3rd Symposium on Australian Plants as Bonsai 15-16 Mar 2014

[Drac0]

Can anyone suggest somewhere 'cheap' but nice to stay? Even a caravan park, just somewhere within reasonable distance to the symposium.

Cheers

[Jason]

Can anyone suggest somewhere 'cheap' but nice to stay? Even a caravan park, just somewhere within reasonable distance to the symposium.

Cheers

PM sent

[JenniferM]

Hi Mark

If you visit http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/Accommodation most of the accommodation available in Canberra is listed there.
*If you need to be within walking distance of the ANBG your are pretty much resticted to the suburbs of Acton, Canberra City and O'Connor (the latter could mean a 45 minute walk....)

I just had a quick look on booking.com, wotif.com and a couple of websites- and found the following which are in the area you'll need and are listed at $130 or less (unfortunately accommodation in Canberra is not cheap! );
* University house - where we'll be on the first morning. Google says it's a 20 minute walk to the ANBG. The website is: http://www.anu.edu.au/unihouse
* Alivio Tourist Park in O'Connor has cabins. Google says its about a 40 minute walk...or you can go by bus which reduces it to 20 mins. Their website is http://aliviogroup.com.au/
* Canberra City YHA Google says it's a 36 minute walk or a 20 minute bus/walk..
* Capital Executive apartments - Google says it's a 30 - 35 minute walk

Check these places to see if they suit, or keep an eye on Booking.com and wotif.com to see if some of the other hotels reduce their rates as the dates get closer.

Cheers

Jennifer

[Drac0]

University House looks good. If anyone is going & would like to split a room, either a twin or 2 bedroom PM me.

[nevilleh]

Hi Folks
Sorry the CBS website has been down but we are up online again. Information on the 10th national Exhibition and 3rd Symposium on Native Plants as Bonsai can be found here..
http://www.cbs.org.au/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=54

[JenniferM]

Hi everyone

Just another reminder that registrations for the Symposium close on 1 March - only 3 1/2 weeks left.

Workshops are filling up quickly
* Workshop 1 - Leptospermum horizontalis with Will Fletcher is full
* Workshop 2 - BYO or buy a tree on the day with Neil Padbury has 2 places left
* Workshop 3 - Podocarpus lawrencei with Grant Bowie has 3 places left.

So, if you are planning to do one of the workshops still open get in quick to reserve your place.

If you're not sure about P. lawrencei - check out http://www.bonsaimary.com/Podocarpus-Bonsai.html for general info on bonsai-ing Podocarpus, and and http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2003 ... encei.html for information on P. lawrencei specifically.

Cheers

Jennifer

[Grant Bowie]

Just letting you know that I have just seen the workshop material Podocarpus and they are great. They will make excellent bonsai.

I am currently working on an older one as part of the Podocarp demo.

Grant

[JenniferM]

Hi everyone

As at 6 pm tonight, both workshops 1 & 3 are full.

While there is one place left in Workshop 2, it is possible/likely that there is already a registration in the mail.
- I'll update tomorrow once the mail's been cleared to let you know if this place is still available.

There are still 17 places left for the Symposium for people not participating in workshops - remember as a Symposium participants you can observe all workshops at no cost.

Cheers

Jennifer

[JenniferM]

Hi everyone

With Workshops 1 and 3 full and only one place left in Workshop 2 (yes, it's still there so get in quick!), we are setting up reserve lists, in case anyone drops out.

So..... if you are interested in any of the workshops and have missed claiming a place, you can either:
* complete the registration form and include the workshop/s you are interested in, but pay for the Symposium only at this time. We'll contact you if place/s become available and you can pay the workshop fee then,
OR,
* send an email to registration@cbs.org.au identifying the workshop/s you are interested in. Again we'll contact you is place/s become available and you can pay the full registration fee then (ie both the Symposium and workshop fees).

Remember - the cut off date for registrations for the Symposium is 1 March.

And remember registration for trees for the Exhibition also closes on 1 March, and for photos of trees on 7 March. We want as wide a representation of Australian plants as bonsai as possible in the Exhibition... so if you can't physically get here, or get you tree here, send in a photo.

Not long now...

Cheers

Jennifer

[JenniferM]

Hi again

There's still time to get your registrations in for APaB 2014 either as a participant or on behalf of your tree/s for the exhibition (whether physically there or present as a photo).
- we've only got a couple of tree registrations and it won't be much of an Exhibition if we don't get more....
- if you're still trying to decide which one/s to put in, send in details for all that are possible contenders. It's easier for us to remove them from catalogues etc. at the last minute than to be adding extras in.

As an added bonus for those attending Roger H will be working on the Callistemon below on Sunday afternoon. It won't be a formal demonstration, just an extra activity for observers at the workshops. It will be available for purchase at the end of the Sunday program.

Callistemon for APaB 2014.jpg

Callistemon 2 for APaB 2014.jpg

We're looking forward to seeing everyone here and to a great exchange of knowledge on using Australian plants....

