Once again we had a very busy Labour Weekend with our annual show. This year the weather was kind and the public were out enjoying the sunshine at Hamilton Gardens.

A change in the layout this year saw specific areas set aside for shohin displays, smaller tree displays and the shohin project.

A well stocked sales area saw bonsai, pots tools, wire and raw material regularly flowing out of the door. New to this years show was a bonsai clinic where members of the public could bring along their trees for advice and a number of new bonsai were created with guidance from club members.

A table was set up outside and several of the committee worked on trees, answered questions from the public and encouraged them to visit the show.

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Shohin Project

The Hamilton Club show saw the end of the Shohin Project. A display area was set aside for displaying both the trees and the supporting documentation and photographs showing the development of the trees over the past 18 months.

10 trees were shown and the level of documentation varied but all entrants are to be congratulated for actually producing both the tree and their records.

The judges chose one of Sandra’s trees as the overall winner.

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Jeff Richards Memorial

The 2016 show saw the inaugural presentation of the Jeff Richards Memorial
award. Created in memory of one of the leading characters of the club the award consists of a wire tree in a pot created by Ken To from the USA mounted on a piece of polished timber from the UK.

The trophy is awarded at the annual show for the best NZ Native bonsai on display. The first winner was Peter Walton for his stunning coprosma.

The Lane Award

Sometimes the outcome of the Lane Memorial Award at our show is hard to predict with a number of trees in the running.

This year the outcome was predictable from the first vote with the overwhelming public vote being for the beautiful red maple from Noel Plowman.