GSBF Collection North
After visiting the GSBF Mammoth Fundraiser last weekend, I stopped by the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Spring is a great time to visit the garden as the quince are in bloom and the maples are just starting to leaf out. It’s also a good time of year to see the blooms that make the winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata) unique.
Winter hazel blossoms
Winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata)
The garden is home to the largest pomegranate bonsai I’ve seen. According to the garden’s website, the tree was “Dug from an old orchard (thought to have been planted in late 1800s) in Lodi by Vince and Kathy Owyoung. They donated the tree, Sept. 2002. Styled by Seiji Shiba. A glass jar was found embedded in the trunk. Potted at the Garden, Aug. 5, 2008.”
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Pomegranate – trunk detail
A number of Japanese maples had just started to leaf out. The new foliage is beautiful.
Japanese maple
Japanese maple foliage
Japanese maple – note bamboo used to arrange trunks
Japanese maple grove
I’ve watched the California juniper below develop for close to 15 years – it has an interesting curve to the trunk. From the website: “Collected in 1954 from the high desert region near Palmdale in southern California, this tree was styled about 1964.”
California juniper
The fruit on the citrus below puts the tree in perspective. Every visitor that passed by stopped for a closer look.
Orange
GSBF Mammoth Fundraiser 2011
Last weekend the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) held simultaneous fundraisers in support of its Northern and Southern California bonsai collections. In Northern California, the GSBF held an auction Saturday and a bonsai bazaar on Sunday.
I’ve always been a fan of bonsai auctions. I’ve participated in them as a buyer, a seller, and a barker – the latter being my favorite of the three. I like auctions because they provide bonsai enthusiasts with a market for their trees and an opportunity to buy material not often found in nurseries. At the same time, they support bonsai organizations whose programs benefit the broader bonsai community.
Bonsai auctions also provide a venue in which perceptions of value are tested and measured. Are reserves too high or too low? Are buyers savvy or frenzied? Which trees are most popular? Which are least popular? How much will I spend on that oak?
GSBF had the most important elements of a successful auction in place: there were plenty of bidders, volunteers, and trees for sale. Here are a few photos from the event.
Gordon barking
Attentive bidders
Trees waiting for their turn on the block
Jay holding up a tree for all to see.
An unusual collected juniper
If the collected Sierra juniper below tells a story, I’m not sure what to make of it. Nicknamed, “hermaphrodite,” the tree received a lot of attention at Bay Island Bonsai’s recent exhibit. The deadwood and shari are interesting, but not without controversy. Discussion often involves whether or not the primary branch is necessary. For now the answer is yes.
Sierra juniper
side view
Deadwood detail
Deadwood detail
deadwood detail
As displayed in the exhibit
Akio Kondo Bonsai Award – 2011
Akio Kondo Bonsai Award – 2011
Bay Island Bonsai members were happy to entertain a visiting bonsai professional from Japan at their recent exhibit. Akio Kondo was in Northern California to visit the exhibit, to work on client trees, and to teach. While at the exhibit, Kondo selected a tree for a new award, the Akio Kondo Bonsai Award. The winning tree was a Korean hornbeam.
Korean hornbeam, Carpinus turczaninovii, 16″ – Raho pot
Side view
I was very happy – and surprised! – to learn that my hornbeam had won the award.
Kondo presenting the award
On January 15, 2011, at the annual bonsai exhibit of Bay Island Bonsai, this award was given to the owner of the bonsai deemed most worthy of the award in this year’s exhibit according to Akio Kondo.
The award included a Japanese bonsai pot and an autographed copy of the 2010 Sakufu-ten show book – an event at which Kondo took the second most prestigious prize for exhibiting a beautiful hinoki he has worked on since 2005.
I have worked on this hornbeam since 2002. The trunk was in good shape when I acquired the tree but the branches lacked character so most were removed or pruned severely, as was the previous apex. Nine years later, the tree is starting to develop a more mature silhouette. Here is the tree as it was displayed at the exhibit.
As displayed with small shimpaku and accent
I am very honored to accept this award and I hope I can continue to improve the tree as it ages.
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