Step-by-step instructions for putting on a bonsai exhibit, bonsai sold separately.

1. Get a truck for the supplies.

One truck packed – Boon’s happy

2. Get another truck for the trees.

John and I carefully pack the truck

3. Set up the backdrops.

John, Jeff and Vince are champs at setting up backdrops

4. Apply table dressing.

Sam, Marie, Scott, and Janet spread out the felt – light blue, like Kokufu

Backdrops ready to go

5. Gather stands.

We tend to bring more than we need – it helps setting up the displays

6. Set up the displays.

We usually begin with the biggest trees, the stands make good placeholders

Here a fine art/suiseki display is taking shape complements of Mas Nakajima.

We keep the trees off to one side until we’re ready for them.

We protect the stands by applying felt to pot feet.

Accents complete the display

7. Judge the show.

We divide the trees into like groups and vote for the winners.

It’s a good learning exercise – and fun!

8. Place the awards.

Members’ Choice Award – small deciduous & broadleaf

9. Point a lot.

Jim rallies the troops.

10. Ponder the finer points of display.

The serious business of bonsai

11. Hold an auction.

Tom holding a juniper for sale

Our barker extraordinaire, Chris Johnston.

12. Shoot the show.

Taking good pictures makes a big difference. We owe Eric great thanks for managing this for us.

That covers the basics. For bonus points, try:

• printing programs
• hosting a vendor area
• encouraging club sales
• serving tea and snacks
• breaking even

When it’s all over, put everything back in its place.

Bonsai exhibits are our best opportunity to simply enjoy the trees. Every year during BIB’s annual exhibit, I make time to wander the hall as if I were a visitor. I study bark and branch placement, moss-work, accents, and display. It’s some of the best fun bonsai has to offer.

One of the first things that strikes me about a tree is its balance, or “baransu,” as Yasuo Mitsuya would say. The shimpaku below has it in spades. Dense, green foliage, wonderful course to fine ramification, and a silhouette that’s as Japanese in character as any tree in the exhibit.

I also like the pot. It’s a great fit for the tree and is a useful shape for a number of varieties. I saw many in the same style all over Japan last winter and looked very carefully for one like it at every stop, but never found it in the size I was looking for.

Shimpaku

A Ponderosa pine an aisle away had a similar lifeline that twisted around a deadwood trunk. The roughly textured shari reveals prolonged battle with the elements, and the wonderful twists show the tree’s flexibility in response to harsh conditions.

Some found the less-developed foliage distracting – I didn’t. The branches will ramify and the foliage will improve with time. Ponderosa aren’t as well known for their foliage as they are for their movement, and this tree has good movement.

Ponderosa pine

I find it interesting that the Ponderosa and the shimpaku ended up in such similar pots. Both are brown, scalloped ovals that work well with sinuous trunk-lines. The larger, more powerful tree is potted in a deeper bowl with less tapered sides, and the feet are turned toward us to create a strong profile. The more delicate tree is potted in a container with very tapered sides and feet turned to the sides to create a more delicate silhouette. Both are appropriate and attractive choices.

Now that Western junipers have been making their way into people’s collections, we’re starting to see them in exhibits. BIB showed several last year and at least six this year.

Western juniper

Western juniper

They are a great variety for bonsai. Attractive foliage that’s easy to refine, great vigor, and often spectacular movement combine to make these trees perfect vehicles for their owners’ visions. In time the branches will develop to create more appropriate backdrops for the exciting trunks. More developed foliage will do wonders for the trees’ balance by influencing our sense of the trees’ depth and direction.

Western juniper

Western juniper

Some junipers have less desirable foliage. Californias often fall into this category. Many of the first Californias – and sometimes Sierras – to be collected, were grafted with shimpaku foliage. Today they are mature looking trees, trained, like the tree below, in the Japanese style, but with an unmistakably indigenous trunk.

California juniper with shimpaku foliage

Atlas cedars have long been popular material for bonsai. Easy to bend – when they don’t snap – and the needles don’t grow too long.

Blue atlas cedar – cascade

Blue atlas cedar – formal upright

Juniperus procumbens is a very popular variety for bonsai due in part to specimens like the rock planting below. Long trained as bonsai, this procumbens is in great health and conveys its age well. Great moss-work completes the scene.

Procumbens juniper – root over rock

The specimen below is another long-time bonsai growing out of a rock. Or is it two trees growing out of the rock? The debate remains open, but I put little stock in the answer. It’s a unique tree with a special branch/trunk to one side. In another five to ten years the foliage will fill in and create a silhouette worthy of the old trunk.

