Getting the old girl spruced up for a competition is all Martin Walters has to say about this one. And though it speaks quite well for itself, it would be nice to know more (this is not a complaint, just an expression of interest).

I can't remember ever featuring bonsai from New Zealand, though memory has its way of playing tricks so feel free to correct me. Anyway we've got some delightful trees by Martin that we're sure you'll enjoy.

This was posted earlier than the photo just below. Though both are good, I think this sparser version with more of the branches exposed is more appealing.

This one has a one word caption: Jabba.

Not sure how the vertically alternating sun and shade happened, but it does create an unusual effect. No mention of the variety, but you can tell by the leaves that it's a Japanese maple.

Martin wrote the following about these four photos: Some detail carving work today on this Privet that is just starting coming into spring growth. A good sign that spring is around the corner and things will get better!

Here's Martin's caption for this one: Sweet little cedar in new shoes. A fantastic dragon pot from Thor Holvila.

Wire on. Wire off.

Rainy day workshop in Auckland is all we get with this one.

Stonking hot day in New Zealand! Playing around with summer design (anyone from NZ care to translate stonking?). BTW, it's the scroll that caught me. Legumes anyone?

Freshly repotted Mugo pine by Marco Merschel. If you compare with the photo below you'll notice that the planting angel has changed slightly for better balance.

Because we are so happy with the photos by Marco that we put up this week, we've got some more for you today. Enjoy!

Here it is in its old pot.

Twisted Mugo pine. Text in captions is quoted from Marco's captions.

Marco says he's looking forward for styling this mugo pine, maybe in the autumn, you have to patient with such old trees.

Thuja (Arborvitae) from a seedling.

Larch with cones.

Spruce-cascade in development.

Rather than the highly finished look, Marco seems to lean towards the more naturalistic feel with most of his trees. Marco's caption reads nice yellow foliage of a carpinus-raft.

A rock formation in Saxony, Switzerland.

Restyling and old mugo pine by Marco Merschel. In addition to being an accomplished bonsai artist, Marco takes A+ photos. Always a treat for those of us who spend a lot of time looking for good bonsai online. All today's photo are his.

Marco Merschel's caption: Picea abies (Norway spruce) in a new pot by Derek Aspinall.

Marco titled this one unconventional literati scots pine.

Scots pine in development. Pot by Erik Krizovensky.

Looks like the same tree in an earlier iteration.

Mature mugo pine.

Marco Merschel the photographer.

The following trees are all by Hannes Fritz of Suikerbos Bonsai Community in South Africa. Hannes doesn't list the species on most, so you're on your own.

We'll start with this rather unique more-or-less ball shaped bonsai. But don't leave it at that. A closer look reveals a whole world of activity. Considering that it looks like an Olive and South Africa has the right climate for Olives, well, you might take a wild guess...

Though Hannes doesn't list the names of most of his tree on FB, he lists this one and several others as part of as his Celtis (Hackberry) collection.

 
Almost looks like a different planting with all the leaves hiding the flowing lines of the individual trees. Still and impressive forest.

Fall color and some idea of the sheer magnitude of the planting.

This one looks like it might be a raft or sinuous root planting. Unfortunately it's in trouble. Here's Hannes caption: Thought the group would like this. Most likely the last picture of this tree. I'm slowly loosing the apex, not much I can do about it. The main feeding line supporting the apex is dying and I don't know why.

Here's another one from Hannes' Celtis collection.

Waterfall style? No variety listed.

Looks like white might be in trouble. Is this Celtis a reinforcement?

After shot from Boon Manakitivipart's photos.

Here's Boon's caption: Itoigawa shimpaku 3 approached graft on San Jose trunk. Originally Hatanaka’s tree from Southern California cut back and wire. It will take a few more years before we show it.

Before.

This wild, wonderful juniper and rest of the trees shown here are also from Boon. No captions provided.

This distinctive tree looks suspiciously like a Larch.

Boon is on a roll with the crazy wild ones today. His nursery is at the foot of Sierras, so this pine just might be a local native.

Aha. Another juniper and a little more conventional this time. Though that little hook at the bottom does send a message.

Another juniper. I think we'll call this style Double S Curve.

We'll leave you with this Juniper jumble.

Not only is this an extraordinary cascading bonsai, but there's a story being told about energy balancing by the way the candles are strongest on the bottom third of the tree. I won't say more here as there are plenty of variables when it comes to energy balancing, depending on the type of pine, your climate and other factors, including who's doing the explaining.

All the pines shown here were posted by Luis Vallejo. You might imagine that all reside at Luis’ Museo de Bonsai in Alcobendas, Spain, but we can't say for sure. No varieties are mentioned.

You might notice that the strong candles are at the top of tree in this photo. Timing is key when it comes to energy balancing. So without knowing where we are in the sequence, I wouldn't want to say much about this tree, except that with apically dominent trees like pines, much of the energy balancing has to do with inhibiting growth at the top and encouraging growth in the lower regions.

Later, after the candles have opened.

It looks like most of the candles on this one have been pinched and/or plucked in order to maintain an already well-balanced tree.

By allowing the candles to grow on the far right and encouraging more vigor, on that side you might imagine Luis would like the tree to extend farther in that direction. I think this makes sense as the left/right balance might be a little static right now.

