NABF Newsletter #7

Feature #1

President's Message

Congratulations to Pedro Morales, NABF's Editor for the Caribbean region, for this most informative issue of the NABF Newsletter. With this issue, we can see how nicely the art of bonsai is flourishing in the Caribbean (particularly in Puerto Rico), learn much about the physical environment of the region, and be enticed to make plans to visit this beautiful and bountiful area in the future.

In Feature #2, Pedro pays homage to the late Hugo Storer who established the first bonsai study group in Puerto Rico. It is astonishing that there are now 14 to 16 clubs on the Island! Pedro and his colleagues are already planning to host the BCI/FELAB Bonsai Convention in Puerto Rico in 2007. Bonsai demonstrations are the topic of Pedro's other, quite practical article in Feature #5 on making them a success -- from the perspective of the speaker, the event organizer and the viewer in the audience.

In Feature #3, Felix Rivera reveals the Suiseki collecting scene in Puerto Rico with a detailed description of the Island's "fantastic landscape," even disclosing the "most promising new area" for collecting. Feature #6 contains Diego Saaveda's evocative description of a walk through Puerto Rico's Guanica Dry Forest -- you will almost feel the wind on your face as you view the photos of this challenging terrain.

The scientist in each of us will enjoy Feature #4, by Edgar Llorens, which provides us with the useful results of an experiment conducted by the Febopri Study Group to determine the most efficient type of fertilizer for bonsai.

Thanks to Pedro and each of the other authors who have allowed us to celebrate the bonsai wonders of the Caribbean. The stunning images of the bonsai in the Gallery in Feature #7 will encourage all of us "up North" to expand our collections to include one or more of these tropical beauties.

We all join Pedro in his expressions of sympathy to the family of John Naka. John embodied the heart and spirit of bonsai. Through the ever-expanding reach of this gentle art, he will live forever.

Felix Laughlin