42ndMidwest Bonsai Exhibition is being held on August 16-19, 2019 at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, hosted and organized by the Midwest Bonsai Society. Nearly 100 bonsai from across the Midwest and beyond are on display.
Having attended 40 of these exhibitions I can state that this year’s bonsai are the best I’ve seen in the past four decades in this show. The trees continue to mature and become refined and are not crowded, allowing plenty of space to admire and learn from the beauty which has been created and shared.
BEST OF SHOW
Rocky Mountain Juniper by Tim Priest
FIRST PRIZE PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
Miyajima Japanese Five-needle Pine by Mark Fields
SECOND PRIZE PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
Hatsuyuki Star Jasmine by Owen Rich
THIRD PRIZE PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
Sargent Juniper by Tim Priest
I was honored to judge this year’s exhibition and conduct an educational critique after the show ended on Friday. Comments on each bonsai were written on each judging form to make suggestions on future improvement as well as highlight the good, as well as the poor elements of each presentation. After completing nearly 100 judging forms I had a difficult time to award the ribbons and trophy cups. It was interesting that each bonsai in the novice category deserved and was presented a ribbon.
