Bonsai Society at Royal Botanical Gardens Exhibition
My local club, the Bonsai Society at Royal Botanical Gardens, had our first club exhibition this weekend. Bonsai@RBG was founded almost exactly 4 years ago in October 2009, and we were all proud of the exhibition our young club was able to produce.
Approximately 60 tree were displayed, all on stands and most with accompanying accent plants. We had no backdrops for many of the trees and we thought this would be an issue, but were pleasantly surprised with the feeling of openness that it gave the show. It was nice to be able to walk into the room and gaze across the entire exhibit. Of course, backgrounds are always more desirable in a formal display setting, and this is something we will work towards for future shows.
One of the amazing things about our show was how we all pooled our resources to make the best possible displays. Many of our members do not have stands, so we pooled together everything we had and paired the best stand with the tree, regardless of owner. Similarly, members provided accent plants and scrolls to elevate the display. Without this mutual support, the show certainly would not have come together as well as it did.
Enjoy the pics below of some of the trees I was able to photograph. Most are blurry because of the low light, I had to turn down the shutter speed and of course forgot my tripod.

A panoramic view of the back wall where some of the larger bonsai were displayed alongside some nice antique scrolls. None of us are experts in displaying bonsai with scrolls, but I think it is safe to say that they added to the beauty of the display.
- Accent
- Eastern White Cedar on “Niagara Escarpment”
- Demon Head Larch
- Collected Hawthorn
- Crab Apple
- Accent
- Eastern White Cedar
- Potentilla fruticosa
- Tamarack/Larch
- Japanese Maple “Bloodgood” by Nick Lenz
- Crimson Frost Birch
- Shimpaku Juniper
- American Larch “Penelope” by Nick Lenz
- Tamarack/Larch
- Hinoki Cypress
- Siberian Elm
- Portulacaria afra
- Hawthorn Trunk
- Ginkgo biloba
- Thuja deadwood accent
- Wisteria
- Some Lenzisms
- Korean Hornbeam and Blue Rug Juniper
- American Larch on Demon Head by Nick Lenz
- Pitch Pine “Ragged Shore”
- Larch Deadwood
- Trident Maple
- Nice Bigei pot and stand.
Nice capture of our display! You did good…
October 16, 2013 at 2:17 pm
I really like the open display. I think it lightens and causalizes the motif and this goes with the trees well. I see Penelope has become a mature composition–love the rounded top. I also really enjoyed the Thuya deadwood accent–so provocative. Wonderful display.
October 17, 2013 at 8:50 am