The final club meeting for 2022 was held on Tuesday 13th December, with a very good attendance by members, including several of our interstate and country Victoria members on Zoom.
With quite a festive feel in the air at the meeting, the evening included plenty of chat over food and drink, a display of some of our members’ native species bonsai decorated as Christmas trees, and a lively discussion on the use of accent plants and companion plants with our trees, both in home display and in exhibitions.
The decorated tree species on display included Eucalypts, Melaleuca, Ficus, Callitris and Leptospermum.
The discussion on the use of accent and companion plants brought out some interesting thoughts in relation to displaying individual trees and in exhibition settings. The range of Australian native species available for use in this context is very diverse, including ferns, grasses, small orchids, and many small flowering species.
So, the 2022 year is nearly complete, with all of the challenges and achievements we have experienced. Our thoughts are with those of our members and other bonsai friends across the country who have been affected by floods especially. And now we are looking forward to the 2023 bonsai year, including, of course, the club’s annual exhibition on 24/25 March.
To all of our members, and to the wider world of bonsai growers, we wish everyone a great Christmas and New Year, and we hope that the coming year will be a good bonsai year for all.