2022 Award-Winning Displays

We proudly present the winning displays from the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo.

Best in Show: Ponderosa Pine by Randy Knight
$2500 Award sponsored by the Golden State Bonsai Federation 
trophy by Dennis Aman

 

Image courtesy Aki Yamakawa

Best Conifer: Shimpaku juniper by Jeff Stern
$2000 Award sponsored by Bob Pressler, Kimura Bonsai and Landscape Nursery
trophy by Nao Tokutake and Aaron Kupferman

 

Image courtesy Aki Yamakawa

Best Deciduous: Winter hazel by Andrew Robson
$2000 Award sponsored by Peter Tea, PTBonsai.com
trophy by Nao Tokutake and Aaron Kupferman

 

Image courtesy Aki Yamakawa
Best Broadleaf Evergreen: Chinese Banyan Tiger Bark Ficus by Jeff Stern
$2000 Award sponsored by John and Michelle Kim, Joshua Roth Limited 
trophy by Nao Tokutake and Aaron Kupferman

 

Image courtesy Julian Tsai
Best Medium Display: Korean hornbeam and Japanese black pine by Jonas Dupuich
$2000 Award sponsored by Encinal Nursery and Jeff Stern 
trophy by Nao Tokutake and Aaron Kupferman

 

Image courtesy Aki Yamakawa
Best Shohin Display: Coast redwood, Japanese quince, Trident maple, Japanese maple, olive, and potentilla by Jeff Stern
$2000 Award sponsored by the California Shohin Society 
trophy by Nao Tokutake, Mary J. Lai, and Aaron Kupferman

 

Image courtesy Jeng Fonseca

Scores

Scoring Notes

All exhibitors from the 2022 Pacific Bonsai Expo were invited to join the judging panel. Forty of the forty-seven exhibitors participated by scoring the exhibit Friday evening between 4pm and 6pm the day before the exhibit opened.

The exhibitors, and therefore the panel members, included a mix of bonsai hobbyists and professionals. Their instructions were to evaluate every tree in the exhibit by scoring trees on a scale of 1 to 5. They also separately indicated their top three choices for best in show in ranked order.

To determine the category winners - best conifer, deciduous, broadleaf evergreen, medium display, and shohin display - the organizers normalized each panel member's scores within a given category using z-scoring, a statistical technique that allows one to compare scores from different judges effectively.

To determine the best in show award winner, the organizers awarded points to each tree nominated as a best in show candidate. First choices were awarded 5 points, second choices received 3 points, and third choices received 1 point.

For example, if a judge selected trees 7, 16, and 23 as their top three choices for best in show, tree 7 would receive five points, tree 16 would receive 3 points, and tree 23 would receive 1 point.

See "Pacific Bonsai Expo - 2022 Judging Results" for an anonymized look at the judging panel's complete scores. Scores appear on four tabs:

  • The "Best in Show: Scores" tab is a list of each judge's selections for Best in Show
  • The "Best in Show: Results" tab shows the points each display received.
  • The "Categories: Scores" tab shows the raw scores each judge awarded every display in the exhibit and their corresponding z-scores
  • The "Categories: Results" tab shows the same information in the "Categories: Scores" tab for the five category winners

The organizers would like to thank Dan Yamins for refining our approach to judging the exhibit and for building the app that was used to tabulate the results. We couldn't have done it without you - thanks, Dan!

FAQ

  • Why didn't all of the exhibitors participate in the judging panel?
    Scheduling conflicts prevented some of the exhibitors from participating.
  • Why are there blanks on the judging forms?
    There are two main reasons for the blank scores. In some cases, multiple displays were selected on the same line. We left these scores blank as it was impossible for us to determine which of the multiple entries were the preferred scores. In other cases, no trees were selected. 
  • Will there be any discussion of the scores going forward?
    Yes, Jonas will discuss the results on the Bonsai Tonight blog.