Mahogany Row Studio

Bonsai Societies of Florida Convention

Posted by Rob Kempinski on Mar 25 2009

This past weekend the Bonsai Societies of Florida held their annual convention in near Orlando at the Ramada in Celebration.

Here are a few photos of the exhibit trees.

A Juniper parsonni from my collection. The pot is Chinese.

This Florida Elm (Ulmus Americana floridana) was supposed to be shown on the right of my Parsons Juniper but the exhibit did not have enough room, so it was placed on this separate pedestal. The pot is by American, Tom Dimig.

This is a Chinese Elm by fellow club member Dr. Reggie Perdue.

I displayed this shohin assortment. It had a Dwarf Yauppon Holly (Illex vomitoria schillings nana) with Chinese pot, Willow leaf Ficus (Ficus salicaria) Sara Rayner pot, Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassfolia) in Chinese pot, Chinese Hackberry (Celtis Sinensis) in a hand made Japanese pot, Nea (Nea Buxifolia) in an American Made pot from Matt Castle, Brooklyn, NY , and a Chinese Juniper over rock (Junipersus chinesis shimpaku grafted on Juniper parsonii trunk) in a pot I made. The accent is in a pinch pot also made by me. I don’t know the name of the accent.

This Pink Trumpet Flower (Tabebuia) by Jim Smith was selected for the BSF President’s award.

In an effort to try something different I put together this display of a Slash Pine (Pinus elloitii) and an Azalea. Our Florida native Slash Pine is uncommon as bonsai as it has long needles. However, I’ve been growing this for for several years and now that it is large enough, I am using the needles to make it into a weeping style. While the photo doesn’t do it justice, I received many positive comments on this tree, even by the artists doing the critique. The round pot is by American, Dale Cochoy.
The azalea made one flower about 2 weeks before the show so I figured it would be in bloom for the show, but alas the other flowers had not yet bloomed. Even still with its good shape and small leaves it was worth showing. The pot is by American, Gus Miller, who used to be a fellow club member but moved north a few years ago.

Speaking of something different, a day before the show I noticed my Snake Root Ficus Salicaria was making small new orange colored leaves. So I pulled off the remaining leaves from last year that were pretty weather beaten and decided to show this Snake root raft style in a snake pot that I made back in 1999. The reaction to this tree was similar to the reaction to people have to US presidents, they either loved it or hated it.

This mini-tokonoma by Martha Goff was kinda cute. It even featured lights with a motion sensor in it.

Here is an interesting Bald Cypress by Jim Van Landingham.

This is a large Green Island Ficus. I don’t really care for the leaves and growth habit of the GI Ficus but this one was large enough to over come that. Could use a stand or perhaps as its so large maybe a separate table that is a bit lower.

A fairly young Brazilian Rain Tree showing a wide tropical crown.

This bunjin Fukien Tea by Martha Goff had some potential. I felt it needed more foliage to balance the heft of the trunk.

A quick virtual to add some foliage mass.

Here is another literati tree, a Brazilian Rain tree.

Here is a small display set up by Louise Leister, former President of BSF. She was awarded the Joe Samuels award for this display. It features a Bald Cypress and a Willow Leaf Ficus along with several other knick knacks and a scroll.

Although the number of trees in the display was modest, the quality for the most part was pretty good. More work is needed on putting together good displays.