| BSF Updates To Get You Ready For And Excited About Bonsai In The New Year |
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| EPCOT Flower & Garden Show (runs early March through May)BSF has a partnership with Disney to provide a total of 27 bonsai (18 for Japan and 9 for China) each year. Any BSF member may submit trees for consideration free of charge through our website (https://bonsai-bsf.com/epcot/epcot-entry-application/). Submission guidelines are provided on the site. Deadline for submissions is midnight on Dec 31, 2025. You must be a BSF member in January of 2026 to participate in the exhibit, so pay your dues to your local club (or renew your at-large membership) and submit a tree! The owners of the trees selected will be treated to two complimentary nights’ stay in an Epcot hotel (one night prior to delivery, one night prior to pick-up), and two admission tickets for use any time over the coming year. Not to mention that tens of thousands of visitors have the chance to admire your tree! |
| 2026 BSF Convention:It’s a Small World! |
| Again this year, the convention will take place Memorial Day weekend in Orlando at The Florida Hotel & Conference Center. We will send out information on registration and hotel reservations in February. Our Headliner Artists are Sergio Cuan and Jesus Brito. |
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| Sergio, with a degree in Art & Design, is a multidisciplinary artist from the NY City area whose career involves a variety of projects worldwide. His passion is the horticultural artform we also love, and he excels with a variety of species. (Sergio’s website) Jesus Brito, from SE Florida, specializes in tropical bonsai, from tiny to huge, flowering to evergreen. His banyan-style tigerbark ficus just won Best Tropical at the 9thUS National in New York. Jesus is a “regular” at the annual Epcot bonsai display, and has honored many with his educational demos throughout the state of Florida. (Jesus’ Facebook page) |
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As the theme might suggest, the basic idea is Shohin and medium-sized trees. Workshop materials have been curated to concentrate on smaller specimens, and we are encouraging smaller trees and Shohin group displays for the main and club tree exhibits. Notice the word encourage—this does not mean that if you were hoping to display a large tree that it will not be considered. We will continue to have the main exhibit in the larger room, so space constraints are less critical. For the Club Exhibits, an entire grouping of Shohin would be welcomed, this way more club members can hopefully participate by showing a tree in the club’s entry. Club Night participants should continue to be as creative as possible with their compositions, and not worry that the result is required to be “small”. |
| BSF SEMI-Annual Meeting |
| And finally, we had recently sent an email about “Why BSF?” Toward the end, we indicated that the Board understands the need to consider and conduct change to adapt to evolving needs of our member societies. The full Board, including trustees who liaise with their local clubs, will meet to consider exactly that in January. BSF wants to remain relevant and do our best to help our members continue to cultivate their knowledge of and passion for bonsai. For those interested in observing the meeting, we will have the meeting online. Please reach out and request the link by sending an email to [email protected].Club presidents will receive a separate email with the link. Wishing you all a joyous and peaceful holiday season filled with gatherings of family and friends, we look forward to 2026 and continued growth. Kathrin Harris, BSF president |