Carolina Bonsai Expo

Shimpaku


Red Maple

More maples

That last maple (above) is part of the Arboretum collection...as are these trees...
Pink Bougie



Hinoki/azalea group

The display garden...a winding, handicap accessible pathway.

logo tree



Display garden

Never been a huge fan of Hinoki but that second ones blown me away!! Anyone know anything about its history? Beautiful old tree.

Thanks for the pics, John. I like the Best in Show Shohin but I also like the Hinoki one.

I was blown away some years ago by my visit to the Washington DC National Bonsai and Penjiing Museum. Think I need to up my weekly Lottery attempts to see if I can get the wherewithal to take the trip over to the Nth Carolina one. It looks very much like it wouldn't disappoint either.

That sure was a great hinoki but I don't know it's history.

JimLewis wrote:

I look forward to your pics, John. These are abut all I got. Good to see you there, though you seem to have disappeared later.

I did disappear for a bit...I rode my bicycle from the Arboretum to the top of Mt Pisgah (5000 ft elevation). Here are a couple of pics along the Blue Ridge Parkway...

Oh! That exhausts me just reading about it. I think the color is going to peak in about a week, so you may have to do it again. Great pics.

Fiona, when you win the lottery, you can stay here and help me with that juniper everyone loves so much.

JimLewis wrote:Fiona, when you win the lottery, you can stay here and help me with that juniper everyone loves so much.

Jim, in certain towns and villages in Scotland that statement would practically constitute an offer of marriage!

Alas, Fiona . . . Jackie beat you to it -- 50 years ago next June -- after a 6 year courtship.

But she'll be happy to see you, too.

JimLewis wrote:The needles didn't look cut to me, and I doubt she's have chosen it if they were. She commented on things like that.

Looks like they were cut, even if she didn't say anything about it.

Will Baddeley and John Quinn were asking about the history of the Chamaecyparis obtusa bonsai at the Asheville show. I'll tell you what I can: The plant was purchased from a nursery in Oregon where it was a "stock plant" (meaning used for cuttings for rooting and grafting) that was started in the 50's and was shutting down. No one knew what cultivated variety it was, but since it only grows about a half inch every year, it's not 'Nana' or 'Nana Gracilis'. It does grow faster than 'Seka' but I'll probably never know as there are hundreds of Cham. ob. cultivars and the species produces branch "sports" quite often. My bonsai actually has a white and green branch on the upper right side. It was living in the garden of the nursery I now work for and being used like a fire hydrant by the local dogs. Upon seeing it, I immediately potted it and cleaned out all the dead foliage (3 years ago). After a year of begging, I convinced the owner to let me have it and started the training. I repotted the tree and did part of the basic styling with Warren Hill, then wired the tree (Spring 2008). This June-July, I detail wired the whole tree with copper. Bjorn Bjorholm gave me some great tips on aesthetics and showed me a few tricks before I commenced wiring. Bjorn is a great asset for anyone interested in the refinement of their trees. I've attempted to upload a photo of the tree shortly after digging in 2007.

Future plans for the tree include a custom pot about half the current depth with a thinner lip. Kathy Shaner felt it needed to be more open near the apex with more jin to mirror the effect created at the base, and I agree.

Thanks for the info Owen, I think this tree is stunning!! I did'nt even look at the pot....

Owen, welcome to the forum. Your pic didn't post. Please see Jim's tutorial on posting pics in the testing forum...it's easy once you figure it out.

For those of you that might like to see a few more of the trees and displays I put together this short narrated video.




Thanks,
John

Nice presentation John...thanks for the time put into it!

Congratulations Randy on the People Choice Award for your five man forest, and to all the others for such a show. Thanks to those who posted the pictures. One of these days I will make it to the Expo.

Hi Jim, Thank You for your kind words and thank You for taking the time to take pictures of the Expo and for posting them here.
Ken

John Q, Your pictures of the Expo, the Bonsai Garden and the Mountains are very good as usual, we are lucky to have your great pictures each year to show off this wonderful place.
Thanks
Ken