The pot, if you look closely, is a beautiful Chinese antique. Somewhat warped by time, the pot boasts one of the more striking patinas in the hall. Between the pot and the rock, the bonsai was one of the heaviest in the exhibit.

Ezo spruce – root over rook

White pine can be a challenge in Northern California. Some varieties do well, others have trouble staying alive. In between, many five-needle pines vacillate between sparse and full from year to year. The past year was good, but not great for white pine. The semi-cascade below is one of my favorite white pines, and one of my favorite bonsai in the area. If I can find someone with the photos, I’ll be happy to share its story someday.

Japanese white pine

Japanese white pine

Japanese white pine

Sam offered a good reminder the other day – books from past BIB exhibits are available. Check back mid-year for the 2010 book.

Shohin has a fun place in the bonsai repertoire. Like satsuki devotees, some artists limit their palate to the endeavor. Others find they focus on it but maintain “large” bonsai as well. Urushibata is a great example of this sort. They also host their own conventions. One of the best that I know about is the biennial event held by the California Shohin Society in Santa Nella, CA. The next one is a week away – visit Shohin Seminar 2010 for details.

One of my favorite unproductive discussion topics focuses on which is harder, the maintenance of large or small bonsai. Unfortunately I cannot reproduce even the tenor of the greatest expounding on the topic I’ve witnessed, but if you’re curious, find Guy Guidry after dinner at your local bonsai convention and fire away.

Herewith, some photos of shohin on display at Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th annual exhibit.

Japanese Maple

Ficus

Shimpaku ‘Itiogawa’

Hokkaido elm

The display of shohin allows for a bit more creativity than that of large or medium trees. By grouping elements together on a stand or slab, units of various size can contribute as elements of larger and more complex displays.

Shimpaku ‘Itoigawa’

Tiniest accent with crab

Box display with black pine, Japanese maple, ficus, olive, and flowering quince ‘chojubai’

Potentilla in outstanding antique pot

How many elements does the following display contain? Depends on how you count. More important questions: is the display balanced? Harmonious? Seasonal? Attractive? That’s where it gets interesting. Setting up shohin displays is one of the trickier tasks of setting up an exhibit. While most of us spend our time picking out the right stand and accent for our trees, the shohin crew attempt to coordinate more trees, stands, stones and accents than I’d know what to do with.

Shohin display with potentilla, shimpaku ‘itoigawa’ and white pine

For BIB’s first few exhibits we didn’t have enough shohin among us to complete a single box display. Now we have several. It’s a great addition to the exhibit.

Why hold a bonsai exhibit in winter? Not to keep the visitors away. Despite the fact that half of the trees in the exhibit are without leaves and most of the other half are fighting off winter’s tendency to tinge foliage with a yellowish or bronze cast, many bonsai are at their best this time of year. Late winter and early spring are great times to show flowering bonsai, but managing the silhouettes of trees covered with new growth is a challenge. In summer, many trees are beat up by the heat. Fall is a good time to show bonsai as pines are in check and fall color may be evident. But it’s only in winter that we can clearly see the structure of deciduous trees.

Deciduous trees are great when in leaf too. With careful technique, leaves can be shrunk to fit the scale of the tree. Leaves hide, however, the degree to which a tree’s branches are ramified. Great branch structure is a source of pride for deciduous tree owners. It is, after all, a great challenge to develop and maintain good ramification.

For example, the tree below is very well-developed. Although the tree is attractive in summer, it’s far more dramatic in winter. We experience the tree in three dimensions by examining the tree front to back and top to bottom. We can also get a better sense of its age without leaves. It was a pleasure to have this tree in the exhibit.

Chinese elm

The pomegranate below has one of the older and more impressive trunks in the exhibit. We can imagine it as a craggy old monster of  a tree well-suited to a scary movie. We can also see that it can benefit from greater ramification. Within a few years this tree can develop into a truly impressive bonsai.

Pomegranate with fruit from last fall

My trident maple is beginning to suggest its eventual silhouette, but it has a long way to go. Daisaku Nomoto suggested that one could prepare any trident for Kokufu within three years. I knew tridents developed quickly, but three years? I asked how this was possible. “Easy,” he intoned. “Wire the tree and cutback three times each year and the tree will be ready.” Easier said than done, I’ve found. In the future, I’ll focus on developing the primary branch on the right hand side of the tree to improve its balance.

Root over rock trident maple

This gooseberry was one of the more fun deciduous trees in the exhibit. Nothing manicured about it – save the Bunzan pot.

