Today I was welcomed by the warm folks of the Coastal Georgia Bonsai Club. The club holds monthly meetings and I was able to attend my first today. It is a privilege to be part of any bonsai group, as the amount of people involved in bonsai is limited. I used to travel from Lincoln, NE to Kansas City for routine meetings, but today was just a short drive across town. The gathering was hosted by Luigi Trapani of Southeast Bonsai Studio.Luigi’s grounds are nothing less than tranquil. There are many fine bonsai on display throughout the garden. The front features a zen-like rock garden and the back is nothing short of a phantasm. One portion of the garden features a sitting Buddha throne, encapsulated by a lush forest of black bamboo. Behind that sits a couple turtles, I believe of African origin. Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the garden is the koi pond—Luigi fed the Japanase koi today so we could all get a glimpse of their decorous colors. There are also a few, very large Yamadori Pond Cypress bonsai, obtained from Luigi’s master in addition to a Trident maple originally trained by John Naka.
In attendance today was myself, Luigi, Bill, Chad and Dawn, Richard, Harvey, Rusty and Wilbur (I believe this was his last name). We were graciously accompanied all afternoon by Luigi’s two Basenjis. It was good to see Bill’s smiling face again and I was elated to meet a fellow youngin’ in the group, Rusty. There was nothing planned in particular for the meeting. Luigi was bound to take advantage of the numbers and was handing out shears, so I worked on trimming back his Catlin Chinese Elm.
Bill Pfeiffer, of Bonsai Beginnings, enlightened us on why the Crepe Myrtle around town always get chopped back so hard over the winter. Apparently, a U of GA Professor’s claim to fame was finding that this method produces more blooms from the Crepe. That may be, but we all agreed this finding did not seem particularly credulous and we’d settle for less blooms and more tree.
There was talk from Luigi about getting a live-in student as he’s really in dire need of someone who can assist with weeding and trimming. “You could sleep in the Zen room and I could hand you a few scraps to eat every once in a while,” Luigi said, in response to our conversation about typical Japanese apprenticeship.
The day ended with an interesting conversation regarding aesthetics education and the contrast of Chinese and Japanese philosophies. The Chinese are in general disgruntled by the idea that the Japanese took this art and re-defined it—most would say for the better, but there in lies the predicament.
Check out the photos!
