The Carolina Bonsai Exposition, featuring juried exhibits by bonsai enthusiasts from a six-state region, will be held October 9 and 10, 2010, in The North Carolina Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, North Carolina.

And, Road Trips Gardeners, the two-day event also includes:
* An extensive display of ikebana flower arrangements presented by the Asheville Chapter of Ikebana International (both days)
* Free demonstrations in bonsai (Saturday afternoon) and ikebana (Saturday morning)
* A free presentation celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Arboretum’s Bonsai Exhibition Garden (Sunday afternoon)
* A special presentation by Canadian bonsai artist and bonsai curator at the Montreal Botanical Garden, David Easterbrook (Saturday night –online registration is available for this program)
* A comprehensive bonsai marketplace featuring tools, books, pots and plants (both days)
* Bonsai workshops (both days)
* A live auction of bonsai plants and related materials (Sunday afternoon)

Participating bonsai clubs include:

North Carolina
Blue Ridge Bonsai Club, Asheville
Bonsai Society of the Carolinas, Charlotte
Cape Fear Bonsai Society, Wilmington
Piedmont N.C. Bonsai Association, Winston-Salem
Triangle Bonsai Society, Raleigh

South Carolina
Onkochishin Bonsai Society, Florence
Black Creek Study Group, Columbia

Tennessee
Knoxville Bonsai Society, Knoxville
Mid-Appalachian Bonsai Kai, Johnson City
Nashville Bonsai Society, Nashville

Virginia
Hinoki Bonsai Club, Roanoke
Mountain Empire Bonsai Society, Wytheville
Virginia Bonsai Society, Norfolk

Georgia
Atlanta Bonsai Society, Atlanta

Pennsylvania
Susquehanna Bonsai Club, Harrisburg

The arboretum is home to an extensive bonsai collection. There are more than 100 display-quality specimens in the bonsai collection at The North Carolina Arboretum (including “Roan Mountain”, at right), and more plants than that in various stages of bonsai development. All of the plants in this extensive collection have been either donated by private individuals or created at the Arboretum from seedlings, cuttings, nursery culls or plants collected from the landscape.

(Images courtesy of The North Carolina Arboretum)