Our show was canceled this year, so members photographed trees for a virtual show. Enjoy.
Alabama Bonsai Society’s 2020 (virtual) spring show
Category: Exhibitions
Alabama Bonsai Society’s Carolina Expo Display
Our club decided to show a Shohin display for this year’s Carolina Bonsai Expo, a great regional invitational show held annually in Asheville, North Carolina at the Arboretum. Over the last couple posts, I shared show prep on a black pine and a Shimpaku juniper; both trees were part of the Shohin display. Our club was invited to participate by submitting trees to be part of the display. Here is what we came up with.
Top: corkbark Japanese Black Pine, Shibakatsu pot
Middle left: Shimpaku Juniper, Chinese pot
Middle Right: azalea in painted pot
Lower left: Japanese Maple in Koyo pot
Lower right: crabapple, ‘sargentii’ in Roy Minarai pot
Accent: mixed planting in Sharaku pot
Outside right: Itoigawa juniper in Bigei pot
And so the cleanup began.
And here are a few photos from the show, from Karin R. and Wayne F.
Fall cleanup (and unexpected show-prep) on a twisty Itoigawa
I did some work in February, and let it mostly grow wild into October. So we start here:
The tree is one-dimensional, and has a few long branches extending on the back side, and a bald spot in the back left.
Below, my hand is covering the back left branch that needs to be shortened, and the bald spot is visible above my hand:
And the back right branch (this right side is the stronger side, and it’s pretty dense):
It does look ok from the front. However, you can’t limit the viewing angle in a show…
First, cleanup undersides and prune it back a bit. Here is that back left branch, removed:
First phase done:
Next, cleaning up the loose bark with a knife and scrubbed up with a toothbrush:
Soil surface mossed, and pot oiled with baby oil:
Finally, a coat of diluted lime sulfur on the deadwood:
