuff; heavy trunk with good movement, a strong nebari, and attractive little berries with a pot to match (red pots are on rise!). The moss is good too, with enough variation in texture and color to create interest (this is an often overlooked feature... slapping some moss on or just using sand or gravel isn't good enough for a top show). Some might take issue with the pruning scar smack dab in the middle of the trunk, though I think the trunk has enough texture and color variation to soften and almost disguise the scar

I’ve been waiting for photos from the recent 2018 European Bonsai Sans Show. So far I’ve found a few, but they lack identification and attribution, so we’ll keep waiting. Meanwhile, I did find this one on Magdalena Chiavazza’s timeline

I cropped the original for a better look at the trunk (berries, leaves and moss too)

Here’s Magdalena’s caption… European Bonsai San Show 2018, Saulieu (Autor? ni idea) Bellisimo ejemplar!!! Gracias Carlos Beto por la información y felicidades por tan hermoso ejemplar!!!
Here’s a machine translation… European Bonsai San Show 2018, Saulieu (Author? No idea) Beautiful example! Thanks Carlos Beto for the information and congratulations for such a beautiful copy!

Though there are a couple place where you might take issue with the machine and I’m not sure that Magdalena knows the tree belongs to Beto (he says it’s his in the comments to her post), we’ll leave it at that

The pot. For a long time it seems like almost no one liked red pots. Now they're becoming commo

This unusual mixed media bonsai presentation was posted by the National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia. Here's part of the caption... "Chinese Junipers set among moss, ferns and stones have been carefully trained for thirty years by Australian artist Syd Green to create this tranquil Penjing. Inspired by the beauty, digital artist Jane Long has transferred the Junipers into a magical realm..." Here's your link if you'd like to read more

I don’t mind bonsai as part of mixed media settings. Experimentation is part of any art, though some experiments work better than others. In this case, I think the bonsai part of the presentation is excellent, with a lot of skill evident in expressing character, age, naturalness, balance etc. A lot of what you might look for in a bonsai. Nor do I object to the digital setting. It’s quite well done and evocative. Even magical (see their quote above). Though I would have liked to also see a photo of the just the tree, including its slab (assuming it has one)

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Here's another one that gives a little more pause for thought. It was also posted by the National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia using the same mixed media technique as above, though this time the size of the island is very small for such a large tree (artistic license?). Here's part of the caption .... "Nepal Juniper by Jane Long Photography. Bonsai and Penjing shot at the National Arboretum in Canberra in December 2017 and released into the wild! Bonsai artist - Jarryd Bailey" I was a little confused about the "released into the wild!," but I guess they're saying that this presentation gives the effect that the tree is growing in the wild.
 I'd never heard of Nepal juniper, though it turns out that it's a Juniperus communis  or Common juniper. A plant found in much of the Northern Hemisphere