MV Bonsai Club
Monthly meetings are typically held on the second Saturday from 1-3 p.m.
at: Unitarian Universalist Church of Utica 10 Higby Rd, Utica, NY 13501
NEXT MEETING
Saturday, June 8
BONSAI SHOW TREE PREPARATION and NURSERY CRAWL
NOTE: this meeting is at D'Allesandro's Nursery (upper Higby Rd.)
Each member bring the tree(s) they plan to show at our annucal exhibition during the MWPAI Summer Arts Festival (we hope each member will display; remember, we have a very popular feature each year — our starter tree display).
Each tree will be discussed regarding tree tune up and display, pots, mossing, accents, stands and mats. We will also discuss show logistics.
We will spend our second hour exploring the beautiful D'Alessandro's nursery, searching for potential bonsai material. Remember the nursery sells starter bonsai and pots too!
Many thanks to club members Rick, Tom, George, Ralph and Dominic for their presentations at our May 11 meeting. Check out our Facebook page for photos! >>
Members of the MV Bonsai Club are very grateful for the wonderful extended meeting with Mark Arpag on April 13! Many thanks to Mark for reviewing member trees and his most informative demonstration on our club juniper — which was ultimately taken home by lucky member Ralph Pope.
Mark takes a careful look at Doug Whitfield's (club president) tree and Mark with winner Ralph Pope
For our club, this is the year of the cedar — the focus will be Northern White Cedar, thuja occidentalis, pictured below. Our thanks to Art Doremus, Doug Whitfield and Carl Hoffner for their interesting and informative presentation on cedar on March 9, 2019
Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), Lake Placid, NY, February 2019
Please take some time to check out the many bonsai resources listed on our LINKS page >>
Thank you for attending our annual exhibition at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute on June 30 and July 1, 2018
MVBC is grateful to American Bonsai Society board member Pauline Muth, from PFM Bonsai, for attending our exhibition and awarding Best of Show to our member Carl Hoffner's beautiful American Larch.
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). We are grateful to MWPAI for this wonderful opportunity.
Some past meetings and items of interest:
Thank you Dave Alexander for your wonderful larch
demonstration.
Thank you to Rick Short for his essay "Father-Son Pairing" which accompanies December's newsletter.
Our thanks to Carl for his presentation on Chinese Elms! More photos >>
Thank you Carl and Doug for your juniper demonstration. Pictured below are the winners of the two demo trees: Nancy Knapp won the tree designed by Doug Whitfield; Rick and Wendy Short won the tree designed by Carl Hoffner. More photos >>
Our study group at D'Alessandro's Nursery was informative and enjoyable. Check out our photos on Facebook.
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
www.bonsaimary.com/plant-pests.html
nebonsai.com/home/pests-and-diseases/
Bill Jones workshop on windswept style junipers. More photos >>
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 >>
Mark Arpag shohin demonstration and workshop
More photos >> Videos on our Facebook page >>
(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!
Club Officers 2019
President Doug Whitfield dougwhitfield@frontiernet.net
Co-Vice Presidents Nancy Knapp nanknapp41@gmail.com and Alyson Jones midallie10@hotmail.com
Secretary Deverie Hunt 18blackflowers@gmail.com
Librarian Nancy Knapp nanknapp41@gmail.com
"The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make a bonsai look like a tree." — John Naka