Gooseberry

The chojubai below was a perfect complement to the suiseki it accompanied (photos forthcoming).

Flowering quince ‘chojubai’

We were fairly hard up for color at this year’s exhibit. The small pyracantha below did more than it’s fair share.

Pyracantha with mondo grass accent

Although typically grown for their flowers, azalea can also make great bonsai. Their trunks can show great age and their branches great development. The tree below, one of very few azaleas in this year’s exhibit, is off to a good start.

Satsuki azalea

Oaks, on the other hand, were very well represented this year. Oak, like redwood, is a popular variety for bonsai that you just don’t see very often in Japan. And although they grow in a variety of climates around the world, they are very evocative trees for Californians.

Cork oak

Here’s a question – is this a near-view or far-view bonsai? In other words, is the tree shown at “actual size” or does it evoke a much larger tree of similar proportions?

California live oak

Another question – why include broadleaf evergreens with the deciduous trees? For historical reasons. From what I’ve seen, many bonsai organizations in the US have greater success with coniferous trees than with deciduous. In Bay Island Bonsai, this bias is reflected in our judging as we have one category for conifers and another for deciduous and broadleaf trees.

Why coniferous collections are so commonly superior to deciduous collections is an interesting topic. To put it bluntly, I believe it’s harder to kill conifers than it is to kill deciduous trees. And it’s harder to ramify branches on deciduous trees than it is on conifers. Yes, there are many exceptions – and thank goodness! I very much appreciate deciduous trees and am working hard to improve my own.  I’ve seen great improvement just in the past few years – a good sign that we’ll see more deciduous trees in future exhibits. A budding crop of newly minted bonsai experts returning from study in Japan will only fuel this trend.

Last weekend, Bay Island Bonsai held its 11th annual exhibit in Pleasanton, CA. It was a huge success. After 10 years of hosting our exhibit in Hayward, we were uncertain about switching venues. Turns out this was our top-attended event. Thanks to all who visited and all who helped.

I’ll be writing a number of posts about the exhibit, but since BIB has long been known as a black pine club, I thought I’d start with photos of a few of the black pines on display.

Slant style

Shohin black pine – semi-cascade

Slant style

Bunjin black pine

Slant style

Cork-bark black pine

Shohin black pine – slant style

Root over rock black pine – nanban pot

Slant style

Pine nebari

Boon asked me to post an example of repotting a tree into a two-hole pot – my small pine is a good candidate. Here’s the rootball after removing it from the pot.

Before root-work – one year of growth

I was conservative with the root-work as I had yet to determine which pot would be best for the tree. I ended up removing almost half of what you see below.

After root-work

I ultimately selected a 2-hole pot for the tree. Wiring a 2-hole pot is simple. After securing the screens, I placed two wires through the inside edge of the drainage holes. Depending on the location of the holes, measuring tie-down wires for 2-hole pots is similar to measuring them for 4-hole pots. I begin by measuring the sum of two long sides and one short side, but then use a bit less.

Wired pot from below

Wired pot from above

It took some work to get the rootball to fit into the pot. In lieu of a full drainage layer, I placed a few tablespoons of pumice over each drainage hole, covered the bottom of the pot with a thin layer of bonsai soil, and left a small mound in the center of the pot.

When Boon and I set the tree, a root in back pushed the trunk towards the front of the pot. To keep the tree centered, we  added a little soil along the front of the pot and secured that side first.

Securing the front

Next we did the same for the back of the tree. The first step is connecting the two ends of the wire by hand. Once the connection is made, the wires are tightened with pliers.

Securing the back

Tightening the wire with pliers

You’ll notice that the wires are connected off-center. The primary reason for this is that there are more good roots on the left side of the rootball than there are on the right side. Securing the wires over a root – or at least over solid rootball – helps keep the tree snug in the pot. It also prevents over-tightening the wires. When the connection is floating it’s harder to tell when to stop tightening the wires.

You’ll also notice the tails of the wires are somewhat long. Because the holes on the bottom are fairly close together and the rootball is small, I could have saved wire by cutting shorter tie-wires. Bimbo!

Tree secured

After securing the tree, I like to check to make sure the tree didn’t shift in the pot while I tightened the wires. If it has moved, it’s much easier to correct before filling the pot with soil.

Repotting complete

The tree stayed put. Once the soil was added and the tree watered, I finished the surface of the soil with moss for exhibit. More on that next time.

