In February and March we had talks on Bonsai Styles suitable for New Zealand trees and Summer activities. In March we also had a trip to Thames. This included visits to garden centres, a walk in the bush at Kauaeranga, visits to see the collections of two local enthusiasts and finally collecting driftwood from the beach.
The talks in April on the development of trees over several years emphasised the importance of photographing your trees at regular intervals and keeping notes on what work has been done on the tree and when.
April 30th - May 1st Display at Cambridge Chrysanthemum Show.
|
|
| A small display showing what can be achieved in a short time with some common species | |
|
|
The May 8th meeting was a general workshop with the assistance of Bob Langholm from Auckland to give advice and guidance on the creation or refinement of member's trees.
The weekend of June 11th and 12th saw Clinton Nesci arrive from Australia to do a workshop for members. Visitors from Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua clubs also came along to watch Clinton working on some very interesting material.
The July meeting saw Les giving a talk on semi-cascade styles with various cascades and semi-cascades on display.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
July also saw a day trip to Auckland, calling in at two nurseries and two private collections.
The August meeting was a series of interesting talks on collecting trees from the wild, including a very descriptive tale of a tree by Dianne. There were also some very nice trees on the display table.
 |
 |
 |
 |
For the September meeting we had a talk on the experiences of four of our members who attended the Sydney Convention. This was followed by Noel asking the members what he should do with an impressive literati juniper he had styled at a convention in 2000.
 |
 |
Before |
After |
After running through the different options Noel explained what he had decided to do and why. The resulting tree gained unanimous approval from the members.The meeting was rounded off by a short talk by Noel and Melody on propagation from cuttings.
At the October meeting we listened to reports on the recent Convention in Nelson - it would appear that it was a good event and was enjoyed by those who went. The main features of the evening were a talk by Jeff on turntables and stands as well as a PowerPoint show by Peter on pots. As well as the usual display of trees, Ann and Peter put on a display of the pots they had brought out from the UK.
The club's annual show was held on the 15th and 16th of October at Hamilton Gardens. An impressive display of over 175 trees and a side display of over 40 pots gave the visitors plenty to look at. Louis came down from Auckland to judge the trees on Friday evening and awarded Merit Certificates to those trees he thought deserved it. On Sunday he came back to give a critique on why the trees gained their certificates and how he would like to see them improved. There were public demonstrations by Dianne and Peter as well as an area for members to work on their own trees. The whole event was an outstanding success and a credit to those who participated. Please follow the link on the left or click here to see the some of the exhibits.
For November we had the AGM with the election of a new committee and the presentation of reports and accounts. The second part of the evening was an interesting insight into Suiseki by Jeff.
A very successful Christmas meal was held at the Singapore Restaurant in Hamilton with guests from Auckland and Matamata joining us for an excellent meal.
Matamata Bonsai had an open day at the Garden Centre in Matamata. In the morning Mary gave a talk on the Australian Baob and Sandra gave a demonstration for newcomers on how to create a bonsai from nursery material. In the afternoon there was a workshop and Peter helped with the styling of a Larch.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
At the December meeting, amongst the festivities, Ann provided a quiz involving matching pots to their trees. Congratulations to Sandra for getting the most right.
 |
But that pot goes with both of those trees!
|
