Usually I don’t like distracting backgrounds, but the vertical lines in this display aren’t too bad. It doesn’t hurt that the tree is so powerful. It looks like a Yew, but there’s no verification with the photo. I found it at Michael Bonsai on facebook.
Time to head to Chicago. Speaking of, you might be too young to know the song Chicago. It was written in 1922 and was recorded by a number of artists. The most famous version is by Frank Sinatra (1957). Anyway, whenever the I hear about Chicago the song immediately pops into my head. Fortunately, there are a lot worse songs, so no complaint.
All this has little to do with bonsai. Except the part about Chicago. Turns out the Midwest Bonsai Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden starts this weekend. All the photos shown here are from the show setup. I took the liberty to crop and fiddle with the brightness/contrast. My apologies to the photographers.
This has to be one of the most powerful trees in the exhibition. It’s a formal pine that belongs to Bill Valavanis. I couldn’t find a mention of the variety. The photo is also Bill’s.
Is this two headed monster a Korean hornbeam? Or…? Anyway, it’s a great tree. Like a lot of bonsai it’s got that very low branch that some people might remove. Photo by Michael Bonsai.
Good Ginkgos are few and far between. This is the second one we’ve featured in the last few days. Photo by Michael Bonsai.
If you visit Japanese or European bonsai exhibitions, you almost never see tropical bonsai. Here in the U.S. we have some subtropical zones where it’s easy to grow tropical trees. Most notably much of Florida and parts of California. My guess is this Willow leaf ficus is from Florida. Photo by Michael Bonsai.
I don’t know what kind of pine this is but the bark could be Ponderosa, though I think the needles are a little small for Ponderosa. Maybe it’s a Lodgepole? Photo by Mark Field.
Nice Shimpaku. Photo by Michael Bonsai.
Some beautiful bonsai although the ‘two headed/Korean hornbeam’ seems off balance to me. The bottom branch can stay but the tree needs repositioning in the pot.
The Midwest Bonsai Society show is one of the few open shows, meaning you do not have to be a member of the MBS in order to exhibit. It attracts trees from all over the country, though most are mainly from the Midwest. The trees were pretty good this year, well worth the trip to visit. In my opinion this is the second best bonsai show east of the Rocky Mountains, second only to the National Show in Rochester, NY organized by Bill Valvanis.
The first image is indeed a Taxus.
The pine exhibited by Bill Valvanis is the pine featured here before, P. sylvestris “RAF” and was judged “Best in Show – Professional Category”
The Ginkgo and the Carpinus are trees that are part of the permanent collection of the Chicago Botanic Garden. The permanent collection is a fine collection, well worth a feature article. Recently a book has been published with images from this collection.
The Juniper is variety Itogawa, exhibited by an artist from Indianapolis area, the accent plant is a dwarf bamboo, Plieoblastus viridi-striata var chysophyllus, a charming cultivar that opens brilliant golden yellow in spring and slowly fades to the light green you see in the photo.
This show is held the second weekend of August every year. Makes plans now to attend the 2015 show, August 14 – 16, 2015.
The Leo,
Always nice to get the inside story.
Hi Ann,
Would you lean it just a tad to the right?
Yes, just a tad Wayne