For years now I’ve wanted to write a guide to help judges think through the process of scoring the trees displayed in the Pacific Bonsai Expo. It’s one of a small number of exhibits where the exhibitors are the judges, and we don’t expect the members of the judging panel to all have broad experience […]
Judging
How to judge a bonsai show – highlights from the Minnesota State Fair
Last weekend I had the opportunity to judge the Minnesota Bonsai Society’s annual show held at the state fair. An amazing crowd of 225,000 people attended the fair that day, and many of them lined up to see the bonsai on display, a club tradition dating back to 1975. For those who are curious about […]
Scoring broadleaf evergreen bonsai at the Expo
Let’s look at two of the more impressive broadleaf evergreens in the Expo, a ficus and a cork oak. Chinese Banyan Tiger Bark Ficus by Jeff SternImage courtesy Julian Tsai Cork Oak by Michael RobertsImage courtesy Vince Smith Both trees scored well in the judging – here are the details: Tiger bark ficus: overall rank: […]
Kokufu scoring exercise results
For those of you curious to learn which trees scored best in the recent Kokufu scoring exercise (see part 1 and part 2 for details), here they are! Large conifer – shimpaku juniper Large deciduous – Japanese beech Medium display – trident maple and shimpaku juniper Shohin display – white pine, black pine, gardenia, privet, […]
Kokufu scoring exercise part 1: coniferous and deciduous bonsai
In the run-up to this fall’s Pacific Bonsai Expo, I’ve been thinking a lot about evaluating bonsai. We’re working on a scoring system for the Expo judging panel and wanted to give everyone who’s interested a chance to test the approach out. For sample trees, I’ve selected images from the 94th Kokufu Exhibition held in […]