Winners! Part 2 9/19/14

ABS North American Award. Finest North American Native Species Bonsai. Rocky Mountain Juniper. Brian Hollowell. There were lots of great native North American trees at the show, but this dynamic beauty with its snaky swirls of dead and live wood stood out. 

Yesterday we posted some of the winners from the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Now we’ve got the rest for you (all the photos are borrowed from Bill Valavanis’ excellent blog).

Once again, kudos to Bill and his crew for a great show. While we’re at it, just a reminder that photographs, though valuable, are mere shadows of the real thing. If photos provide most of your exposure to specimen bonsai you’re missing a lot (see you in 2016!).

Evergreen Bonsai Award. Finest Evergreen Bonsai. Wild Olive. Frank Cucchiara. What a great choice! This distinctive old tree would more than hold its own with the best of the gnarly old Olive bonsai that you find in Europe.

 

Bonsai Travel Award. Finest Bonsai & Companion Combination. Mixed Species. Marc Arpag. I don’t remember what kind of tree this is and can’t be sure from the photo. I do know that Marc specializes in our native Cedars (Thuja occidentalis), but neither the bark nor the foliage look like Cedar (could it be a Larch?). In any case it’s a a very good tree and a great display. You might notice the massive size of the magnificent pot. My guess is the roots of this tree, which was almost certainly collected in the wild, demanded such a large pot.

 

Here’s Marc’s companion. A great slab doesn’t hurt, but the vibrant little planting could easily stand on its own.

 

All American Award. Finest American Species in an American Container shown on an American Display Table. Buttonwood. Paul Pikel. Buttonwoods are found on Florida’s southern shores and have become a signature American tropical bonsai, so this tree (pot and stand too) is a very good choice for this particular award. It doesn’t hurt that of the several notable Buttonwoods at the show, this one more than holds its own.

Deciduous Bonsai Award. Finest Deciduous Bonsai. Sharps Pygmy Japanese Maple. Sergio Cuan. Japanese maples hold a spot in the hearts and minds of bonsai lovers around the world and this lush beauty with its perfectly upright trunk and top, and understated nebari, doesn’t disappoint. As an aside, the overall shape mirrors many of the large Sugar maples you find here in Vermont.

 

One of the many rows full of magnificent bonsai.

Thanks again to Bill Valavanis for providing these and other great photos from the 4th U.S National Bonsai Exhibition. And for his tireless and ongoing efforts to promote the astonishing art of bonsai.