Harry Harrington's dramatic closeup of a Trident maple root-over-rock by Ian Cuppleditch.

Sticking with Harry Harrington. But this time it’s photos he took of other people’s bonsai at the Expo Bonsai UK 2018 Show. Here’s what Harry had to say about them… “After many hours of editing my favourite images from yesterday’s Expo Bonsai UK 2018 Show in Harlington, London, England. The show had an incredibly high standard of trees and I was lucky to get some great photos!”

We’re featuring some of Harry’s closeups here.  If you’d like to see photos of the entire trees, you can visit Harry’s bonsai4me website

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I took the liberty of cropping Harry's photo of this Trident maple that belongs to Mark and Ritta Cooper. You can see the original photo of this tree and the other trees shown here on Harry's bonsai4me website

Closeup of a Forsythia bonsai with its early spring flowers. The tree belongs to by Ian Warhurst. The pot is by Walsall Ceramics

Mugo Pine by Mo Fagan. The pot is from China

Scots Pine by John Turner. Japanese bonsai pot.

I cropped this accent planting to see if we could get a more abstract feel that emphasizes the colors. It's by Corin Tomlinson. Like all the photos here, you can see the entire bonsai (or accent plant) on Harry's website

Hawthorn bonsai by Warren Radford. Japanese bonsai pot.

I believe this pine (variety unidentified) belongs to Pavel Slovák (see below for links). I assume it's yamadori (bonsai collected from the wild) and the lower trunk's curve is the result of countless years of snow load.

Monday morning, so we’ll make it quick with a one tree post. I found it on Magdalena Chiavazza’ timeline. The caption reads Que hermoso ejemplar! (What a beautiful specimen!*) – Pavel Slovák, so my assumption is that it belongs to Pavel.

Trunk and guy wire

A closer look at all the deadwood

The crown. I think John Naka would like way it is opened enough for a 'bird to fly through.' And so we can appreciate all the movement in the upper trunk and branching

* Que hermoso is easy enough, but perhaps some of you might take issue with the machine translation’s ejemplar as ‘specimen.’

This rugged beauty with its luminous fall foliage is a Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). Like most of the photos shown here, it's from Harry Harrington's bonsai4me website

It has been a while since we visited our friend Harry Harrington, a bonsai artist on a mission to style ten thousand bonsai in one lifetime (or so it seems). In addition to being one of the most prolific and visible bonsai artists we know (Harry’s timeline and his website provide ample evidence on both counts), Harry often specializes in bonsai that come from humble origins…
Continued below…

A dramatically lit photo that shows off this old Chinese elm's (Ulmus parvifolia's) lush foliage

Continued from above…
…If you are interested in quality bonsai, and don’t have the resources or inclination to spend a lot of money, Harry Harrington’s approach might be just what you are looking for. Most quality bonsai starts with quality (usually expensive) stock. Harry starts with whatever he can find (or what people sometimes bring him). If you’re like most of us, you can learn a lot from this approach. And you can save some money.

The Foundations of Bonsai
a good place to start if you want to see how Harry does it

English yew (Taxus baccata)

Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) hedgerows are common in England and provide a great source of exceptional bonsai material (though you can bet this one didn't look quite like this when it was dug)

Harry’s Bonsai Inspirations 1
if you’d like to keep exploring how Harry does it

Japanese mountain maple (Acer palmatum)

Sawara cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)

Or you can save a bit if you’d like both

A raft style Privet

A weeping Downey birch (Betula pubescens). I don't know if it came this way or if Harry wired the branches down (though I suspect a bit of both)

The artist with one of his famous English elms (Ulmus minor)

We when said Harry is prolific, we weren’t kidding… the trees shown here represent just a the tiny tip of Harry’s bonsai

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Bill Valavanis air layered these three Koto Hima Japanese maples from the same tree back in 1986.

If you would like to submit any bonsai, the deadline for entries is June 1, 2018 (or until the exhibition is filled). If you're like most people and just want to be there, it's not too soon to make your plans

The following is from Bill Valavanis’ Exhibition website…

“The world bonsai community will once again be enriched by the display of bonsai gathered from across the United States at the 6th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, September 8-9, 2018, in Rochester, NY. 

“Like Japan’s Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, people from around the world attend the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions to appreciate and study the diversity of the unique and distinctive species displayed by accomplished bonsai artists from across the United States.

