For the last Beginner's Workshop of 2024 we had a class of fun people who were eager to get started on the bonsai journey. We had a really interesting species of tropical tree from Indonesia called premna which has beautiful small glosy leaves, gets white flowers and purple fruit, and has a really weird odor. Thanks to all those that attended, and to the club members that volunteered their time to help out!
In this month's meeting, Jim Doyle from Nature's Way Nursery in Harrisburg, PA talks about literati bonsai, the meaning behind the style, and demonstrates the creation of a nice literati-style bonsai.
Rob discusses the history, growth, decandling, matinenance, and repotting of Japanese Black Pine bonsai.
The June Beginner's Worksop was a lot of fun and we had a great group of new folks learning about bonsai. The subject for this class was green island Ficus and we had some really nice pre-bonsai trees for the class. Everyone's trees turned out great and we're excited to see how they grow over the coming years!
If you're interested in taking a workshop like this, please check our calendar for upcoming dates.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Gardens for the American Bonsai Society’s (ABS - www.americanbonsaisociety.org) Learning Seminars May 9-11 to attend some workshops, see the All-Michigan Bonsai Show, compete in the New Talent Competition, and visit the large vendor area.
Photos of the companion plants that were shown alongside each of the main trees at the ABS All-Michigan show.
