2025 US National Exhibit — Vending Area

[Vincent Tanner]

I’m making this thread to share any experiences in the vending area and/or to show and tell any goodies you may have picked up at the show!

They added several more vendors than in 2023 and you could definitely feel that it was tighter. But, IMO, the more the merrier. I enjoyed the variety.

There’s always buzz about rushing in to buy things because vendors sell out immediately (or even before opening!!), but I heard talk of Bill trying to crackdown a little on pre-sales. I’m not sure if there’s any truth to that, but it seemed that no one sold much, if anything, before hand.

I also think most of the vendors had a large enough inventory that no one sold out in the first several hours (or even first day?). Nao and Sara Rayner still had pots on Sunday, which was nice. It didn’t feel like you had to trample people Black Friday style to get something.

I thought Mary and Nao had fantastic stuff. Gayle Fiato’s work as stunning as usual. The pots she’s sending to Japan were mind bending. Roy had beautiful stuff as usual. My friends Josh Jeram and Chris Abling brought some incredible pots.

Suthin had gorgeous trees for sale. There was some great raw material available from Todd and others.

Everyone had very fair prices, IMO, too!

I’ll share some of the stuff I was able to score below. Did anyone else get anything fun? Any one have reviews to add?

 

[Vincent Tanner]

Wave-style accent from Roy Minarai



Large mokko pot from Josh Jeram

 

[darzuo]

Pots from Roy and Gayle

 

[Vincent Tanner]

Oooh, love that dark glaze on Roy’s pot.

 

[stubmle]

I got a novel trident maple cultivar from Julian Adams. He's calling it Adams' Arakawa as it develops rough bark. I asked him about its origin and he stated it came from a seedling derived from another rough-bark trident owned by Bill Valavanis (if I recall correctly). He's been propagating them by layers and cuttings ever since. Seems like it barks up pretty fast- the 2-3 year old rooted cutting I got already has lower bark that looks notably different from other trident maples of similar age. Mr. Adams also noted that it grows a bit slower than normal tridents and isn't quite as easy to strike cutting from. He hasn't registered the cultivar yet and it sounds like he doesn't intend to, but he encouraged me to try propagating it once it is large enough.

Got some other interesting stuff as well, I'll post pics of some later.

 

[Jrmcmich]

I got some pots but no trees. I thought some of the trees seemed higher than what I had seen at smaller shows although there were some very impressive trees for sale just out of my price point. Not sure comparison as first time going to larger show myself. Was glad to go and see all the trees and vendors. Was busy and crowded for sure

 

[jszg]

If I realized Julian was vending, I'd have bought a ticket (But why would he not be there? Somehow it skipped my mind.) I've been talking to him for years but I managed to have never met the guy.

 

[Vincent Tanner]

I got some pots but no trees. I thought some of the trees seemed higher than what I had seen at smaller shows although there were some very impressive trees for sale just out of my price point. Not sure comparison as first time going to larger show myself. Was glad to go and see all the trees and vendors. Was busy and crowded for sure

I think some prices may have been inflated slightly being at the big show. But there were definitely some very fair prices and even some deals.

I hear what you’re saying about price point, though. Even a lot of the fairly priced stuff was a lot for me. But I learned to make less bonsai purchases, but make them bigger! Instead of buying a bunch of small things throughout the year, just go for one big purchase!

 

[yashu]

 

[yashu]

If I realized Julian was vending, I'd have bought a ticket (But why would he not be there? Somehow it skipped my mind.) I've been talking to him for years but I managed to have never met the guy.

I had arranged to pick up a couple “off menu” items from Julian long before the event. I rolled up on Saturday and he plucks a couple princess persimmon and a Zuisho white pine clone out from under the table for me and he immediately had several people asking “are there any more of those!?!?”… that was my moment of feeling “bonsai cool ” for the weekend.

 

[RJG2]

One thing I wished there had been more of is raw stock. From my observations, there was a good amount of:

* Mostly finished trees
* Collected conifers (a lot of lodgepole, some blue spruce, and larch)

I'd love to see some collected deciduous.

One thing I was really looking for was a decent sized itoigawa to throw in the ground for scions and air layers. All I could find were some tiny twisted up starts for $75, or larger field grown for $1500 - which seemed steep.

I think there were some nice rough tridents for the price, but those are a bit out of my zone and I don't have the ability/setup to confidently overwinter them.

 

[Vincent Tanner]

I was looking for raw stock, too, but ended up getting a tree that’s pretty well developed. Oops!

 

[Dav4]

I came home with some nice pots…

A few solidly built rounds from Eli at Waldo Street Studios


Two nice pots- an oval and a rectangle- from Nao


A really great 22” unglazed signed Jim Barrett rectangle from Andy Smith. I always wanted a Jim Barrett pot and now I have one. It does need some cleaning though.

 

[Vincent Tanner]

And the Jim Barrett came with a bonus tree!!

