Yellow pot, yes or no ?

Hello Bonsai lovers,

here is an item for discussion.

Yes or no, would you plant a bonsai in a yellow pot?

http://www.bonsaipots.net/index.php?page=shades-of-yellow

I wish you a lot of fun with superior

Best regards
Peter

Some of the plantings shown above look "OK." But, I am not a fan of glazed pots.

Why not? Most of the yellow pots from this link look pretty good to me. They are nice because they have a darher tan and aren't 'crying' yellow.

The only thing that deserves that color is a banana.

__gary

In China the ancient high-fire yellow technique has been forgotten since less difficult, lower temp techniques were discovered. A few years ago, through exhaustive testing, Otto Heino rediscovered the technique. Businessmen from Japan offered Otto a half million US$ for his recipe. He refused and is selling his pots to Asian monks for upwards of $20,000. The guy has a Bentley and a Rolls. Not too bad for a 93 year old potter!

I will keep my 88 Ford F150 and my brown pots.

__gary

You must be willing to try something different. It may not work, but you have learned something you won't learn by following the crowd.
You may "suffer the slings and arrows" etc. , but you have followed you own path. This is more important than many folks think.

Mike

I certainly would/could/might put a mame or small shohin into a yellow pot. Maybe not taxi-cab yellow, but who knows?

It's realy dificult to find trees that will look good in a yellow Pot.... BUT of course that's only my Opnion

I especially liked the third pot in the link you provided, with the nice patina. I think a small deciduous tree in fall color would look really good in it.

I see no reason why not. It all depends on the final image.

"...yellow pot...Yes? No?...".

Not very likely...howsomeever...NeverSayNever...?

GLARING YELLOW? IMHO, that's about as close to NEVER as you can get.

Yellow with a great patina? That opens a whole 'nother barrel of options.

I'll bet that there is a talented potter somewhere out there, who, if he/she would put her/his whole heart into it, could develop a glaze that would mimic a great patina?

Maybe it's already been done? If not, what a challenge...

Any takers?

Pat

bonsaistud wrote:"...yellow pot...Yes? No?...". ...NeverSayNever...?

Is Pat's attitude not the right approach with all pots never mind just yellow ones? I've seen some remarkably good trees stuck into remarkably boring pots just because the owner doesn't dare to experiment. Brown is not always best IMHO. I personally liked many of the examples on the web page, and thought that the smaller (Shohin sized) trees and those with flower/fruit were quite suited to their yellow pots. I really liked the Euonymus except perhaps for the maple leaf on the pot which confused my eye a bit.

But as we keep saying all along - it's a matter of taste and the courage to experiment a bit away from the perceived "norm".

I happen to favor yellow gazed bonsai containers! But, they are a bit difficult to use well. Attached are three photos of some of my bonsai in yellow containers. They are all of Chinese origin and look like they have "crackle" glaze. Actually it's called "crazing" and I rub Sumi ink into the small, almost hairline cracks which can barely be seen. After letting the Sumi ink stand for a few minutes I rub the excess on the surface off.

Oh, I also have a bright yellow Japanese Tokoname ware container too. Had a Trident maple in it a couple of decades ago, and even a Dwarf Korean Lilac too.

Attached (I hope) are a Nippon Daisy Chrysanthemum, Crabapple and Silverberry.

Enjoy!

Bill

https://i.servimg.com/u/f88/13/68/54/85/mum_216.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f88/13/68/54/85/shohin16.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f88/13/68/54/85/silver15.jpg

Here's a newly styled boxwood in a yellow Jim Barrett pot. I think the yellow color goes well with the bark color but my wife thought it was awful.

Paul

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This tree belongs to a friend & although it has know been re-potted into a larger brown pot, I always thought that this yellow ochre pot by Dan Barton worked really well with the juniper.

Paul, now we can see what your wife sees.

I bought this yellow pot from Jim Barrett sometime back in the 1980's. Itmeasures 113/8 inches x 4 3/4 inches.

Peter, I so fell in love with your yellow pots that I had to get one for my collection. It doesn't have that wonderful patina yet, but the seller claimed it was acquired in the 70's. I guess it was not used much if at all.



Ed

Walter Pall wrote:Paul, now we can see what your wife sees.

Ok, Ok.

I guess, Walter, that my wife is right.... as usual.


Paul

yellow pots why not, I especially like them for shohin and accentplantings.
For bigger bonsai I'm more traditional i guess.

Peter

Thank you for the kind words Fiona...

Pat

Lovely trees, Bill. Very nice with the yellow pots.

Pat

I all of a sudden realized while reading this thread that two of my Japanese maples are in yellow pots since ages. I think the pot color looks fine in all seasons. To me anyway. First pot by Derek Aspinall, second pot by Peter Krebs.

Yellow pots? I say "YES" too.

Sadly, my one and only is a little guy, smaller than the palm of my hand. Walter, your maples are beautiful. Derek and Peter are to be commended for their fine pots.

Peter, I'm glad you included the satsuki in your examples. I remember seeing pink varieties like osakazuki, korin and nyohozan (the one you show), and the red kinsai often in antique yellow pots. I was told that there was almost no market for the new or antique yellow pots until the satsuki bonsai guys started buying them up. Except for the shohin and mame pots, the conventional bonsai people just didn't know what to do with them besides sit them on a shelf.

Bill, thanks for the ink tip. I know Yama-fusa and Yama-aki both do yellow pots, and Yama-aki's is "SCREAMIN' YELLA". I think the potters on this list do such fine work, and their yellows are softer and more subtle than the yellows coming from Tokoname. Of course they are much more free to experiment and sell "one-offs" than the Tokoname potters selling from a catalogue.

Russell