President's Message

by David Johnson

March is winter's last real month. Of course winter tries to persist in April but it really is all over until next year. That means we are next up at bat but are you ready?

Now is the time to review the notes and photos of our trees or even look at the real thing in their winter storage in order to plan for the growing season. The precious time when spring begins does not have to be held up by jobs you could be doing now. A review of Dierk Neugebauer's valuable seasonal column in the Journal is worth considering as a check list of things to do.

Clean and sharpen tools. Clear out a work area. Sift and prepare bonsai soil and lots of it (there never seems to be enough).

Each tree should be evaluated with regard to what needs to be done this coming year. Does it have to be repotted?...or left to grow because you repotted last year...or because you plan some stressful wiring or branch bending that excludes adding the stress of root pruning. Or whatever, just don't get caught unprepared. Next month, early repotting, pruning and wiring can begin. If temperatures drop below freezing at night, be sure to protect newly potted and wired trees.

Three-part Seasonal Workshops

Last autumn, we tried to introduce a new concept of educational instruction where experienced members would make available some time so that a small group of members, about 4-5 people, could get together and work on trees in a more focused setting. There will be three sessions, one for each of the growing seasons (spring, summer and fall) so that students can learn the necessary seasonal work for their bonsai. The prospective teachers are: John Biel, Paul Chong, Reiner Goebel, Norman Haddrick, Dick Morton, Arthur Skolnik and John Walton.

Due to time constraints, we could not begin these sessions last autumn. They will however, start this spring. So as part of your spring preparations, please consider signing up with one of these instructors. Students and instructor will arrange a suitable time and place. The cost is $60 for all three sessions. Sign up with Otmar at the meeting or call 416-755-6366.

Marco Invernizzi

Part of your spring bonsai plans may include some serious make-overs. This is where Marco Invernizzi can be of help. Marco is a young man from Italy who has studied under Masahiko Kimura for three years and will be coming to Toronto May 7th, 8th and 9th at the invitation of the Toronto Bonsai Society. We are planning workshops where members bring their own trees and Marco can offer design suggestions and begin the implementation of those ideas; a demonstration; a critique of members' trees; a lecture and even private sessions at your home. All of these events are valuable opportunities for members to qualitatively improve their bonsai. While Marco indeed promises to be entertaining, his purpose is to raise the quality of bonsai in the Toronto area. Please plan to take advantage of this opportunity.

For the "bring-your-own" workshops plan to bring two trees to allow Marco to pick the best one to use. Don't bring newly collected or weak trees and expect them to be worked on. Marco at best can offer some design ideas or medical advice but trees can't be styled when in a weakened condition. Potted nursery stock or material collected that has been potted for several years is ideal. Trees that you have had for sometime but don't know what to do with are also good candidates. So are trees that you like but think need a more refined or completely new look. We hope to have a limited number of participants in each workshop so that Marco can have more time with each person.

As with all special projects like this one where we bring in a guest bonsai professional, the response of members to the educational and financial side of the events allows us to continue to invite more people.