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  Our meeting site, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Utica, is currently closed.

  Join us on Facebook 

 

THE NEXT MEETING: August 8 at D'Alessandro's Nursery from 1 to 3 p.m.

MVBC Bonsai Enthusiasts, 

We're happy to inform you that our Club will meet this Saturday, August 8, from 1 until 3 p.m. at D'Alessandro's Nursery and Landscaping, 1346 Higby Road. The nursery is ten minutes up from the church.
 
Plans for reopening at the church remain uncertain at this time. Fortunately Tony graciously offered to host our meeting at his beautiful garden center where there is an abundance of fresh country air, ponds and great stock for bonsai. Tony sells starter trees, soil and pots. You may wish to buy stock there to work on, because we will be working on our trees.
 
Bring a tree(s) and your tools. The Club will provide wire and soil and will have small bags of BioGold organic fertilizer for sale. There will be plenty of guidance available as always. We will set up tables outside the greenhouse (weather permitting) to work at with appropriate distancing. Of course for the sake of others and your own safety, we will wear masks. In case we have inclement weather, we will work in the open ended greenhouse with intake and exhaust ventilation. 
 
Come join the fun this Saturday!   
 

 Sincere thanks to Mark Arpag for his wonderful and inspiring presentation and commentary. Many thanks also to D'Alessandro's Nursery for hosting our club meeting and providing a lovely 'social-distanced' space.

Mark provided commentary and advice on member trees and a tutorial on shohin display using our newly acquired shohin stand. 

 

 

 

D'Alessandro's Nursery, 1346 Higby Rd., Frankfort (up the road from our usual meeting location by 10 minutes or so)

 

Please note, the Colorado Blue Spruce demonstration by Mark Arpag has been rescheduled for April 2021.

Our annual exhibition is held in conjunction with the MWPAI Summer Art Festival each year. Sadly, this year MWPAI has cancelled this event. So we'll think about 2021 and how we can make it a fabulous show!

 

In the meantime, if you have any questions or tree concerns, you may contact our president, Doug Whitfield, at dougwhitfield@frontiernet.net.

 

Also, please take advantage of our LINKS page!

 

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

 

 

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING OUR 2019 HOLIDAY GATHERING AND AUCTION! 

New officers are:

President - Doug Whitfield

Vice Presidents - Nancy Knapp and Deverie Hunt

Treasurer - Art Doremus

Librarians - Tyler Hunt and Christian Hunt

 

 

We appreciate everyone who came to listen or participate in our November 2019 meeting/bonsai critique led by Nancy, Carl and Bill. More photos on our Facebook page >>

 

Thanks to everyone who attended our BONSAI 101 – Focus on Ficus 
and many thanks to Carl for his presentation

 

Many thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to our annual exhibition at MWPAI!

MORE PHOTOS >>

 

 

 

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. More photos! >>

 

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

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.

More photos >>

 

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. 

Please check out the photos
on our Facebook page >>
 
 
 
 
  

 

Thank you to Rick Short for his essay "Father-Son Pairing" which accompanies December's newsletter.

Please enjoy reading it! >> 

 

 

 

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 2020

President Doug Whitfield  dougwhitfield@frontiernet.net

Vice Presidents Nancy Knapp nanknapp41@gmail.com and Deverie Hunt  18blackflowers@gmail.com  

 

Treasurer Art Doremus

Librarians Tyler Hunt and Christian Hunt  

 

 

"The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make a bonsai look like a tree." — John Naka