This year’s suiseki exhibit was held in the Greenhouse Gallery at the International Bonsai Arboretum on September 10-11, 2022, in Rochester, New York. An active membership of 13, from a much larger group of the Suiseki Study Group of the Bonsai Society of Upstate New York shared their prized suiseki with visitors and answered many questions. A few weeks ago we had our annual stone collecting trip and a few of the newly collected stones were displayed as suiseki. A stone or rock does or become a suiseki until it is collected and appreciated for its artistic suggestions of natural scenic formations or of objects.

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The 13 members shared their 48 suiseki with visitors, and each was displayed in a hand carved wooden daiza or water basins. All the suiseki were displayed on appropriate display tables. Two of the exhibits were displayed with bonsai to illustrate how they ca appreciated with bonsai. In addition of suiseki from New York, others came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Alabama, California, Puerto Rico, Japan, China, Africa, Albania, Maine and Georgia.

Today we finished setting up my displays to welcome visitors to my garden for this weekend’s Open House & Sale. Each of the individual displays was very carefully designed, and the entire four displays as well. Each display is unique, all trees, containers, display tables, accessory plantings have not been duplicated. Even all of the flat stands under the accessory plantings differ.

The main alcove display in the studio features a Golden Full Maple and Dwarf Sumac. The foliage is still green on the sumac and I’m trying to time the orange red autumn coloring to hold until the Pacific Bonsai Expo in Oakland, California. So far dark green, so I’m hoping to get lucky because I’d like to use it with one of my two maples I’m displaying.

We are taking extra good care of the display maples. But, I just happen to have two excellent alternative maples of the same cultivars.

The main display alcove uses a special hanging scroll Seiji Morimae painted for me when my mother died several years ago. The dark colors over the moon present a sad emotion. Since Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday I thought it might be appropriate for the main display.

According to my taste there is an error in this display. Can you find it?

We also set up the 8^th Upstate New York Suiseki Exhibit, featuring 45 stones from America, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, New York, Japan, China, California, Wyoming, Puerto Rico as well as Australia and Albania. It took a long time to transform my greenhouse into a spotless area for a suiseki displays. Hopefully I’ll have time to take  few photos to share here.

Have you found the display error yet?

The lowest area of bonsai is one of the most important features which creates beauty and the character of the bonsai. We work the surface root area quite a bit when transplanting. Please note that nearly all of these bonsai have spent their entire lives in a container, carefully shaping and allowing the trees to mature slowly during the past 60 plus years under my care. The Ginkgo, Chrysanthemums, Larch, Satsuki, Korean Hornbeam and only one Trident maple were trained from field grown of collected material. All others have been completely container grown.

Today, just before, watering (and weeding and clean up too!) a few of my bonsai trunk bases looked interesting, so I’d like to share them with you. Yuji Yoshimura taught me to photograph bonsai when the trunks are dry and show more details and rich colors. Once I had to delay a formal photoshoot because it rained the night before. The professional photographer did not understand and I had to wait several days to capture the beauty of the trees on film, not digital, as it was decades ago before electronic imaging.

Please note that these are actual photos of my bonsai tree trunks as growing outside in a full sun exposure. Many have weeds, old needles and moss growing on the surface roots. The dozen or so bonsai selected for formal display at this weekend’s Open House & Sale have been moved from the growing tables to another area where they have been prepared for my 10 formal indoor displays. I can’t move the heavy trees alone so must wait until my friends come tomorrow to move them inside. The display tables, scrolls and accessory plantings are all cleaned and set up. 

I’ll post a few photos of my formal displays which have been carefully selected to greet my visitors at our 2022 Autumn Bonsai Open House & Sale this coming weekend, September 10 &11. Finally I watered my bonsai for almost two hours, while Diane spent three hours watering the sales and nursery areas.