Page 59 - BSAM 2018 Q1

trees back and to prepare their new home. Fortunately, my experienced friends reminded me that it was mid a ernoon, otherwise I would have remained on the site until sunset. Wisely we reserved energy to pack trees and tools properly for the return to our vehicles (sometimes more than an hour-walk) and to prepare the trees in the evening, in a warm workshop. It is at this time that the exhausted yamadorists exchanged their best stories about past campaigns.
Back home, it is a pleasure to contemplate these new candidates to my collection. I look at them with wonder while considering their unique story. I have concrete images in mind of their home environment and this sharpens my sense of responsibility because I have to give them the best of myself and ensure their longevity.
anks to Robert, Daniel and Leon for this great adventure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jacinthe Auger lives near the Bonsai Gros-Bec Nursery in St-Alphonse Rodriguez, Quebec. She rst visited the nursery in the summer of 2013 and was charmed by the bonsai there to the point of registering for an introductory course, the rst of many. Creativity and contact with nature are the two key elements feeding her passion.
When she retired, she found that the best way to improve her bonsai knowledge and skills was to become a volunteer and later an intern at the Bonsai Gros-Bec Nursery working with Robert Smith and Suzanne Piché, the owners of the nursery.
Top; At this time of year it is easy to recognize the larch trees with their bright, ochre needles that will soon fall.
Bottom left and right; Jacinthe and Leon select a yamadori to extract, rst analyzing its potential to make a good bonsai, then protecting the bark, carefully pruning the roots and nally packing
it securely for the long trip home.
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