The 45^th Upstate New York Bonsai Exhibition was successfully held on May 19-20, 2018 at the Monroe Community Hospital in Rochester, New York. Nearly 100 bonsai were displayed by members of the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York Inc. The Rochester chapter of Ikebana International presented a display of their flower arrangements. The Suiseki Study Group of Upstate New York also had a display their members’ stones. A bonsai demonstration was held on Saturday afternoon, while senior teachers from the ikebana society demonstrated on Sunday afternoon. A large sales area featured bonsai, pre-bonsai, display tables, tools, wire, supplies and more.

This year featured a special exhibit of Maple Bonsai. There were many different varieties of maples in the exhibition which included: Japanese maple, Trident maple, Full moon maple, Golden Full moon maple, Weeping Japanese maple and the following cultivars of Japanese maple, Koto Hime, Seigen, Atropurpureum, Ryusen, Deshojo, and Shishigashira.

At the end of the exhibition we welcomed 17 new members to our group. Our interesting, educational and entertaining programs draw people interested in bonsai from a broad region. Although the society meets in Rochester, New York, we have ACTIVE members from Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca and Eire, Pennsylvania, a three hour drive.

Joe Noga, a past president and current member from Greenville, North Carolina, travels to the exhibition to photograph and display a few of his bonsai every year with his wife Louise. This year he brought his new 50 megapixel large format camera to capture the beauty of the bonsai. He truly works wonders with his lights and lens and often makes the bonsai look better than they really are. Everyone was warned to make sure their containers and trees are clean as his camera even picks up fingerprints and minute pieces of debris on the trees and display tables.

The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York Inc is fortunate to have many dedicated members who freely give of their valuable time and talents to lead the group in promoting bonsai.

Enjoy the formal portraits of bonsai by Joe Noga.