Another one after the candles have opened.

I borrowed this Root-Over-Rock Trident Maple and rest of the bonsai shown here from Bill Valavanis. They represent a very small sampling of the photos Bill took at the 92nd Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition of 2018.

Quince flowers!

Here's an outstanding pine with some very unusual deadwood. Looks kinda skeletal.

Phenomenal ramification on this root-over-rock maple.

A nebari to die for. Tree looks like it might be a Trident.

This snake-like cascading juniper has a lot to say. I like the small 3 pronged deadwood between the two foliage masses. Looks a bit like Neptune's trident.

All today's trees are courtesy of our friend Michael Hagedorn. Here's what he had to say about this one: About 4 1/2 years ago I grafted this Rocky Mountain Juniper (collected by Randy Knight) with some curious shimpaku foliage that I took a shine to. The shimpaku foliage was a bit coarser than we see normally, and I thought it would look good on a tree with a rugged, expressive character.

Another Rocky mountain juniper.

Another one! Michael's story: This tree is special for two reasons. The first is because my friend Troy Cardoza collected it. I like having trees that link me to other people. And it’s also special because it’s quite small for its age, with some great sinuous lines.

A tree with strange credentials. In Michael's own words: Most young bonsai plants are put in larger pots or in the ground to bulk them up. This is one example of a tree grown only in a very small pot, for 30 years. We don’t get a large trunk that way, but the gain is in micro-detailing.

The juniper featured here started as an Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana. I say ‘started’, as I grafted the young plant with Kishu shimpaku, and after that only the lower half of the trunk was Red Cedar.

And believe it or not. Here's where it started.

Michael titled this one The ‘Helix Root’ Limber Pine Styling.

Here's part of what Michael had to say about this one: This Japanese Maple ‘Beni-Kawa’ has a delicate rose color to the branches. It’s a subtle wash of color that could easily be upstaged by pot color. And arguably this quiet red color the most important feature of the tree. We want to see it. And we have to be careful not to obliterate it.

The Blaze of Autumn Sweetly Burns, with a title like that you’d think I was lost in a poem by Tennyson. But I was only looking at a tree in my yard.

Vine Maple Bunjin on Rock, we'll let Michael speak for himself: I collected this tree about five years ago, and put it in a nursery pot to recover from the indignity. It was deep in the back of the bonsai yard, nearly forgotten (John, my apprentice, assures me it’s been watered at least every September), and every month or so I’ve thought, ‘Really have to do something with that…’ This week we had some extra muck at hand and this composition was the result.

Arizona Alder in Unusual Container: This planting was originally composed by Oregon bonsai artist Greg Brenden. The container is a concrete water meter cover, stretching the boundaries of what might hold a plant. We’ve been encouraging a kusamono-like wildness to its style since acquiring it some years ago.

All today's bonsai are by Gede Merta of Bonsai Bali. This expressive Pemphis acidula is titled ‘People.’ I can only see one person with a long arm. Is he or she offering something? Or maybe scooping it up? 

Good full cascade bonsai aren't all that common. Especially ones with such an overall relaxed feel; the unusual way the foliage seems draped across the top and just how loose it hangs. Not to say that its wild shape and extraordinary deadwood aren’t enough to make this tree worthy. But then most of Gede Merte’s bonsai show wild shapes and extraordinary deadwood. The tree is another Pemphis acidula. A very common plant in Indonesia.

Another extraordinary Pemphis acidula.

And yet another Pemphis acidula. Gede Merta’s caption says: theme: bird.

This makes five in a row. The theme is dance.

Aha. A non-Phempis. The caption says Hokian tea. A more common name in English might be Fukien tea.

This little monster was posted by Andrea Valori. HIs caption reads: E si continua a lavorare sugli shohin autoctoni. The machine translation: And we continue to work on native shohin. This and the other photos shown here are all from a FB group called Shohin Art.

Here's another one that was posted by Andre Valori. The caption says: Kinsai dopo potatura; Kinsai after pruning. Kinsai is a Satsuki azalea cultivar.

This shohin Pyracantha was posted by Alberto Reghini.

This one and the next two were posted by Massimilano Moscatelli. The caption reads: Ligustro shohin stile kabudachi - cm 16 - quest’anno ha deciso di regalarmi un’abbondante fioritura; Kabudachi-style privet shohin - 16 cm (6 & 1/4") - this year has decided to give me abundant flowering. Even if you squint the flowers are hard to see.

This muscular little tree almost looks a hippo. Nice pot too. Posted by Massimilano Moscatelli as is the one above and the one just below. The caption reads: Ilex serrata shohin, cm 14 (5 & 1/2"). In attesa della floritura; Waiting for flowers.

Evonimus Sieboldii shohin - cm 13- anche quest’anno ottima ripresa post rinvaso; Euonymus Sieboldii shohin - 13 cm (5") - also this year excellent recovery after repotting.

Here's another one that was posted by Andrea Valori. Caption: La piccola kinsai come ogni anno; The little kinsai like every year. Kinsai is a popular Satsuki azalea cultivar. Maybe the rest is saying that it looks like this every year.

Finally, Biagio Puzone posted this one. Nothing else provided.