Highlights from the New Zealand Bonsai Expo

The day before the New Zealand Bonsai Expo opened, I visited the venue. Setup for the bonsai displays had yet to begin. As I walked the empty aisles, I was curious what I’d find the next day.

About 24 hours later I walked into an exhibit with wonderful New Zealand natives including totara, manuka, kanuka, kowhai, corokia, and pahutukawa. Surprisingly (for me), there were almost as many US natives including Douglas fir, Monterey cypress, Monterey pine, lodgepole pine, and swamp cypress.

The New Zealand Bonsai Expo

It was clear at first glance that enthusiasts have been growing bonsai in New Zealand for a long time. Some trees had been in training for decades.

Scots pine

Others, while relatively young in training, were off to a fantastic start.

Swamp cypress

Douglas Fir

I thought of the show as featuring two main themes – bonsai as it has been practiced around the world for a long time, and more contemporary approaches featuring both native and exotic material.

The above trees, and the two following bonsai, fall into the first category.

Swamp cypress

Silver birch

The trees below feature native New Zealand species or present exotic material presented with mosses, ground covers, or accents featuring native species.

Lodgepole pine

Kanuka

Mountain Totara

Totara

Monterey pine

Shimpaku

Shimpaku

The mix of approaches made for a wonderful exhibit, and provided an awesome introduction to New Zealand bonsai.

Altogether, the exhibit featured 120 trees, 47 suiseki, 39 classic and contemporary ceramic treasures, and 24 entries in the inaugural New Zealand Potter’s Competition.

Outside of the exhibit, the Expo featured 17 vendors and demonstrations that ran throughout the weekend on the theme of “From Raw to Refined” – an organizing principle featuring material at different stages of development. I really liked the approach as it provided an opportunity to demonstrate a much broader array of techniques and approaches than more typical demonstrations.

The format proved to be a big success with around 1000 participants visiting over the course of the weekend – a testament to the hard work of the organizing committee: Shannan, Garth, Brenda, Angelo, Mike, and Harry.

One of the committee’s first moves was checking in with the New Zealand professional community, Adrian Bird, Matt Hutson, Sandra Quintal, Martin Walters, and Steven Yin, who showed strong support for the event by participating as exhibitors, demonstrators, emcees, and vendors. One small example of how this worked: during the demonstrations, which typically featured 2-3 professionals on stage at a time, an additional professional served as emcee. It was fantastic to have so many knowledgeable people working together to present their programs and it must have been a treat for the audience members who had so many great resources available to address their questions. It gave me a chance to get to know everyone and to learn about growing bonsai in New Zealand.

I’d like to thank the organizing committee members for making this trip possible and for creating such an awesome event. Thanks to Scott Jania and Hugh Grant (who was visiting from Australia) for participating as emcees, and to hosts Brendan Covich and Rossco Phillips for hosting me on the North Island portion of the trip. It was a treat to see your beautiful country – thank you all!

News & Updates

[Pacific Northwest Event]

• The Puget Sound Bonsai Association is hosting their Fall Sale on Sunday November 8th from Noon to 3pm at the Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St, Seattle. Vendors & PSBA members from across WA & OR will be offering a wide selection of bonsai, pre-bonsai, raw materials, pots & sundries at a range of price points. See the PSBA website for details.

[Regional Event]

• Don’t miss out – there are only two weeks left to submit your bonsai and suiseki for the 2027 Pacific Bonsai Expo. For details about how to do this, check out the Pacific Bonsai Expo website.

[Northern California Event]

• The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt’s annual fundraiser will be held on January 23-24, 2027. If you have trees for the auction, they need to get to the garden by this Friday, November 6th. See the BGLM website for details.

[Apprenticeship Opportunity at the National Arboretum]

• The U.S. National Arboretum has an opening for a bonsai apprentice. The apprentice program focuses on preparing individuals for bonsai collection and public garden management. The successful applicant will be involved in the day-to-day care of a storied collection of historic bonsai, some of them in training for hundreds of years, and will receive one-on-one instruction from museum staff to develop skill in the styling and maintenance of bonsai. Learn more (and learn how to apply for) the National Bonsai Apprenticeship.