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The Austin Bonsai Society |
The Austin Bonsai Society is your path to experiencing an exciting adventure with others. It is one of the better paths to becoming knowledgeable in this exciting and rewarding hobby.
The Austin Bonsai Society is a non-profit organization which exists to help in providing guidance and education for individuals in their desire to learn and expand their knowledge and skill in the arts of bonsai.
The Society holds regular meetings, twelve months a year, on the second Wednesday of each month. Our social period begins at 7:00 PM, followed by our program at 7:30 PM. Normally, unless announced otherwise, these meetings are held in the Zilker Garden Center building, located on Barton Springs Road in Zilker Park, Austin, Texas. We offer a monthly program of interest to the general membership. This program consists of lectures, demonstrations, slides, and other material to increase our collective knowledge of this art form. Also, the Society organizes several field trips each year to collect native plant material, such as cedar elm and Ashe juniper, which are suitable for development as bonsai.
In addition, in July 1987, we organized a separate Beginners Study Group to help the newer or less experienced members enhance their basic bonsai skills. The Society operates a lending library of bonsai books and magazines, which also includes several VHS format videos on bonsai development, prepared by several of the ranking U.S. professional bonsai artists.
Each year, the Society holds at least one public exhibition of the members’ trees. Currently these are being held in the Zilker Garden Center. Study is being conducted to look at expanding the number of our exhibitions to increase the public awareness of this art form.
The Society also arranges to have nationally know bonsai experts from throughout the country visit Austin to conduct public workshops and demonstrations. As a member, you will be able to participate in these events at reasonable cost. We publish a monthly newsletter which is distributed to the membership, and is included in your annual membership fee.
The cost of membership is nominal, presently only $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family membership. Now is the time to join!
For this small cost, you can join us in the pleasure of sharing our thoughts and ideas about bonsai with those who jointly share this common interest.
For over a thousand years, the Japanese have practiced and refined the art form of creating living trees in miniature. “Bonsai,” the Japanese word meaning “tree in a tray,” has come to signify one of the most unique and interesting artistic activities ever conceived by man.
Contrary to popular belief, it was the Chinese who actually originated the bonsai art form. It is thought to date from the Han Dynasty, around 200 B.C. Much of the Japanese culture flowed from China, often through Korea. However, extensive adaptations have been made over time to make these borrowings uniquely Japanese.
No longer exclusively an oriental art form, today bonsai is practiced by thousands of people around the world, on every continent. Although the fundamentals of bonsai, as we practice it, are still firmly rooted in the Japanese tradition, the numbers and diversity of modern bonsai enthusiasts have begun to initiate subtle changes in the art which reflect the regions, nationalities, philosophies and plant materials available to those involved in this truly international hobby.
Bonsai is a blending of artistic ability with horticultural expertise. No two people will design exactly the same tree in the same sense that no two artists will paint exactly the same picture. Yet, behind the application of art form, the horticultural techniques of bud pinching, root pruning, trimming, fertilizing, watering, and other activities which hold the bonsai in its miniature form, follow generally time tested and honored routines.
Bonsai is a living art form, with each plant constantly changing under the hand of the artist. It is a painting never quite finished. In fact, it is a painting which can never be finished. Bonsai also change with the seasons, with each plant having its own unique attractiveness during each season. Miniature maples, tiny elms, delicate pines and junipers reflect both the seasons and the climates where they grow. Under our eyes, and in miniature form, we are privileged to watch the budding and leafing out of spring, followed by the flowers and fruit of summer, and the stark, yet beautiful, effect of bare branches against the winter sky.
Bonsai is an exciting adventure which cannot be adequately described to those who have not experienced it personally. Miniature trees and landscapes, carefully nurtured in the seemingly too small containers, return to us much more than they exact in the cost of creating and maintaining these plants, which soon become our “children.” Bonsai is an adventure in which you can participate with us.
The Austin Bonsai Society wants you and welcomes you!
Updated: October 9, 2005