You know a bonsai show is close when someone asks you for the sock during workshop. “The sock,” in Bay Island Bonsai parlance, refers to a sock filled with crushed walnut meat. Walnut oil is great for cleaning bonsai pots and juniper bark for bonsai exhibits. And the effort required to apply it is well worth the time.

Western juniper – trunk detail

Simple how-to: 1) fill sock with walnut meat; 2) tie knot in sock; 3) crush walnut meat with hammer. When the oil seeps through you’re ready to go.

It’s surprising how much oil a few nuts provide. For all but the largest exhibits, just a sock or two can do the trick.

Oiling the trunk

Because junipers frequently present twisting mixes of live and dead wood, it requires care to keep the oil off the deadwood. And while the decision to oil or not oil juniper bark can make for good debate, I have yet to hear a good argument for oiling deadwood.

Trunk before oiling

Trunk after oiling

The results can be just as dramatic for pots. Apply when the surface of the pot is clean and dry.

Pot before oiling

Oiling the pot

Oiled pot

Ideally, a pot will hold enough oil to deepen the color, but not enough to hold a fingerprint. Rubbing away excess oil after application helps, but the best trick is to apply the oil a week or two ahead of the exhibit. This dulls the shine just enough. And if too much fades, touch up the tree with the sock before heading to the exhibit.

Spring, 2004. A number of SOBs (Students of Boon) sat around Boon’s workshop on a sunny day sharing gossip – good gossip – about bonsai professionals around the world. We hit upon an idea, an alternative to Bonsai Today. It would be a website for anonymous posts of gossip, hearsay and in-jokes. Photos welcome, no holds barred. And somewhere out of the din came the phrase, “Bonsai Tonight.” I can’t say for sure whether it was first uttered by Marco Invernizzi, Howard Smith or myself. I ran inside and purchased the domain without skipping a beat.

The following winter a handy photographer – thank you Sylvia – captured a few shots of us setting up BIB’s 6th annual exhibit. They were intended as a kick-off for the “Bonsai Tonight” we had discussed the previous year.

Howard combats wrinkles while Mike finds humor in hand-held steamers

I’m now one year into a very different Bonsai Tonight. Last January, time and desire came together and I made a first post. Soon after, I had the great fortune to return to Japan which led to many more. The year’s most popular post and photo came from a visit to Taikan Bonsai Museum in Obuse, Japan. It’s a truly outstanding garden.

Taikan Bonsai Museum

I find, however, that I remain inspired by the lighter side of bonsai as well.

A Windy Day, or, The Fastest Bonsai in the West

Thanks for reading. I’m optimistic for the new year and am looking forward to sharing as much of it in bonsai as possible.

Cheers,
Jonas

]]> http://bonsaitonight.com/2010/01/12/bonsai-tonight-a-history/feed/ 3 xwires Fastest juniper in the west http://bonsaitonight.com/2010/01/08/pot-selection-redux/ http://bonsaitonight.com/2010/01/08/pot-selection-redux/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:00:44 +0000 xwires http://bonsaitonight.com/?p=963 ]]>

There are a number of things to consider when selecting a bonsai pot – especially when preparing a tree for exhibit. The pot needs to blend into the composition, but depending on the exhibit, this could entail very different criteria. Garish glazes might be appropriate in a show that focuses on containers. More subtle selections might be best when displaying trees on their own. I’ll be showing the pine below in a 6′ space along with a second tree, possibly a Western juniper, and an accent plant. My goal is to create subtle harmony between each of the elements in the display – a tall order!

For this task, the most useful cues for selecting a pot come from the tree itself. The style of this tree is hard to define, somewhere in the informal upright or slant neighborhood, but with a thin trunk. In the future I hope to create better balance between the trunk size and foliage. To do this I plan to reduce the foliage significantly. Improving the tree’s balance will make it easier to select an appropriate pot – maybe a nanban or 6-8 sided scalloped pot would be more appropriate for this future tree.

Today, however, the foliage requires a more substantial pot. The first option is a pretty good fit. The color complements pine well and the style is appropriate. If the lip of the pot were narrower – or the tree better endowed – It would be an even better fit.

Pot #1 – Chinese

The pot was actually a promotional affair from a Rendezvous event at Brussel’s Bonsai Nursery several years ago. Rendezvous is among my very favorite bonsai events in the US – if you haven’t been, I highly recommend it.

The “chop” of pot #1

The Yamaaki pot is another good option. It’s a conservative choice, but its width and tapered sides exaggerate the thin trunk. The oval shape is a great match for the soft silhouette of the tree and the color is good, if lacking in patina.

