MV Bonsai Club
Unless otherwise noted, regular meetings are second Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. at D'Alessandro's Nursery.
We can be reached at mohawkvalleybonsai@gmail.com
All MVBC meetings are open to prospective new members. Invite friends and share with them our love for bonsai.
Final 2024 Meeting
December 14 - Year-end wrap up; election of officers; holiday gathering & club fundraising auction
For our fundraising auction, please bring a bonsai-related item for our auction table. Everyone can post silent, written bids to each item until the designated time is up. Highest bid wins the item, proceeds go to the club. Be sure to bring cash or checks!
If you'd like to bring an appetizer or dessert to share — please do so!
Many thanks to Mark Arpag for another fabulous presentation in October and for displaying a number of his amazing trees! Everyone loved it and the Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club is very grateful that Mark shares his bonsai design and care knowledge with us.
Previous 2024 meetings
Jan 13 - silhouette refinement; create a plan for your trees;discuss club annual exhibition; possibly wiring if time; Q&As, trees always welcome
Feb 10 - preparation for repotting: when and why to repot; what supplies are needed, selecting pots; wiring and/or possible demo of repotting; Q&As, trees always welcome
March 9 - timing for repotting — what signs to look for on your trees; repotting demo; how to care for trees after repotting; prepare for spring, when to bring trees outside, when and how to begin fertilizing; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES‚ especially those you are considering for our exhibition
April 13 - when is it too late to repot; how to clean up top of soil if needed; companion plantings — shitakusa and kusamono; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES‚ especially those you are considering for our exhibition
NOTE: Please don't hesitate to bring your beginner trees; we can assist the most when we can see your material!
May 11 - how to determine when to begin pruning; how to prune coniferous and deciduous trees; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES‚ especially those you are considering for our exhibition
June 8 - tropical work and preparation for MVBC annual exhibition; Q&As, bring your trees‚ especially those you are considering for our exhibition; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES‚ especially those you are considering for our exhibition
SATURDAY, JUNE 29, special meeting -- exhibition preparation
Friday afternoon July 12 - setup for exhibition 1:30 - 4:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday, July 13 & 14 - MVBC annual exhibition at Munson 10 am to 5 pm
August 10 - Bonsai 101;Seasonally appropriate work on trees; when final pruning for the growing season can be done; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES
September 14 - Working meeting - bring your trees to work on wiring and styling; the club will provide aluminum wire
October 12 - Winter preparations and working on trees; Q&As, BRING YOUR TREES‚
November 9 - Mark Arpag will do a presentation on collecting trees; he will bring some of his beautiful collected trees and talk about what to look for and how to develop them as bonsai. Bring your questions and feel free to bring your trees! Mark will arrive by 12:30 — please come early so he can begin at 1 pm.
Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club Mission | Providing opportunities to have fun while developing skills, the Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club is a forum for learning, inspiring, building knowledge, and connecting with the greater bonsai community.
Many thanks to everyone who attended our 2023 annual exhibition! We appreciate all the members who prepared trees for the show, helped with setup and takedown and those who staffed the exhibition and answer questions from our 380+ visitors!
MORE PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE >>
Thank you Mark Arpag for another great lecture/demonstration! We are always grateful when you come and share your expertise.
A little inspiration from the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, February 2020 (photo C. Brown)
Award-winning Japanese White Pine, Pinus parviflora, at the Kokufu-ten, Tokyo, February 13, 2020
Award-winning Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles japonica 'Chojubai,' at the Kokufu-ten, Tokyo, February 13, 2020
KOKUFU-TEN PHOTOS BY C. BROWN
The Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club was invited to have a display table at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute members' opening reception for the exhibition Kimono! (June 9, 2018). We are grateful to MWPAI for this wonderful opportunity.
Some past meetings and items of interest:
Photos from our shohin roundup meeting:
A bonsai is considered a shohin if it measures approximately 20 cm or 8 inches from the top of the pot to the top of the tree.
The image below is from the Gafu-ten shohin exhibition which was held in Kyoto in January 2016. More shohin photos >>
Our thanks to Art Doremus for an interesting and informative presentation on insect and fungal problems — how to recognize and control them.
Reference links from the presentation:
fingerlakesbonsai.weebly.com/bonsai-info.html
www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/bonsai-care/advanced/pests-diseases
www.bonsai-and-blooms.com/bonsai-tree-diseases.html
nebonsai.com/home/pests-and-diseases/
Pre-bonsai search party at D’Alessandro’s Landscape Nursery, where we enjoyed a presentation on mugo pine by club member Doug Whitfield. More photos >>
(Below) January 2016; Chojubai (flowering quince) displayed in tokonoma at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en bonsai museum in Tokyo.
(Below) January 2016; flowering Ume (Japanese apricot) displayed in tokonoma at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en bonsai museum in Tokyo.
Browse the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (Saitama, Japan) website:
Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club Mission
Providing opportunities to have fun while developing skills, the Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club is a forum for learning, inspiring, building knowledge, and connecting with the greater bonsai community.
The group first met in a park in July 2005 and has grown to include newcomers to the hobby as well as those with 20+ years of experience!
"The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make a bonsai look like a tree." — John Naka