“Towering bonsai from the Pacific Northwest, rugged bonsai from the Rocky Mountains, and tropical bonsai from the Southern swampy regions will be displayed alongside weathered bonsai from the Southwestern deserts and refined deciduous bonsai from the Northeast.”

September 8-9 of this year. Mark your calendar!

Before and after Japanese maple. Another magical transformation by Suthin.

We’ve been enjoying some excellent before and after transformations lately. Particularly ones by our friend Suthin Sukosolvisit, one of our most prolific and brilliant North American bonsai artists (Suthin is originally from Thailand, but he has been here long enough to to have American children and grandchildren, so I think he qualifies as North American). This time it’s an almost obscenely lush Japanese maple from humble beginnings.

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Humble beginnings. Not a very good photo and not a terribly promising tree. At least to an untrained eye.

After! Suthin doesn't say how long it took from there to here but my guess is less time than you might imagine

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John Naka's famous Pomegranate (Punica granatum) has been in training since 1963. It was donated to the North American Collection at the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum by Alice Naka in 1990. There's something about a quality bonsai displayed with a beautiful scroll. Our thanks to Alexander Voorhies for this and the other photos shown here.

This rugged old Toringo Crab Apple (Malus toringo) is mirrored by its shadow. It was donated to the Japanese Collection by Shu'ichi Ueda in 1976 and has been in training since 1905.

I like the way the shadow highlights the fine branching on this root-over-rock Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia). It was donated to the Chinese Collection by Yee-sun Wu in 1986 and has been training since 1956.

This Imperial Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum) was donated to the Japanese Collection by Prince Takamatsu of the Royal Household in 1976 and has been in training since 1895. The stone paired with it is a Mountain Stream Stone collected in Kamogawa Japan, and donated by Kunizo Motoki. We originally showed this tree with shadow several years ago, but this is the first time with its companion stone.

This close up emphasizes the shadows and provides a better view of the movement in each branch and the full reach of the nebari

Close up of John Naka's Pomegranate

Click on this live link to learn more about this national treasure and to sign up for the mailing list

Gilding the lily. Or more accurately, gilding the Satsuki azalea. You might like this brilliant tree in such a colorful pot when it isn't blooming, but as is... well, you be the judge. I found the photo and the other two shown here on Kuanghua Hsiao's timeline. Mr Hsiao wrote... By Bonsai Addicted, but we know better (Addicted is one of those places that posts a lot of other peoples trees and often doesn't attribute or identify).

Only one of the three trees shown here is attributed to its owner. We try to be honest about our sources and let you know when they’re not the owner or artist. Ideally we would try to find the true source, but sometimes a combination of time pressure and frustration makes hunting them down almost impossible

Looks like another powerful Azalea. This time without flowers (its condition about 90% of the year). Maybe we could put it in the pot above. This time the caption says... Shared a photo of Aus Bonsai... but like the photo above, that's no help. Aus Bonsai is not owner or artist and is guilty of the same omissions as Bonsai Addicted.

At last we have a real owner. This Satsuki azalea belongs to the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum.

I am struck by just how rugged and natural this tree is. A fitting contrast with the way the it is presented; the professional studio photo, the quality stand and pot cleaned and oiled to perfection. As you can see, it's a pine. I won't bother to guess the variety.

Only one tree today. Got up early this morn but circumstances are conspiring and now my schedule is shot. Here’s where I found the tree and here’s the caption… Nippon Bonsai Sakka Kyookai Europe España a SAKKA TEN 2012 – PEÑISCOLA. Fotos de estudio realizadas por Alex Espuny (Studio Photos by Alex Espuny). I would like to offer more, but I think you’re going to have to do your own research this time.

Even though the crown is leaning back a bit, I'm going to call this side the front, given that it provides the best view of the trunk and the deadwood. The four photos of this tree are by Haruyosi, as are the tree and the pot.

Continuing with our itty bitty bonsai theme…. We don’t usually show four shots of the same bonsai, but I like this little tree a lot and the shots were just sitting there begging to picked up and shared. It’s a Shohin (you could even say Mame) Shimpaku juniper by Haruyosi. From his numerous great facebook photos. It originally appeared here in March, 2014. Our first of many Haruyosi posts.

This side is also very good and presents a better view of the crown. But we're going to call it the back. It doesn't really matter, especially since the tree is in a round pot.

Close up.

Another close up.

A little color for you to enjoy. Cherry blossoms, also by Haruyosi.