The Finest Evergreen Bonsai. San Jose Juniper by Anthony Alario of Providence, Rhode Island.
Round three
This is our third and final posting of the winners of the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition which was held just over two weeks ago. We’ll give it rest after this, until the book comes out later this year.
Night and day and just a tad
To repeat myself from the last post; “the photos from the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition are professional and well done. However, the difference between seeing the splendid power of top quality bonsai up close and personal, and photos of those same top quality bonsai are, to borrow a common phrase, like night and day. Really. If you were there, you know what I mean. If you weren’t, well, I hope you enjoy the photos.”
Now, after a little time to reflect, I think my statement was just a tad cavalier (I was there and you weren’t). So to cover my tracks… I realize that many of you were unable to attend and the photos are all you have to get an idea of the quality of the trees. This is not different from other shows that we are unable to attend (we have all been enjoying photos of trees from all over the world that we’ve never seen). So thanks to the people who go to trouble to take and share their photos. Though a photo will never be a perfect substitute for the real time and space experience, still, they can give you a pretty good idea of just how great these trees really are (oh well…).
Courtesy of Bill Valavanis
All the photos shown in this post are courtesy of Bill Valavanis. You can to go Bill’s posting on the Internet Bonsai Club if you’d like to see all the winners in one place and read Bill’s comments.
The Finest North American Species Bonsai. Coast Redwood by Robert Shimon of Point Arena, California.
Finest Bonsai & Companion Combination. By Michael Feduccia of Plant City, Florida.
One of the wonderful opportunities the US National Exhibition has provided is to see a species
elevated past what you think is possible in refinement. This San Jose Juniper looked like a Needle Juniper from Japan in person, I was stunned to learn it was a San Jose instead! As Wayne has mentioned, photos do not always capture the greatness and presence of the trees. The good news is that Joe Noga’s photo’s will come as close as possible. Joe and the photo crew spent 4 days capturing the individual beauty of every Bonsai displayed. The Exhibition Album will be a treasure! The details of each tree are such that they will provide many hours of enjoyment and discovery.
I for one can not wait until the next National Exhibition.
Hands down the best example of Coast Redwood bonsai I’ve ever seen.
Way to go, Bob.
Hey Bruce,
Yes. A great tree and of course, much better in person.
Hi Steven,
Ditto!
Hi Marc,
Yes. Good point. Joe and friends worked tirelessly (they move each tree and took apart each shohin display, to another room to photograph them and then, brought each one back to its original place and in the case of the shohin, reassembled them). Their next album should prove to be another winner.
And, again I agree. Tony Alario’s San Jose is a great tree and it photographed particularly well. Some trees fair better in photos than others.