The day after this year’s US National Bonsai Exhibition, Bill Valavanis hosted a workshop at his garden, The International Bonsai Arboretum, while volunteers unloaded trucks and visitors (like me) enjoyed the trees!
Bill’s garden is one of the must see bonsai gardens in North America, and it’s been among my favorites since I first visited nine years ago. Here are some highlights.
Beautiful trees in late summer sunlight
Japanese maple
“Thor”
Japanese maple
Koji Hiramatsu teaching display
Koji ran a workshop in the morning and a shohin display class in the afternoon. Bill had about fifty small trees for Koji to work with during the presentation in which he gave participants the opportunity to set up dislpays and get feedback about how they did.
Hinoki
One thing that makes visits to the arboretum fun is that there are always new trees in the works. Bill has an extensive nursery in addition to the garden where he develops material for classes and for sale.
Sekka hinoki
Young beech
This barely scratches the surface of what a full tour of the garden entails. For more information about Bill and his garden, visit his website (where you can learn about his sales, tours, and upcoming events) and blog (where you can see photos of his gardens and his visits to bonsai gardens around the world).
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Nehemiah says
Wow! It’s crazy to see that it’s still looking like summer. Up in MN All the maples have lost their leaves. Thanks for the great post.
PS that Hinoki is beautiful!
Jonas Dupuich says
I should have mentioned the show (and my visit) took place in early September. Bill’s trees are certainly looking different now!
Nehemiah says
That makes sense. I probably should have figured that out myself. 🙂