 

[OrenjiIroNoNeko]

One thing I wished there had been more of is raw stock. From my observations, there was a good amount of:

* Mostly finished trees
* Collected conifers (a lot of lodgepole, some blue spruce, and larch)

I'd love to see some collected deciduous.

One thing I was really looking for was a decent sized itoigawa to throw in the ground for scions and air layers. All I could find were some tiny twisted up starts for $75, or larger field grown for $1500 - which seemed steep.

I think there were some nice rough tridents for the price, but those are a bit out of my zone and I don't have the ability/setup to confidently overwinter them.

It's a mix depending on what you are looking for. I ended up stopping over to Bill's nursery for his open house and snagged some raw stick them.

I was torn at the show trying to find something that I could find a vision for. Look under the tables next time. Space is at a premium and many vendors had their raw stock under the table.

 

[RJG2]

Look under the tables next time. Space is at a premium and many vendors had their raw stock under the table.

Oh I did, that's where I found the $1500 itoigawas

Good tip though!

 

[stubmle]

I got a novel trident maple cultivar from Julian Adams. He's calling it Adams' Arakawa as it develops rough bark. I asked him about its origin and he stated it came from a seedling derived from another rough-bark trident owned by Bill Valavanis (if I recall correctly). He's been propagating them by layers and cuttings ever since. Seems like it barks up pretty fast- the 2-3 year old rooted cutting I got already has lower bark that looks notably different from other trident maples of similar age. Mr. Adams also noted that it grows a bit slower than normal tridents and isn't quite as easy to strike cutting from. He hasn't registered the cultivar yet and it sounds like he doesn't intend to, but he encouraged me to try propagating it once it is large enough.

Got some other interesting stuff as well, I'll post pics of some later.

Here's some pics of the Adams' Arakawa.

Close up of trunk

Compare this to a regular trident maple of similar age, maybe a bit older.

Also starting to develop a bit of texture, but not nearly as much as the first one!

 

[stubmle]

More stuff! Sorry about my ugly door, it's the best backdrop I have at the moment.
A few things from Lakeside Bonsai of Benton Harbor, MI. Definitely check them out if you're in the area! They had some very nice collected trees at very attractive prices. I unfortunately didn't get the name of the guy working the booth, but he was very nice & helpful. Got two things from him- a green maple clump & a very nice collected larch. The maple was started by him from seed about 5 years ago and has fused nicely. The individual trees in it have very consistent foliage for seedlings; I think he said the seeds came from Evergreen Gardenworks. It's in a vintage Japanese pot and has a personal chop on it, though I'm not sure of the potter's name. The larch has some very nice deadwood up top. I've been carefully picking off the old bark there to expose the heartwood, trying not to leave any tool marks. I think it will make a great feature once done. The roots are a bit gnarly but that can be dealt with in time.
Click image for full-size.

Also got some accent plants from a few different vendors. From left-right: dwarf horsetail, 'Pandora's Box' dwarf hosta, edelweiss, 'Flying Dragon' citrus. Last one is cold-hardy to zone 5, so I'll probably plant it in the ground to grow out. It had a bit of downy scale on it but some neem oil took care of it.

Got something else from Mr. Adams, a satsuki azalea 'Nikko.'

Got a 'Kotohime' Japanese maple from Von's Garden of Connecticut.

Lastly, a few items from the ABS seminars on Friday- not really vendor items but it feels like they belong here. I attended Mark Comstock's lectures on propagation & root development of young cutting-grown material. He was kind enough to let us take a few young plants. On the left are a few rooted hinoki cuttings, on the right two young Japanese black pine starts. Those have already had the roots cut once & are due for a second root-cutting.

The hinoki are interesting- they're a cultivar called 'Rhode Island Green,' derived from the more-common 'Gracilis' cultivar. They're only grown by a single nursery, a wholesaler named Rhode Island Nurseries in Middletown, RI. They are not open to the public, so these are apparently quite hard to come by at this size. Mr. Comstock propagates these for them & very graciously let us each take a few home. This variety is unusual among hinoki cultivars as it back-buds readily. It's not obvious on these little ones, but he had a mature specimen with him & I saw myself that it buds on old wood. It grows much more vigorously than the dwarf hinoki cultivars, but can achieve similarly small & dense foliage with regular pinching. I looked online but could not find anything about 'Rhode Island Green,' so they must be fairly uncommon. If anyone else has one I'd love to hear about them!

I was on a bit of a tight budget this time so that's about it for notable items. I'm still a bit of a newbie so I was trying to prioritize starter plants, things I could not find in my area, or things that seemed like good value. I'd like to attend the next National in '27, hopefully by then I'll have a larger budget & trees nice enough to warrant buying some nice pots for.

I was really taken by how nice everyone was. Most of the vendors were happy to talk at length about what they had & help you find a good fit for your wants & budget.

 

[Sansokuu]

It’s interesting the mention of wanting more raw stock over finished trees, PBE is kind of the opposite, more people looking for finished trees there but more raw stock for sale.

A hint for east coast people to come out next PBE

 

[Bonsai Nut]

A hint for east coast people to come out next PBE

It's quite a drive....