This past weekend over 1,100 visitors attended the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 37th annual show at the Rohnert Park Community Center in Rohnert Park, California.

The event featured workshops and demonstrations by Ryan Neil and a 75-display exhibit.

I’ll be sharing highlights from the exhibit this week and next. This week’s selections have fuller silhouettes and next week’s trees will have slightly thinner silhouettes.

As you enjoy the trees, you might think about the design of the foliage. This includes the flow of the tree (left or right), the overall symmetry or asymmetry, the foliage density from left to right and top to bottom, and the suitability of the silhouette to the line of the trunk.

(For a primer about determining flow, see “How to determine the direction or flow of bonsai.“)

If you have any insights to share, feel free to include them in the comments below.

Following next week’s post, I’ll be taking a brief brake after the National Exhibition. Regular posts will return after a few weeks.