Page 35 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2013Q3

NEW TALENT CONTEST 2013
Top left; Winner 2013 Martin Bonvie Holland
Top center; Runner up Marcus Watts UK
Top right; Raw material for the competitors
Middle right; Competitors at work

arly April, spring so we thought, and it is time
for the annual European Bonsai Association
Convention. Staged each year in a different
member country, with currently nineteen
Emember countries, it gives bonsai enthusiasts
the opportunity to see a great variety of European
countries and cities – in 2011, Ratingen, Germany,
2012, Ljubljana in Slovenia and now, 2013, Audin-
court in east-central France.
Audincourt is located near the Swiss border in the
foothills of the Jura Mountains. With its neighboring
town Montbéllier, it is home to the Peugeot/Citroen
car industry as well as an attractive Swiss-like moun-
tain town.
Having journeyed from the United Kingdom through
northern France in glorious spring sunshine, we
reached the foothills of the mountains in the renowned
Moselle Valley, famous for its fine white wines. Sud-
denly the glorious sunshine disappeared and was re-
placed by thick white mist and low dense cloud, very
soon to turn into a blindingly thick horizontal blizzard
– how quickly weather can change.
That was to be the first taste of the weather in store for
the weekend: Maybe not so much blizzards, but sleet,
occasional snow and sub-zero temperatures. Bonsai
trips in Europe in 2013 seem fated as far as wintery
conditions are concerned; first the Noelanders’ Tro-
phy in January and now Audincourt in April. Could
it be the effects of climate change?

July/August/September 2013 | BCI | 33