American Bonsai Association hosts 65th annual show at Shepard Center
This beautiful maple bonsai took years of careful pruning to create. Learn about this living art form on April 12 and 13 at Shepard Center. Courtesy of American Bonsai Association, Sacramento
Bonsai – little trees in pots – stand tall in Sacramento with a deep-rooted history and tradition.
This weekend, April 12 and 13, the American Bonsai Association, Sacramento, will host its 65th annual Bonsai Show and Sale at Shepard Center in McKinley Park. Show hours are 10 a.m to 4 p.m each day. Admission and parking are free.
Special guest artist Carmen Leskoviansky, curator of the University of Michigan bonsai collection, will fashion a bonsai at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Leskoviansky has earned an international reputation for her advocacy for women in bonsai.
The ABAS show will feature scores of bonsai, some of them representing decades of growth and artistry.
Also find bonsai supplies, pots and trees for sale at the club’s vendor and consignment tables.
Learn how to create your own bonsai, too. A beginner workshop ($20) will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday and includes tree, pot, soil and instruction. Register via email to abasbonsaiclub@gmail.com.
One of the country’s oldest bonsai clubs, ABAS dates back to 1958 – the same year the Shepard Garden and Arts Center was opened to the public. That’s seven years before Sunset published its first book on bonsai.
Since World War II, Sacramento has been at the center of bonsai interest in the United States. The nation’s oldest bonsai club is the Sacramento Bonsai Club, which was formed in 1946 by previously interned Japanese Americans. Its meetings were originally held in Japanese.
ABAS was created to accommodate English-speaking garden enthusiasts who were interested in learning how to grow “little trees in pots.” Its show is a celebration of this gardening art and sharing it with others.
Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, on the north end of McKinley Park.
Details: https://www.abasbonsai.org/.
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Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
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* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.
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