by George Buehler

It is getting close to the busiest time of the year for working on bonsai. Last month we presented an article on root pruning and repotting. This month we cover the wiring technique. Hopefully, you can get some pointers from these two articles to make some of your spring tasks easier.

As I have written a number of times in this newsletter, I am firm believer in recording information about your bonsai for future reference. One way to keep track of the progress of your bonsai is to photograph them.

We have some great conventions coming up at the end of May. The first is The 5th World Bonsai Convention to be held in Washington DC May 28-31. There will be many bonsai enthusiasts from around the world attending this convention. There also will be many ‘Specimen Bonsai” on exhibit at this meeting. If you have never been to one of the conventions, I can recommend it. A word of caution is in order though – take your check book or several credit cards. There will be a number of vendors there with everything from trees to supplies.

The conundrum I have is that the above convention is going to be held at the same time as the Brussel’s Rendezvous. Brussel’s is one of the largest bonsai growers/importers in the US. During the Memorial Day weekend he holds a weekend filled with demonstrations, workshops and reduced prices on trees and supplies. Brussel’s is located in Olive Branch MS which is about ½ hour south of Memphis. I have gone to a number of these Rendezvous meetings and taken quite a few workshops. Typically at these workshops, you end up with a quality tree that you have styled under the tutelage of a world class instructor. The cost to register is quite reasonable considering that it includes your meals for the whole weekend. Also, Brussel has offered a two for one registration fee so that you can take a buddy or your signi. cant other (of course the cost for the workshops is on an individual basis).

I know I can’t be in two places at one time so I need to decide which meeting I will attend – it is going to be a dif. cult decision. Both offer unique opportunities.

As I have reported in a number of editorials, I belong to a bonsai newsletter editors association. Each month we exchange newsletters. It is quite interesting to see what the other clubs are doing and reading about their problems. I guess there are two common problems that continue to surface. The first is that almost all the editors are asking for articles from their members (does that sound familiar?). The second is the attendance at meetings. I know we are all busy, but the meetings offer a great opportunity to learn more about bonsai. The Board has put together quite a variety in the types of programs. I think there should be something for everybody. Check the schedule on page two and mark your calendar.

I also find it strange that the club has held three beginners workshops in 2004 – not that holding the workshops is strange. What is strange is that very few of the new members have attended the meetings following their workshop. I don’t know what this says. So I am asking the new members to let me know what you want to get out of your membership. I know the board has discussed this several times and is trying to figure out what it can do to get more attendance at the meetings. If you would like to express your ideas, send me an email or give me a call. While I am on the subject, a number of the older members also don’t attend the meetings. Are we not holding the types of meetings you want? My email and telephone number are listed on this page, so let me know so that we can make this club better for all of us. I personally think our club can grow – and guess what - the larger the club, the better the opportunities to learn from each other.

You probably noticed that Midge’s monthly article “More than just Tofu” hasn’t appeared for the last several months. She is in Florida for the winter enjoying the sunshine. Have you checked in on the GLBS web site lately? John is doing a good job in putting new information on the web site and has a number of links to make it easy to find more information about bonsai. Check it out! www.louisvillebonsai.org