The Magnolia State Bonsai Club showcased cultivation work by Andy Reynolds, Cindi Stehr, Zach Adamz, Mabel Adamz and Dave Gilcrease from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m on Saturday.
Upon entering the Oxford-University Depot, viewers could walk down the rows of trees, enter a raffle, chat with bonsai master Zach Adamz and watch Reynolds demonstrate proper bonsai care.
The word bonsai is Japanese, and it is the practice of growing miniature landscapes that, although niche at first, has become a popular artform throughout the world.
Reynolds is an Oxford native whose father was a professor at the university. After living in Birmingham, Ala., and Memphis for a time, Reynolds now teaches the Oxford community how to grow and maintain bonsai. Between demonstrations in the Oxford-University Depot’s conference room, Reynolds put finishing touches on a white pine, wrapping wire on the branches to reposition their growing path.
“I heard of (bonsai) in high school,” Reynolds said. “I sometimes tell people I’m a wannabe artist since I’ve always been interested in art but never tried to pursue any of the fine arts. When I found out about bonsai trees, I realized that having an artistic desire and a knowledge of how to take care of plants meant that I would probably enjoy it if I tried. So I did.”
Reynolds worked on the white pine for the better part of the morning, clipping limbs and wiring branches. His main tip about how to succeed with bonsai centered around the bonsai community.
“Get involved with other people that (cultivate bonsai),” Reynolds said. “It’ll make it a lot less frustrating. You’ll understand things that others do and can learn from others’ mistakes.”
Owner of Komorebi Bonsai, Zach Adamz taught Korean and museum studies in the Croft Institute for International Studies before transitioning to working with bonsai trees full time.
“My wife told me to get a hobby,” Zach Adamz said. “15 years later, and there’s 600 trees in the yard.”
Zach Adamz talked about what makes an ideal bonsai and how one should be both functional and aesthetic. With those two values in mind, he then seeks to evoke memory with his trees. He gave a poignant example of how he has accomplished this in which one work had three trees that he had collected from his boyhood swimming hole while the rocks underneath were collected by his kids on a visit.
“My whole idea in bonsai is to connect people with memories through nature,” Zach Adamz said. “I can picture exactly where I was when I look at that display: 25 years ago, when we first went to the swimming hole. And to take my kids there again and then have an artistic representation of that in miniature that we get to interact with every day is really fun.”
Another one of these memory projects in action is a collection of bonsai grown from acorns off of trees in the Grove. Zach Adamz has been collecting these oak seeds and plans to raise them up partially in keeping with the theme of memory and also to experiment with oak trees.
“Oak trees aren’t popular in bonsai because we don’t know how they respond to the miniaturization process,” Reynolds said. “Common bonsai trees are boxwoods, elms and trident maples. It’s not that they’re easy but just that they grow so prolifically. You can work with them a lot, and if anything gets messed up, it’ll grow out a bit quickly.”
But amid a myriad of projects, there is one that the bonsai community is most passionate about: curating a botanical garden in Oxford. Almost seven weeks ago, Zach Adamz sent in a city proposal for a botanic garden at Cedar Oaks. They are currently awaiting approval.
“One of my dreams has been to manage a public bonsai garden,” Reynolds said. “There are so many people that come into town, and there’s a very limited number of things for them to do in Oxford proper. And one of our family’s favorite things to do is to go to botanic gardens. And plus, everyone would benefit from it. Summer camps, schools, families, retirees. It would be for everyone.”
Every third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m., Magnolia State Bonsai Club meets to share their love and knowledge of bonsai. For seasonal events, check the Komorebi Bonsai website for announcements and updates.
