Brevard Bonsai Blog

Dr. Reggie Purdue will lead this month’s club demonstration. Reggie is an avid bonsai artist and enthusiast with more than 25 years of native Florida bonsai experience. He will work on a cedar elm root clump owned by Rob Kempinski.

Zach Smith gives an excellent overview of the Cedar Elm on his website (www.bonsai-south.com). Per Zach, “The Cedar Elm is among my chosen five of the best bonsai trees for beginners. Cedar elm, Ulmus Crassifolia, is a member of the Elm family, Ulmaceae. Its natural range is East Texas into Northern Louisiana and Southern Arkansas. It’s a primary species, growing to heights of 80’.” His website gives a good overview of the species and other bonsai information.

Note: This month, we will meet at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E. Fee Blvd (at 1pm.)

Mike Rogers will be the headliner for the May club meeting. He will do a demonstration on the jaboticaba which is native to Brazil. The plant is a slow- growing evergreen that prefers moist, rich, lightly acidic soil.

Mike Rogers started doing Bonsai in 1968, at the age of 18. After a couple of years in the Marine Corps, he resumed the hobby and by the late 1970’s was teaching Bonsai and selling trees, on a limited scale. 

Originally from Fort Lauderdale, he has extensive experience with tropical trees, and pioneered the growing of Azaleas in South Florida.

In 1991, he moved his family and nursery to North Central Florida, so he would be able to grow Japanese Maples, and Trident Maples. He grows a wide variety of trees, from tropical trees to deciduous and pines.

He now instructs and belongs to two local Bonsai Clubs, as well being on the Bonsai Societies of Florida Speakers Bureau. Mike Rogers Website.

Note: This month, we will meet at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E. Fee Blvd (at 1pm.)

The April meeting will be led by Adam Lavigne who will perform a demo on a Cedar Elm. Zach Smith gives a good overview of the Cedar Elm with the following referenced picture. It’s a good tree for beginners and experienced artists. Hope to see you there.

Adam is a bonsai artist who lives in the Orlando area. He is active in many bonsai events across the country. Adam’s website (www.adamaskwhy.com) has great bonsai information, interesting posts, and broad overviews of bonsai related material.

Note: This month, we will meet at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E. Fee Blvd (at 1pm.)

The March meeting will be led by Rob Kempinski who will guide us through shohin trees and displays. There will be a workshop area setup for you to do a small amount of work on your tree. So feel free to bring in your small tree for a quick tuneup and let our club experts guide you in your trimming decisions. Also, if you have a shohin tree or display please bring it for show and tell. During the workshop we will be setting up multiple shohin displays and critiquing them together. Hope to see you there.

Note: This month, we will meet at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E. Fee Blvd (at 1pm.)

The February meeting will feature a demonstration on a deciduous tree or forest (hackberry or elm). Rob Kempinski will be the artist and plans to do something interesting….. he always does. If you have any desire to learn about deciduous trees then this is the meeting to attend.

Note: This month, we will meet at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E. Fee Blvd (at 1pm.)

The centerpiece of the January meeting will be a bonsai styling competition. The winner will go to the Joy of Bonsai convention in Deland on Feb 20th where our winner will compete against winners from 2 other District 6 bonsai clubs (Central Florida Bonsai Club and Kawa Bonsai Society). There will be plenty to do at the January meeting, so please come even if you aren’t interested in competing.

Note: This month, we return to the Melbourne Public Library,
540 E. Fee Blvd. We meet at 1pm.

We will hold our annual holiday party at the December meeting. This is a fun time with lots of food and festive discussion. Please make it more fun by dressing for the occasion. As a club project, we will do a forest planting after the festivities.

Club officers for the next two years will be elected.