Ann Arbor Bonsai Society - December 2004 Newsletter

View from Here
by Jack Wikle
(photos by Bill Heston)

Tree in November

“What a Beautiful Evening”
Didn't I write those same words after last year's event? Once again, memories from our November potluck dinner will last a long time with those of us fortunate enough to attend.

Enjoying the work of our organizer, Kathy Powell, and her helpers who provided seasonal table decorations; enjoying the soft music; enjoying the amazing variety of tasty food; and enjoying Clive Taylor's super-colorful, fruit-loaded, firethorn bonsai; it was difficult to imagine any way our meal could have been nicer.

Then there was the wonderful follow-up to the meal, a bonsai viewing adventure complete with wine and cheese in Matthaei's enchantingly night-lighted Conservatory. Am I using too many overly positive adjectives? I don't think so.

I believe I speak for all who were there in expressing appreciation again to Kathy Powell and to Connie Bailie and to all their helpers.

People on the Move:
As many readers know, Chuck Omer left our group earlier in the year to pursue his pharmaceutical research career in the Boston area. Kathy Powell, who has written a lot for our newsletters, and her husband Bill are in a somewhat drawn out process of leaving our area for full-time life in Florida . And, Bob Thatcher is moving soon to North Carolina .

These losses are all very active AABS Board members who have contributed greatly to our Society in recent years. Thank you Chuck, Kathy, Bill and Bob. I am sure we will miss all of you much more than you can ever imagine.

Bonsai Exhibit Open to Public Year Around:
The night of our dinner, extra bonsai supplemented Matthaei's principle exhibit of several periodically rotated trees, all choice specimens backed by an attractive neutral backdrop and accompanied by an artful stone arrangement at ground level.

Because of the season the trees on display were all varieties not requiring a cold rest period. Although visitors at other times will not see as many bonsai as we enjoyed, it is noteworthy that the main display is continuous making the Matthaei exhibit one of very few bonsai displays, if not the only one, in the Great Lakes area open to the public year around.

In short, we have available to everyone a pleasing setting where very nice bonsai can be enjoyed at all seasons without advance planning or invitation.

Another Bonsai Display Not Far Away:
At this point, I feel the need to also call attention to another Southeastern Michigan Bonsai Exhibit. At Michigan State University 's Hidden Lake Gardens , two miles west of Tipton on Rte. 50, bonsai are on display the last weekend in April through the month of October.

As part-time curator of this collection, I may be somewhat biased, but I feel the new Bonsai Display Courtyard (opened fall of year 2000) and the trees on display there, some fifteen to twenty bonsai attractively arranged on benches and pedestals, are maturing very nicely. (Again, as at Matthaei, members of this club, working as volunteers, are a major help in keeping these bonsai presentable.) Large stones of varying sizes, a flowing water feature, Japanese maple trees and herbaceous plantings complement the bonsai on display -- all presented in a beautifully fenced enclosure.

I like to think the nice note received this year from an internationally known bonsai artist and book author and his wife – also a very active bonsai grower – expresses a view shared by a number of our more-traveled visitors, “. . . , we saw several large bonsai collections including [a] new bonsai garden just being built . . . and they don't match the elegance and attention to detail of the garden . . . at Hidden Lake – a hidden jewel . . . “ Why not plan on visiting this garden in the new year to enjoy it yourself and to see if you agree?

Part of the Hidden Lake Garden collection

Jack Wikle

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