On January 14-15, 2023, the Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 41st bonsai exhibition at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. Here are some of the highlights, starting with the Best Conifer award winner from the Pacific Bonsai Expo. Grafted shimpaku Another tree you might recognize from the Expo is a large Coast […]
BABA
Highlights from the 40th Anniversary BABA Exhibition
Last weekend the Bay Area Bonsai Associates, affectionately known as BABA, held their 40th Anniversary exhibition at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California. Below are some of the trees on display with brief notes about what made them good choices for the exhibit. Shimpaku juniper The juniper above is a great example of a […]
Bay Area Bonsai Associates’ 39th annual exhibit
The Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 39th annual exhibit last weekend at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. It’s been a few years since I last posted photos from the BABA show and I’m glad I have the chance to do so this year as there were some great trees on display […]
BABA’s 35th Annual Exhibit
Last weekend the Bay Area Bonsai Associates held their 35th annual exhibit at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. Due to a slightly different cast of exhibitors this year, more trees than normal made their BABA debuts, and some of the trees we’d seen before were looking better than ever. Two beautiful examples […]
Evaluating bonsai at BABA’s 34th annual exhibit
Things we look for at bonsai exhibits: healthy, beautiful trees in well-thought-out displays, clean pots and attractive top-dressings. This much is true for almost any bonsai exhibit. It’s when we start to consider criteria for evaluating individual trees that things get interesting. I have yet to visit an exhibit that lined up the trees on […]