Bonsai tree: Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 28th Annual Show

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 28th Annual Show

The Redwood Empire Bonsai Society held their 28th Annual Show in Santa Rosa, CA, last weekend. Long known as one of the biggest and best bonsai shows in Northern California, REBS again lived up to their reputation. Two demonstrations by Kathy Shaner, a large vendor area, and over 200 bonsai on display drew large crowds to the event. Bonsai were typically displayed in 6′ display areas with accent plants. All trees were well-labeled, and most labels included information about the trees’ age. Some of the numbers indicated a general age – others were quite specific. Here is a selection of some of the large bonsai on display.

Korean hornbeam – 92 years

Shimpaku – 456 years

Shimpaku – 456 years

Mendocino cypress – 106 years

Monterey pine – 51 years

Trident maple – 80 years

Japanese white pine – 50 years

San Jose juniper – 42 years

Cork bark oak – 45 years

Fig – 29 years

Grape – 100 years

Grape, zinfandel – 110 years

Pomegranate

Hornbeam – 73 years

Japanese maple – 40 years

European beech – 34 years

Hawthorn – 39 years

Atlas cedar – 53 years

Japanese maple –

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Bonsai tree: $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest

Pomegranate from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 83. Of all the Bonsai Today covers, this one seems most like a bonsai from scratch; though you’d be lucky to find untrained nursery stock this good at your local garden center.

It’s not too late

There’s still time to enter our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch contest. True, mid-summer is tricky and you might not be able to put your tree into a bonsai pot, but that’s okay, you can enter it in a nursery container if you’re not comfortable root pruning. Or, you can gamble and stick it into a pot.

Lots of prizes

Go ahead, take the leap. You just might win something. Here’s a link to the prizes and rules.

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Bonsai tree: GSBF Collection North

Source: Bonsai Tonight
GSBF Collection North

After visiting the GSBF Mammoth Fundraiser last weekend, I stopped by the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Spring is a great time to visit the garden as the quince are in bloom and the maples are just starting to leaf out. It’s also a good time of year to see the blooms that make the winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata) unique.

Winter hazel blossoms

Winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata)

The garden is home to the largest pomegranate bonsai I’ve seen. According to the garden’s website, the tree was “Dug from an old orchard (thought to have been planted in late 1800s) in Lodi by Vince and Kathy Owyoung. They donated the tree, Sept. 2002. Styled by Seiji Shiba. A glass jar was found embedded in the trunk. Potted at the Garden, Aug. 5, 2008.”

Pomegranate (Punica granatum)

Pomegranate – trunk detail

A number of Japanese maples had just started to leaf out. The new foliage is beautiful.

Japanese maple

Japanese maple foliage

Japanese maple – note bamboo used to arrange trunks

Japanese maple grove

I’ve watched the California juniper below develop for close to 15 years – it has an interesting curve to the trunk. From the website: “Collected in 1954 from the high desert region near Palmdale in southern California, this tree was styled about 1964.”

California juniper

The fruit on the citrus below puts the tree in perspective. Every visitor that passed by stopped for a closer look.

Orange

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