25 US National Prize Winners

[darzuo]

There was one tiny sign on the front desk saying no photos - that being said - everyone was taking photos. Bill even stopped to wait while @yashu took one

We'll get some posted.

When I was getting inside somebody there (not sure who it was) said photos are alright but no tripods and no videos

 

[Hartinez]

There was one tiny sign on the front desk saying no photos - that being said - everyone was taking photos. Bill even stopped to wait while @yashu took one

We'll get some posted.

Good man.

 

[yashu]

There was one tiny sign on the front desk saying no photos - that being said - everyone was taking photos. Bill even stopped to wait while @yashu took one

We'll get some posted.

Full disclosure; I did not see the little circle slash camera thingy until later… and I was using my phone

 

[RJG2]

Started a new thread, since this should be about the winners.

Thread '2025 National Bonsai Exhibition photos'

Sep 14, 2025

Share away!

I need to do some cropping, but I'll get some up shortly.

• RJG2
• Replies: 93
• Forum: Events, Exhibitions, Outings & Garden Visits

• 

 

[Ruddigger]

Great trunk, overall structure good, but I found the two different needle sizes (last years vs this years) very...distracting? Maybe not the right word but definitely detracted from the overall impression. Last year's needles too long and messy, this year's too short. Curious if that's what you are referring to, or something else...

Yes. Ideally you would have skipped decandling this year. Showing a tree with cut needles and half formed shoots is not a good look. I was shocked it won anything.

 

[Vincent Tanner]

 

[Vincent Tanner]

More winners… Best medium, best shohin, best bunjin, best kusamono.

 

[Ruddigger]

The bunjin was very nice.

 

[Jrmcmich]

There was one tiny sign on the front desk saying no photos - that being said - everyone was taking photos. Bill even stopped to wait while @yashu took one

We'll get some posted.

As my wife tells me I never Read signs so glad I didnt see that as I took pictures

 

[Ruddigger]

Winning pots from @NaoTK

And from @Sansokuu

 

[rockm]

Winning pots from @NaoTK View attachment 614124View attachment 614123

And from @Sansokuu
View attachment 614125View attachment 614126

Wow. Well deserved!

 

[RJG2]

Hartford CT club took some nice photos of the winners - category is in the description of each photo:

https://www.facebook.com/100064906141272/posts/1248639900642870

 

[stubmle]

There was some controversy about the winner of Best Literati; some people (including some I respect very highly) felt it's not really a literati! REALLY nice tree but I'm not sure how the judges came to that decision.

 

[Jrmcmich]

There was some controversy about the winner of Best Literati; some people (including some I respect very highly) felt it's not really a literati! REALLY nice tree but I'm not sure how the judges came to that decision.

Wow didn’t even realize when I saw that tree was considered literati.

 

[Vincent Tanner]

Hartford CT club took some nice photos of the winners - category is in the description of each photo:

https://www.facebook.com/100064906141272/posts/1248639900642870

Hey, that’s me! Some of those photos I took, some I borrowed.

 

[Wood]

The bunjin was very nice.

Beautiful tree but I don't think I'd ever consider that a literati, much less the best literati in the room?

Best in show was a large pine that was not worked properly to be shown at this time.

Glad you said it Rudd. Couldn’t believe this was the winner. Just my take

I'm not sure I can endorse the best in show decision, but this is an amazing tree. Suzuki-san from Daiju-en was one of the judges, and he's definitely got an eye for black pines. Wes Jones is one of Andrew Robson's clients, and he gave a little more context for the tree here:

. It's 500+ years old, collected from Korea, imported to the US back in the 80s. The bark on that tree was amazing, and these photos are doing a bad job of recreating my feeling of seeing the tree. The short and long needles are distracting and a bit unkempt, but that was the only thing I could critique on this tree. It's immediately apparent age trumps everything else to me

I really struggled with the best deciduous pick. The fall color looks great on the tree, but it looked dramatically different under the foliage to me. I thought it was the canopy was grown out of the proper size silhouette, and the internodes at the end of the branches were longer than the ones closer to the trunk

 

[Vincent Tanner]

I watched this video with Andrew as well. I appreciate the historical context and provenance of the tree. I just think the expectation at a show like this is to cross your t’s and dot your i’s… the highest level of execution. One of the docents commented that it probably would not have been acceptable in a Japanese show, but we let more things slide in the US.

For the record, I am playing armchair quarterback.

 

[Hartinez]

I watched this video with Andrew as well. I appreciate the historical context and provenance of the tree. I just think the expectation at a show like this is to cross your t’s and dot your i’s… the highest level of execution. One of the docents commented that it probably would not have been acceptable in a Japanese show, but we let more things slide in the US.

For the record, I am playing armchair quarterback.

Beautiful tree but I don't think I'd ever consider that a literati, much less the best literati in the room?




I'm not sure I can endorse the best in show decision, but this is an amazing tree. Suzuki-san from Daiju-en was one of the judges, and he's definitely got an eye for black pines. Wes Jones is one of Andrew Robson's clients, and he gave a little more context for the tree here:

. It's 500+ years old, collected from Korea, imported to the US back in the 80s. The bark on that tree was amazing, and these photos are doing a bad job of recreating my feeling of seeing the tree. The short and long needles are distracting and a bit unkempt, but that was the only thing I could critique on this tree. It's immediately apparent age trumps everything else to me

I really struggled with the best deciduous pick. The fall color looks great on the tree, but it looked dramatically different under the foliage to me. I thought it was the canopy was grown out of the proper size silhouette, and the internodes at the end of the branches were longer than the ones closer to the trunk

100% with you on the armchair quarterback @Vincent Tanner . But I just find it crazy that flaws in the design, horticulture etc are being written off as secondary to the features that had nothing to do with the artist.

It begs the question, are we awarding the tree the win or the artist who presents it? I would think the awards should be reserved for not just exceptional
trees (which this tree is) but also exceptional work (which from my armchair quarterback position, this tree is not).

 

[stubmle]

The short and long needles are distracting and a bit unkempt, but that was the only thing I could critique on this tree.

My feelings exactly!

One of the docents commented that it probably would not have been acceptable in a Japanese show, but we let more things slide in the US.

Good point! I did notice some unkempt details on some of the trees, though usually they were minor ones.

On the other hand... during Mr. Suzuki's demo on Sunday, he stated that some of the trees at the show could easily have got into the Kokufu-ten if they were in Japan. I don't think he was just being charitable!

Notably, he did not state that any would WIN at Kokufu...

 

[Mikecheck123]

Best in show was a large pine that was not worked properly to be shown at this time.

I didn't even realize it was in the competition because it looked so shaggy and ragged. I thought it was just there for more scenery.