Royal Welsh Show

The 19th, 20th, 21st and 22ed of July was the week for the Royal Welsh Show this year, this is the largest agricultural show of its kind in Europe. I have been building show gardens at this event for 8 years now and this year I was given 30 feet in the professional area of the horticultural marquee to dedicate to Bonsai.

Although I loved building show gardens it has always been my aim to display Bonsai at this show, and in the way that I want. The " accepted way" would be to put as many trees on the tables that would fit with little or no accents etc, you know what I mean we have all seen it, and this unfortunately is reflected in the way a lot of club and societies show. Thankfully this is starting to change.
The 30 foot was split into 5 alcoves consisting of 4 trees and 1 suiseki, I knew this would be way out of the judges comfort zone and so I was prepared for any decision that they felt they had to deliver. As it was they gave the display a gold medal (One off the best that being a large gold), so I was pleasantly surprised . I talked to the judges afterwards and it was obvious that they did not understand a 3 point display and the suiseki was lost completely on them!

The Scots Pine has been in my possession for about 4 years now and stands 4 foot high its a very powerful tree and with the help of Hans and Terry at a Burrs workshop a few years ago it is well on its way to reaching a great image. The accent is mushrooms and grass in a great little pot purchased at Noelanders last year.

The scroll is Japanese, what is known as a Red Mt Fuji, this felt right for this show as I think the red lifts the image


The Larch group is a particular favourite of mine, its 5 ft long and 33ins high, the pot is by Dan Butler and is in three pieces for easy transportation. The scroll is Japanese and is hung centrally which feels perfect as it is without any accent



The stone is collected from the south Wales coast, one of what is coming to be known as Bristol Channel Stones, it reflects perfectly the atmosphere of the coast line in that part of the world. The scroll is Japanese and is the sun rise or fall, you decide over waves, and the accent is a seagull, my good friend Jerry brought me this back from the states as a present a while back he told me I would need it one day.




The big Chinese Elm is a crowd pleaser and is probably not to be taken to seriously as a Bonsai, its 63in high and42ins wide. The accent is bogwood with fern and moss.
The scroll is Japanese and is of sweetfish our equivalent to Salmon and Sea Trout and their migration back up river to spawn, a good summer image



The Oak originates from the Alps, The accent is a beautiful stone with a moss ball growing on it, The scroll is Japanese and I have used it to depict a small alpine high mountain plant.




Overall I was very pleased with what I created for the week but as it is with this type of thing there are things which I would like to have done differently, the background for instance was planned to be opaque white, garden fleece to be exact used in three layers to give depth to the colour but when setting up I found I had under estimated the amount left on the roll! and therefore had to revert to black, so this has been noted for next year. The scroll with the Elm was a problem I could not get it in the right position due to the extended back drop, so that was another little blip. The section boards worked OK but the small feet that they stand in are to heavy and need addressing. The makeshift Suiban that the stone is in is exactly that and I will look for or have made something that the stone deserves.
Its a crazy game this showing, but its the not getting it right that keeps me going
Regards Chris

Hi Chris,
This must be a one man show, I can recognize the trees, they are all yours.
Congratulations for the gold, you deserve it.
Cheers
Pabling

Hi Chris, your display is beautiful; trees, suiseki, scrolls.... all of it!
How did you manage to grow the mushroom accent? Would you mind sharing your tips on getting mushroom to grow for an accent like yours? I like the driftwood accent as well. Would you mind posting some pictures of the pine?
Thanks, Todd

Chris,

Very nice, well done. Hope it stayed dry and you got the public. Shame for them to miss it!

Well done Chris. The display looks excellent as usual and gold medals as well.

Nice work Chris. Well deserved.

Excellent Chris, great effort.

Thanks William, you beat me to it but I'd edited the tags in Chris's post before I saw yours! I removed the duplicate.

Chris,

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Why can't the big Chinese elm be re-labeled as a penjing? The 63x42" size would be perfectly acceptable that way.

Cordially,

Robert

Robert J. Baran wrote:Chris,

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Why can't the big Chinese elm be re-labeled as a penjing? The 63x42" size would be perfectly acceptable that way.

Cordially,

Robert

I was thinking along the same lines.

Thanks Pabling, yes they are all my own trees.

Thanks Todd, the mushrooms are resin! I would normally use real ones but this is a 4 day show and 5 including set up fungi is impossible to keep looking good for that length of time with the heat etc.

Thanks Ian weather was OK just wet for the Tuesday.

Thanks Will much appreciated.

Hi Smithy nice to hear from you and thanks, (Dragon boot sale Sept 5th)

Thank you Kev

Hi Robert I dont think its the size of the Elm that bothers me more the quality of the tree, the simple presence of the tree is what seems to
draw the non bonsai people at this type of show.
Regards Chris

Chris

Excellent sir! Gold well deserved

All the best

Andy

Hi Chris
congratulations on another gold medal,very nice display and I particularly liked the larch group with the scroll in the centre,which to my mind is where every scroll should be to enable you to work off of it !
Congratulations once again Chris,see you at Newstead
BB

Hi Chris , I will be at the boot sale for sure. , I came down last weekend but hadn't realised you were at the show.

Thanks Andy, see you at Burrs if not before

Hi Bob and thankyou for the comments, looking forward to Newstead see you there.

Sorry I missed you Smithy, see you in September

Regards Chris