Pot #2 – Yamaaki

Gray is a good choice when you want to highlight pine bark. In this case the tree is young – 16 years old – and I’d rather downplay its youth by highlighting other aspects of the tree. If the trunk were a little bigger I’d find the size appropriate, but here it looks a bit large. As a result, the trunk looks to be too far left even though the foliage lines up well with the pot.

Pot #3 – Chinese

The Japanese pot below is a good size and shape for the tree, but it’s strikingly bright. Although it’s 30-40 years old, it looks like it hasn’t aged a day. Better quality clay and/or increased exposure to the elements would show age better and make it a better match.

Pot #4 – Sakura

The Chinese pot below has one of the most important characteristics a pot can have – it’s old. Like so many BIB adherents, I’m a sucker for old pots. However, because the pot is in good shape, the age doesn’t show much, which slightly decreases its appeal. Both shape and color are appropriate, though more pronounced feet might make the tree stand out better – good if this serves as the “primary” tree in the display, less compelling if it serves as the “second” tree.

The rankings “primary” and “secondary” refer to the relative quality of the trees in a display. When two or more trees are shown in the same display, one will typically be more outstanding than the others. Sometimes the primary tree is the larger and sometimes it’s the smaller – quality, and not size, is the deciding factor.

Although it doesn’t show in the photo, the pot is also quite narrow. This can make trimming the rootball a challenge.

Pot #5 – Chinese

I really like this Japanese pot. It’s old, and although it’s hard to see without zooming in, the clay contains light-colored flecks that provide a nice texture. The curves are a great fit for the trunk and the feet offer good elevation. It’s also small. This may become a great option when I reduce the foliage.

In many respects it’s one of the “best” pots shown here – it has good clay, good color, good age, and nice design. In other words, it’s more expensive than the others. Unfortunately price doesn’t help with the fit.

Pot #6 – Japanese

I appreciate that the Bunzan received more comments than the other pots. And I want to say it’s a tongue-in-cheek entry, but there are cases in which this pot would be a really fun choice. It will most likely see action as a container for an accent, but I’d love to see it displayed with the right tree. The size and shape are surprisingly appropriate here.

Pot #7 – Bunzan

Which leaves us with the nanban. A little smaller than I’d like, and a bit less formal than will fit with the display I have in mind, but another intriguing alternative. Round does a good job of highlighting the tree’s soft outline and is appropriate for the bunjin-sized trunk.

Pot #8 – Nanban

So clearly I chose #5, the reddish-brown Chinese pot. I’ll have photos soon that show the repotting and moss-work for the exhibit.

I’d also like to thank Tom K. for a perfect segue for next week’s post – the story behind the name “Bonsai Tonight.” Tom mentioned how perfectly a plastic bear accent belonging to one H. Smith would complement a pine potted in the Bunzan. This immediately reminded me of a similar accent Smith procured for BIB’s 6th annual show. It was the handful of photos taken while we set up this exhibit, amont other factors, that ultimately led to this site. Thanks Tom!

When a tree is ready for exhibit – needles plucked, wires wired – it’s time to select a show pot.

In Japan, it’s common for bonsai professionals to repot bonsai into show pots so they look their best during an exhibit. For some of the more prestigious shows, bonsai owners rent pots for exhibit. Shortly after the trees return from exhibit, they are returned to their growing pots.

Why not grow bonsai in show pots all year round? Two reasons. Sometimes show pots are worth more than the trees they contain. In extreme cases, antique Chinese pots can cost over $100,000. Growing trees in such expensive pots is an unnecessary risk when a hard freeze or an accidental slip can be so costly.

Show pots also tend to be a bit smaller than growing pots. While it’s possible to keep trees healthy in small pots, it’s far easier to keep them happy in more generously sized containers.

I like to see what a tree looks like in a given container before making a final decision. To do so, I line up a variety of pots to see how the tree looks in each. Some pots emphasize a tree’s silhouette; others, the curve of the trunk. The color of the clay can complement the bark as well as the foliage, and even small details like a pot’s “feet” have a big effect on the ensemble.

Here are photos of eight of the pots I tried with a small pine (11″) I’ll be showing in two weeks. I was surprised how many work well with the tree.

Have any favorites? Would any make you want to stay home from the exhibit? Feel free to comment – I’ll post my selection in a few days.

Pot #1 – Chinese

Pot #2 – Yamaaki

Pot #3 – Chinese

Pot #4 – Sakura

Pot #5 – Chinese

Pot #6 – Japanese

Pot #7 – Bunzan

Pot #8 – Nanban