Coffs Harbour bonsai show draws crowds, Chinese elm wins by two votes

A 23-year-old Chinese elm and three azaleas took top honours at the Coffs Harbour bonsai show after visitors split first and second place by just two votes, a tight finish that showed how much pull a well-run club exhibition can have when it lands in the right setting.

The annual show, staged by the Coffs Harbour Tokonoma Bonsai Society at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden on April 11 and 12, drew a strong crowd to a venue that already feels built for the art. The 20-hectare garden opened in 1988 and includes a Japanese garden, which gave the display a natural backdrop and made it easy for first-time visitors to move from the broader landscape into the miniature work on the benches.

The rest of the judging board was just as close to the top. Second place went to a 16-year-old Monterey or Radiata pine, while third went to a 20-year-old juniper. The show was not limited to finished trees, either. Dave Kennedy worked a juniper into cascade style during one of the weekend demonstrations, a good reminder that bonsai is as much about technique and timing as it is about display.

Cheryl Benn, the society president, said the aim was to share the beauty and discipline of bonsai with the wider community, and the weekend appeared to do exactly that. The mix of novice and open categories gave newer growers a place alongside more advanced material, while younger members and a father-and-son duo added an intergenerational feel that suggested the club is building depth, not just preserving a collection of old hands.

Practical demonstrations helped keep people there. A fig repotting session on Saturday and the juniper cascade transformation on Sunday gave visitors something specific to watch, especially those trying to understand why one tree reads as ordinary while another stops people in their tracks. Some of the club’s trees also showed advanced deadwood work, including shari and jin, along with the triangular forms and more dramatic cascades that give a show its range.

The society has been active for 43 years, tracing its roots back to about 1982, and the turnout at the botanic garden suggested the hobby still has room to grow when it is presented with good trees, live technique and a venue people already trust. Bonsai may have originated in China more than 1,000 years ago, but in Coffs Harbour it looked right at home among the garden beds, paths and weekend foot traffic.