Cheers

Jennifer

[dansai]

Hi Jennifer

I noticed that you are have only a few registrations for trees for the exhibition. I have started a thread here about some guidelines for entering trees in an exhibition and was wondering what your thoughts were. I have some trees in development but feel they are not necessarily show ready and was wondering if you have some guidelines as to the suitability of trees for the exhibition. I can send you some photos if you wish.

Thanks in advance
Dan

[JenniferM]

Hi Dan

Great to hear you're coming... and maybe one or more of your trees. Look forward to meeting you.

Answers to the questions you've raised are below. These really only relate to this exhibition, as we can't speak for other groups - but those who have greater bonsai wisdom and experience than I do have provided some general comments which might help people in relation to other events... but, it's always worth checking with the organisers to see if they have any specific requirements.

So...

At what stage should a tree be before exhibiting?
Sounds obvious (so apologies) but it should look like a bonsai, not just ‘a tree in a pot’, meaning it needs to have some styling. That said, it doesn’t have to be a finished bonsai. In fact, it is useful to have trees in the exhibition at various stages of development, for both the public and bonsai enthusiasts to see what a ‘developing’ tree looks like.

Many exhibitions include a separate ‘beginners’ section to allow for newly styled trees . We haven't decided yet whether to do so for the APaB exhibition... it will depend in part on how many newly styled trees are entered.

Should the tree be in a Bonsai pot? Is it OK to have it in a cheap training pot (read Bunnings variety)?
The tree should be in a bonsai pot - ie ceramic, rock etc. If by a ‘Bunnings variety’ training pot you mean a standard black plastic nursery pot – the answer would be no. However if you mean in a ceramic bonsai pot as sold at Bunnings that is fine. Also see my separate PM.

Is it Ok to have wire? And if so how much?
A very small amount of wire that scarcely shows is OK for this show. Generally wiring should not be on the trunk, and should be neat and tidy. See the attached guidelines we issue for the CBS annual show.

Canberra Bonsai Society Annual Show - Tree Preparation.pdf

Top of Pot. Is it important to have a decorative soil surface, like moss or decorative pebbles?
A finished surface is essential. If you can’t get either moss or gravel, we can have some here for you to put on (Watto has shown us a technique for preparing moss that will let you apply the moss on Friday and have it greening up by Saturday! ) .

Does it depend on the Exhibition? Would a local club show have lower expectations than a National or larger club show?
Yes there are differences depending on the context of the show...

Clubs generally encourage all members to show their bonsai, even recently styled ones, as part of the bonsai learning experience.

If you look under Native Show Galleries on the CBS website (http://www.cbs.org.au/index.php ) you will see that there is a great variety of trees on display and a quick scan of the 2012 catalogue shows some have been in training for only 1-2years.

As mentioned above many shows/exhibitions (mainly at club level) include a separate beginners section so those new to bonsai have an opportunity to show their trees

For the individual display, should there be a mat or stand and an accent? Or is it OK to just have the tree?
For this exhibition, all trees need a stand or mat. We will have some spare stands & mats and you can use one of these for the week-end if you need to. Accents are optional.

Anything else that can be shared would be appreciated

I've the attached guidelines on preparing trees for display that we use for our annual CBS show which provide some good tips for getting ready for to display your trees.

Things to look out for particularly are that:
* The trees should be free from disease and insect pests. In the case of the APaB Exhibition, all plants entering the Australian National Botanic Gardens have to be inspected by ANBG staff before 3pm on Friday afternoon to ensure they are not bringing any pests (particularly Myrtle Rust) into the Gardens.
* The pot should be cleaned of dust and other deposits. If oil is used to enhance pot colour, be sure that it is used very sparingly and does not make the pot slippery or accidents can happen.

Remember that the objective is to put something beautiful or interesting on display to show what you can do. It is more than a ‘show and tell’ session, but should still be a fun experience.

Thanks for these questions - I'm sure many first time exhibitors have similar queries. And thanks for encouraging others to exhibit, too.

We look forward to seeing you and your tree/s at the symposium/exhibition and we're very happy that you can take advantage of this opportunity to show your tree/s.

Cheers

Jennifer

[bamboos]

Well Watto Jennifer has dropped you in it!
What's the method?
Steve

[JenniferM]

Hi Everyone

Just a reminder that we are on a countdown to close of registrations for the Symposium... midnight on Friday is drop dead time.

Understand it's still a couple of weeks out, but we need numbers to get catering confirmed...

There are 9 places available as a Symposium participant, and one place on Will Fletcher's workshop (Leptospermum horizontalis ) - so get in quick.

Organisation is going well and everyone involved in the organising of the event is looking forward to seeing you here...

Only two and a half weeks to go.

Cheers

Jennifer

[JenniferM]

Hi again

We've been able to extend the close date for registrations to give everyone as much time as possible to get in.

The close date is now 5 March (next Wednesday) so if you've been thinking about registering get in now so you don't miss out.

We've had a couple of cancellations - so there are
* 9 places available for the Symposium
* 2 places available in Workshop 1 (Will Fletcher Leptospermum horizontalis)
* 1 place available in Workshop 2 (Neil Padbury - BYO or buy a tree there).

Either of these workshops would be a great chance to build knowledge and skills.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone here. We've even managed to cool the weather down a bit so you'll all be comfortable

Cheers

Jennifer