Beginners Bonsai Workshop

The North Florida Bonsai Club in association with the Mandarin Garden Club is pleased to present our Spring 2015:  Beginners Bonsai Workshop.  This workshop is especially for beginners who have wanted to try bonsai, but never knew how to get started.  We'll be working on Ficus sp. - a tree that is "easy care" in Florida, but needs frost protection.  Each participant will get his/her own tree, special bonsai soil and an appropriate pot.  At the end of session 3, you'll have your very own bonsai to take home and enjoy!

What You'll Learn:

• What “bonsai” really is (and how to pronounce it!)
• How to style and shape a bonsai tree
• How to prune and wire branches
• How to find inexpensive sources of pre-bonsai plant material at local stores
• How to fit a tree into those tiny little pots
• How to keep your tree happy once you get it home!

These are casual, hands-on classes for people of all ages. You will have a chance to meet people who have taken past beginners classes and talk with them about their experiences getting started in this fascinating hobby. If you love plants and have an interest in learning about bonsai, come join the fun!

Dates:  April 28th, May 5th, & May 12 (3 sessions)
Time:  7-9PM
Cost:  $35 - includes tree plus all materials
Location:  Mandarin Garden Club - 2892 Loretto Rd, 32223

To register or more information, call Joe at 262-3995 or Ron at 545-4972.

Hardscape Installation

A new hardscape has been implemented in our gardens.  Mary Clark had the vision, both Mary's did the search, and Mary Forester drew the design.  However, without the service of Doug Clark, a 2013 Honorary Members Award recipient of the garden club, the implementation of our mission would have not occurred.  The installation of this artwork provides the ornamental grass garden bed a gateway to enter the haven and one of our continued improvement to our gardens.  Job well done!

Thank you ladies!

Mary Forester

Mandarin Garden Club Plant Exchange

On Saturday, September 6th, the Mandarin Garden Club held a plant exchange.  Members of the club brought plants, gardening accessories, garden art, books, and magazines.  With a crowd of 50 or more ladies and gents, the exchange was quite lively!  Might I even say rowdy???

Watching the members jockey for position, and laying hands on their first choice was quite entertaining.    Some were discreet, and some were bold in marking their territory.

The plant exchange takes me back to a time when guests to our homes always left with a “cutting” in hand for their garden.  Watching our  Exchange plants grow or making use of the garden accessories will be a constant reminder of the friends we have made at the Mandarin Garden Club.

Many thanks to Becky Bathen and Mary Forester for their organization of this fun event and the memories we made.

This post was written by Karen Rowe, a member of the Mandarin Garden Club's Dogwood Circle.

Bonsai Presentation by David Easterbrook - Thursday 6/19/14

David Easterbrook
Image Source:  tripwow.tripadvisor.com

The North Florida Bonsai Club has been conducting their club meetings at the Mandarin Garden Club on the second Monday each month for several years.  Thursday, June 19, 2014 from 7:00-10:00pm they will present a special program featuring David Easterbrook at the Mandarin Garden Club.  You will see a demonstration during this session from a master and his bio is below.  This program is open to the public and all are welcome to attend.  This style of gardening is quite an art.

David has been studying and creating bonsai for over 40 years.  He began studying bonsai with Jerry Stowell and then apprenticed for one year in Japan at Kidoen with Isao Shinkai.  Afterwards, he started his own bonsai nursery, which he still runs today.  In 1982, he became Curator of the Montreal Botanical Garden’s bonsai collection and recently retired in 2011.  He has always pursued an active teaching career in a variety of locations including the Montréal Botanical Garden’s School of Horticulture, in the eastern U.S. and abroad.  Further, he has served as judge of several national and international bonsai competitions.

He is a founder and past president of the Montreal Bonsai and Penjing Society.  It is now one of the largest and most active bonsai societies in North America having over 400 active members.  As well as monthly meetings, it offers four levels of bonsai classes, three study groups and several workshops.  In 1988, David chaired the ABS Annual Convention in Montreal.  Also, he served on the ABS Board from 2005 to 2008.

David has quite an eclectic collection of more than 900 bonsai.  His trees have been widely exhibited in both Canada and the U.S., including U.S. National Bonsai Exhibitions, and they have appeared on the covers of International Bonsai Magazine.  During his long career he has trained and cultivated almost every species grown as bonsai.  As a young man, he favored fruiting and flowering trees.  Subsequently he specialized in group and forest plantings and today is well known for his collection of conifers: junipers, pines and especially wild collected larch trees.

David now dedicates much of his time to refining bonsai (with the help of over a dozen of his assistants) and studying the art of bonsai presentation.

Annual Plant Sale - Saturday, April 26 - 8am to 2pm

Spring is in the air!  You know what that means...the annual Plant Sale at the Mandarin Garden Club!  Stop by and browse through our vast collection of beautiful plants on sale from 8am to 2pm on Saturday, April 26.  Plants are donated by garden club members.  In addition, there are lots of delicious baked goods made and/or donated by garden club members for sale in the clubhouse, and various vendors will be outside on the garden grounds.  This event is free and open to the public.  We hope to see you there!

For more information, please contact Mandarin Garden Club at info@mandaringardenclub.org or (904) 268-1192.

3rd Annual MGC Plant Exchange

The Mandarin Garden Club's 3rd Annual Plant Exchange on July 20th, 2013 was a great success!  Members from all circles participated in 10 rounds of swapping plants and miscellaneous garden stuff.  Also invited were the Mandarin Demonstration Garden Master Gardeners & Jacksonville V.I.G’s (very important gardeners).  The V.I.G.’s are: 

• Linda Cunningham - local herb expert
• Linda Jones - local garden blogger of Southern Rural Route
• Janese Warner - local expert gardener
• Tatyana Vaynberg - retired from Trad’s Garden Center  

This event for MGC members and invited guests was a fantastic way to get new and interesting plants for free.  Garden books, magazines, tools, garden art, ceramic pots, etc., were also swapped.  Attendees enjoyed refreshments made with ingredients from the garden and recipes to take home (PDF available below).

For more photos from the 3rd Annual Plant Exchange, go to the Gallery.

Susan Westermann getting ready for the Plant Exchange.

Linda Jones, one of our invited guests to the 3rd Annual Plant Exchange. Linda is from Jacksonville and garden blogger of Southern Rural Route (http://SouthernRuralRoute.wordpress.com).

(L-R) Marina and Karen (MGC President) are both members of our Dogwood Circle.

These ladies are waiting in front of the plants they want to grasp when the first round of the exchange starts. Notice Sandie Ingram's hand (orange top); she's not letting anyone get her plant!

Recipes from 3rd Annual Plant Exchange

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