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 GSBF Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt
Near the Lakeside Garden Center
666 Bellevue Ave
Oakland, CA

Hours: The Garden May be closed on heavy rain days. Please check the weather reports.

Tuesday-Friday
2nd and 4th Tuesday only		 11am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 12 noon - 4pm

GSBF Convention Legacy Trees		  

If you visit the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt today, you can go on a discovery tour of some major Golden State Bonsai Federation Convention styled trees. We realized recently that we actually have at least 7 of those convention trees. Kathy Shaner and the team at BGLM then posed the question, "I wonder whatever happened to that tree...," and she indicated that we should begin a search.  This is the part from the conversation around the table of curious minds. I said, so why don’t we use the internet to set up a page on our website and ask the question. We could ask the question in Golden Statements, and via our newsletter as well, but the Internet could reach places around the world where these trees may be and widen our research base. 

So here is the question: “Do you know of or have a GSBF Convention headliner styled tree?”  If you do, we want to know about it, see a picture of it and share its legacy with the rest of the world.

One of the glories of the Internet is that we can show those trees and keep looking for others which have been bought, sold, traded, or donated throughout the years.  In the long run we will be honoring a long tradition of master, students of those masters, and even in some cases "grand-students" of the masters who have visited California, were headliners at the GSBF Conventions, and left us with a glorious artistic living treasure.

If you know of or have one of these special trees, please send an email to bonsailakemerritt@gmail.com along with a picture and a little history of the legacy it represents. Consider donating that tree to either GSBF bonsai garden (Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA or the GSBF Collection at the Huntington located in San Marino, CA) for display. Let us know.

In the mean time here is more information about the trees housed at the BGLM in Oakland, CA.
#181 Black Pine styled by Kaz Yaneda
Styled at the San Jose Convention in the 1970s
   
#122 Sierra Juniper styled by Hiroshi Suzuki and donated by John and Sandy Planting from the Sacramento Convention of 1992
#111 Satsuki Azalea styled by Suisho Nakayama at the Sacramento convention of 1996 and donated by Kathy Shaner
 Photo Coming Soon
 
#324 Crabapple styled by  Bill Valvanis at the Santa Rosa Convention of 2004 and donated by Linda Ferzoco

#322 Sweet Gum styled by Kathy Shaner at the Anaheim Convention of 2007 and donated by Andrea Burhoe
 
#338 Foemina Juniper styled by Kathy Shaner at the Modesto Convention of 2008 and donated by Mary Rowland
#401 Rocky Mountain Juniper styled by Ryan Neil at the San Jose Convention of 2010 and donated by Andrea Burhoe
   

We are very interested in following the legacy of the trees from the earliest conventions. We hope to hear from you so we can share the legacy of trees. We will not disclose any personal information of owners unless you allow us to. Please send us a picture and information concerning the convention city and date, as well as the headliner who styled the tree.  If you know of a Convention tree that has died we would still like to know the details about which convention and stylist of the tree for our records. Please remember that both the Bonsai Garden at Merritt located in Oakland, CA and the GSBF Collection at the Huntington located in southern California, would be honored to show those legacy trees.

If you have further questions about this search please contact Jerry Carpenter at bonsailakemerritt@gmail.com and indicated Legacy Tree Search in the subject line of your email message or on the front of an envelope if mailed to: GSBF Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, Attn: Legacy Tree Search, P.O. Box 16176, Oakland, CA 94610-6176