This Ficus (Cuban laurel) by Robert Kempinski won Best Tropical at the 9th Winter Silhouette Bonsai Expo in Kannapolis North Carolina. Today's photos are courtesy of Bill Valavanis.

The venue from above. This and all the photos of the Expo are borrowed from Bill Valavanis' blog, as is the following text: Well, Steve Zeisel, sponsor of the exhibition did it again! Every displayed bonsai was of much better quality than in the first eight expos featuring naked trees. He holds the event to promote bonsai and allows exhibitors to express their beautiful bonsai and creative displays. Although fewer bonsai this year, all were better designed and exquisitely displayed.

The winner of the Best Deciduous Bonsai award. It's a Japanese Zelkova the belongs to Adair Martin.

The Best Display award was won by Gary Clark. Winged Elm, American Hackberry & Japanese Flowering Apricot.

Best Fruiting Bonsai by Joe Noga. Beautyberry & Firethorn.

Best Evergreen by Brad Russel. It's a Rocky Mountain juniper.

The rest of the shots from the Expo are unnamed and unattributed. No problem, Bill's a busy man and it's typical in shows for non-prize winners to be unidentified.

I'm inspired by this one. It looks a lot like what some of us call a Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). Or you might know it as the American Arborvitae. It's everywhere here in northern Vermont and one of our few local species that makes great bonsai. I wonder where this one is from and what it looked like when it was dug.