Last month the Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 42nd annual exhibit at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. The event featured an exhibit, sales area, and Saturday evening demonstration by Adam Toth.

Japanese black pine

California juniper

I appreciated that the show included a good mix of deciduous, broadleaf evergreen, and coniferous bonsai. Trees ranged in size from large down to shohin with plenty of trees somewhere in the middle.

It was also fun to see different approaches to the same species. The two coast redwoods below, for example, feature different branch angles, different branch thickness, and different approaches to foliar development.

Coast redwood

Coast redwood

It was also fun to see so many deciduous bonsai in winter silhouette.

Cork elm

Elm and azalea

Jacqueline Hillier elm

Pomegranate

Several small-tree displays provided good contrast to the larger trees in the room.

Shimpaku

Shohin display

Shohin display

The show also featured native material including Sierra juniper and Coast live oak.

Coast live oak

Sierra juniper

Sierra juniper

Walking through a bonsai show has made me excited for the upcoming Kokufu exhibit in Japan. More on that in an upcoming post.

Last month the Japanese Bonsai Association hosted the 100th national exhibit, the Kokufu, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

The event was busier than it has been in recent years, and a larger percentage of the visitors were foreign. As for the bonsai, there was a good number of special trees that are always a treat to see.

Rose

Black pine

Some of my favorites won awards, others simply made the room look great. Some, like the Chinese quince below, were so twiggy that I had to reset my thinking about what’s possible with the species.

Chinese quince

Chinese quince

A lot of the trees that stood out to me this year were deciduous.

Japanese maple

When standing in front of these trees, it was easy to get lost following the branches as they meandered from the trunk out towards the edges of the canopy. Trees like these had been skillfully worked on for decades – and it showed.

Korean hornbeam

Korean hornbeam

Trident maple

Of course there were spectacular conifers in the exhibit as well. Here are some of the remarkable junipers on display.

Shimpaku juniper

Shimpaku juniper

Shimpaku juniper

Although in recent years it’s become common to see large junipers with massive trunks, it’s the exceptions that stand out the most to me. The juniper below has fantastic character along the trunk. Slender lifelines supported by undulating deadwood feature more delicate movement with give this old tree – and its viewers – a very different feeling.

Shimpaku juniper

Up next, highlights from the second half of this year’s two-part exhibit.

News & Updates

[Northern California Event]

• The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt’s annual fundraiser, the Mammoth Auction and Sale, will be held this Saturday and Sunday in Oakland, California. On Saturday the main event is the largest auction in Northern California. On Sunday, it’s a plant sale and vendor area. Learn more at the Mammoth Auction & Sale website.

[Auction Tips]

In preparation for this weekend’s auction, here are some tips to help you get the most out of the event.

• If you’re interested in taking home an item but want to feel good about the purchase, set limits ahead of time for how much you’d like to spend (and how much above this limit you’re willing to actually bid).

• Check the health of the tree before setting your buy price. For deciduous trees, check the health of the buds and look out for dead branches or dead areas along the trunk. For conifers, check the number and size of visible buds as well as the color and character of the foliage.
  
• Don’t let inside information influence your bids. A long time ago, I stopped bidding on a tree because I knew how much the owner had originally paid for it. It didn’t feel right to pay twice as much as my friend had paid for the tree. This was foolish as the second the bidding ended I remembered that the tree was worth almost double the amount it went for.
  
• Take note of who you’re bidding against, but stick to your plan. Once I stopped bidding on a tree because I didn’t think I could keep up with the other bidder. When the bidding ended, the other bidder ran over with a big smile to let me know how relieved he was I stopped bidding as he’d reached the limit he was willing to pay for the tree. Another lost opportunity!
  
• Above all, remember that the event is a fundraiser. Bonsai auctions are typically organized by volunteers who work hard to provide us with the opportunity to build our collections and have fun while doing it. Keeping the spirits (and the bids) high can make the event a pleasant experience for everyone.

For the past twelve years, the Kokufu-ten has been divided into two halves. For these double shows, the organizers set up the exhibit and open it to the public for a few days, then close for a day or two to reset the show with all new displays. This year the exhibit featured a whopping 181 displays in each half for a total of 362 displays!

Large displays

Shohin displays

This years exhibit featured some pretty big bonsai – here are some of the large conifers.

Shimpaku

White pine

Needle juniper

Semi-cascade white pine

Shimpaku

One of my favorite medium-size trees in the exhibit was a black pine shown with a trident maple. I liked that the tree had strong movement to the left and a surprisingly large trunk for a tree under 18″ tall.

Trident maple and black pine

Black pine

One of the trees that received the most attention in part two was a juniper with a slender trunk. The movement was fantastic and the ribbon of deadwood that formed the trunk was surprisingly thin.

Shimpaku

The deciduous bonsai were equally awesome. Here are some of my favorites.

Four trident maples on a stone

Koran hornbeam

Japanese maple

Chinese quince

Each half of the Kokufu exhibit features a small number of shohin displays. The exhibit is set up to present the large trees first, then the medium bonsai, and finally the shohin. They’re the last bonsai you see before leaving the exhibit.

Six-tree shohin display

Like the larger trees in the exhibit, shohin bonsai are eligible to receive the Kokufu prize. However, instead of awarding an individual small tree, the award is presented to the top display.

The display above received the Kokufu prize in the first half of the event. The display below won the award in the second half.

Shohin display

Not all of the displays featured six shohin bonsai. Some displays featured five trees. Displays with mini bonsai featured far more trees.

Shohin display featuring a Rokko-style stand

Mini-bonsai display

The conventions for displaying shohin bonsai are relatively narrow by US standards. Junipers are the most common species displayed across from the box stand. They are typically shown on root stands, some taller than others.

Junipers on root stands

Some of the individual trees in these displays were fantastic. Here’s a small sample. Note the remarkable branch density for trees that are roughly 8″ tall.

Black pine

Trident maple

Black pine

Japanese maple

Black pine

Kinzu (dwarf kumquat)

News & Updates

[Southern California Exhibition]

• If you’re thinking about submitting to this year’s Naka Memorial Exhibition, August 22-23 in Los Angeles, the deadline is June 15th. The event website has instructions for How to prepare your submission.
  
  And like so many other bonsai events, the Naka Memorial would not be possible with the generous support of donors and volunteers. Learn how you can help at the John Naka Memorial Exhibition website.