Pictures from the Bay Island Bonsai 10th Anniversary Show

An Exhibit of Fine Bonsai

Some people unfamiliar with fine bonsai exhibits may be wondering why anyone would want to hold a bonsai exhibit in the middle of winter.  Well, with proper planning and a lot of care, this is the perfect time to display bonsai.  The pines are at their best this time of year.  It took a full year of planning and proper timing of candle removal.  The junipers are full and healthy and have perfectly arranged branches with "show wire". 

The maples and other deciduous trees show off their fine branch structure.  With a full set of leaves the twigging and shape is often lost.  But, the real show stoppers are the fruiting and flowering trees.

At the Bay Island Bonsai 10th Anniversary Show there were several fruiting and flowering trees showing their true beauty.  The Ilex was full of red fruit.  It had been carefully taken indoors at night to keep it from getting to cold.  When temperatures were higher in the morning it was brought back outdoors, but kept in the shade to keep the fruit from falling off the tree.  The plum had similar treatment, only it was kept in the bathroom, a warm and humid part of the house.  This forced the tree into an early bloom, perfectly timed for the show.

An exhibit of this caliber doesn't just happen.  It takes a lot of work and planning to make it successful.  There is no other time of year when these trees could be shown in such beauty.