Had fun at the ABS auction last night!!!

Last night, our local bonsai club (Austin Bonsai Society) had its annual auction fundraiser and we had a blast. It is amazing how a good auctioneer and some good friendly ribbing can liven up the atmosphere. Good free food helped too!

I came home with a few trees as well...
1. Korean Hornbeam
2. Brazilian Rain Tree
3. Crabapple
All 3 are around 12"-18" tall (excluding the sacrificial branches...some are 2.5 feet long) with 2" trunk and in bonsai pots...for just $170 total (a score/steal!!! ) The BRT will be transferred to a big training pot to thicken it more and I might give it a major trunk chop eventually...it will be a fun tree to work with. The Korean Hornbeam transferred from 2 past club presidents...I love it. The crabapple is no slouch either.

My daughter also got her own little tree (Chinese Ligustrum) and my wife got a nice sumi-e painting set plus 3 classes with one of the members who is a trained artist (specializes in Asian arts as well as Russian iconography) and taught at University of TX.

My only regret is not going after more aggressively on a wonderful, wonderful large Ficus Nerifolia that sold less than the pot it is on. Maybe about 18" high, nice taper, no chop marks, nice form & movement, great branch placement, good ramification, maybe 3" trunk and good nebari. My reasoning was because I already have a few...though nowhere near that size and styling wise. I also was feeling my wife if she'll oppose my bidding and I later learned she was surprised I didn't go 3 times as high since it is for the benefit of the club anyway (and it is a nice tree).

All trees/items are donated by members...including a huge Trident Maple...maybe with 5" trunk and about 36" tall and a monstrous TX Persimmon with approximately 6" fluted trunk and about 4+ feet high. Joey can correct me (or provide better info) since he is the designated care taker of both now.

I am extremely happy with my loot and looking forward next year already. It is that good.

Hi Dario!

Looking forward to see your new kids

sounds great fun

hopefully if 3 new ones came in you let at least 15 spare ones go back the same way?

its good how the social side of the hobby gives as much satisfaction

cheers Marcus

Dario did bring in some nice collected trees that were auctioned off for a great price! It was a lot of fun last night. I came home with an old Lantana which I'll pot up and rework next spring. Volunteering with the runners and taggers, I'm afraid I may have missed a few good ones! Auctions (no matter where you are) are always an exiting part of Bonsai.. you never know what's going to show up and who's going to bid.

Good haul on those Dario, congrats!!

Post some pics of your winnings!

JMcCoy wrote:Good haul on those Dario, congrats!!

Thanks. Did we mention that 2 of them were yours? LOL

Come on Dario lets see some pics.

Yeah, don't be a tease...
lets see some photos! And I'd like to see a pic of the persimmon that Joey got too...

Though the plants are in bonsai pots, I actually bought them as stock plants to be revamped and make my own. I will most likely take them out of their pots come spring and plant them in bigger training pots. I will post pics as soon as I got spare time...too busy right now. I actually have 3 boxes of Bonsai Today (81 issues) I received last week that I haven't opened yet! This weekend is also fully booked, I am not even sure if I can work on my trees.

Hopefully Joey can post pics of the Trident Maple and the TX Persimmon (with a scale reference) As mentioned, he is just the designated care taker (or poster parent) LOL. It was bought by/for The Texas State Bonsai Exhibit (TTSBE) http://www.ttsbe.org/