This past weekend I had the pleasure of serving as the featured guest at the 47th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit hosted by the Midwest Bonsai Society. It was a fantastic weekend thanks to the hard work of the organizers and volunteers that made the event possible.

The show takes place at the Chicago Botanical Gardens, a beautiful setting for a bonsai event, in Glencoe, Illinois. I spent Friday morning judging the exhibit and provided a critique that evening. I’m always looking for a better word than ‘critique’ as it’s more of an opportunity to highlight work that’s done well and to provide suggestions for further improvements. The rest of the weekend featured workshops, a demonstration, and plenty of shopping opportunities with the 36 vendors on site.

Visitors come from all over the Midwest making this a great opportunity to catch up with friends from throughout the region – a rare treat as I haven’t had the chance to visit the area recently.

At the event’s core, however, is the exhibit. Here are some of the highlights.

Hinoki

Clump-style Japanese maple

Limber pine

White pine and zelkova

Variegated Asian jasmine

Foliage detail

Eastern white cedar

Eastern white cedar

Umbrella tree

Juniper display

Thanks again to everyone who made the event a success and a special shout out to VP of Special Events Matt Mazza who coordinated the festivities and made my participation possible – thanks, Matt!

News & Updates

• The Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s annual exhibit is this weekend, August 23-24, in Rohnert Park. Demonstration by Mike Pistello on Saturday at 1pm (there’s no demonstration on Sunday). Learn more at the event website.

• I recently had a fun chat with Evan Pardue on the Little Things for Bonsai People Podcast – you can listen to the interview here.