Page 19 - Flathead Beacon // 7.23.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS JULY 23, 2014 | 19
“YOU CAN BE PRETTY CREATIVE, AND IF YOU DO IT RIGHT, THE TREES DON’T MIND AND ACTUALLY LIVE A LONG, LONG TIME.” Jerry Meislik
He picks one up and goes at its branches and leaves with what looks to an outsider like a severe clipping session, snipping off greenery at a rapid pace. But soon the method to the shear madness appears, and a lovely, miniature work of living art develops.
“There’s basically a beautiful move- ment there,” he said about a thin kum- quat trunk he’s just maneuvered into a new shape.
Meislik has written books on the art of bonsai cultivation and serves as a consultant for the bonsai garden at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As Meislik chats about photography – an- other of his passions – with a visitor, his wife, Rhona, explains how he became so involved with the tiny trees.
He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gar- den. He was entranced by the bonsai col- lection there, and attempted to grow his own as a teenager.
It wasn’t until he was older and saw
some ficus bonsai in Florida that the passion really took hold. Some of the trees in his current greenhouse have been under his care and attention for de- cades, and he can tell you how each one was planted.
His interest and expertise in bonsais came full circle when he was asked to contribute to the book, “Growing Bon- sai Indoors,” for the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
His other book, “Ficus: The Exotic Bonsai,” is an in-depth report on how to care for these unique trees.
When the Meisliks moved to Mon- tana full time in 2000, Jerry experi- mented with many species of native trees, trying to see if they could be suc- cessful bonsais.
“In theory, you could take pretty much any plant and turn it into a bon- sai,” he said.
Of all that he tried, there were a few that refused to live a full life in a pot; the larch would only survive for about five
A bonsai tree grows in Meislik’s garden. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
years before dying.
So he’s largely stuck with the tropi-
cal trees, usually a fig variety, but the kumquats grow a perfectly small fruit, giving the trees perfect, miniature di- mensions.
Some of his trees, including a 50-year-old small-leaf fig, have been in national and regional bonsai shows, and the Meisliks teach classes to anyone in- terested in the art. Jerry recently re- turned from teaching a bonsai class in Ann Arbor, Michigan and used to have
a regular class at Flathead Valley Com- munity College.
It takes focus and patience – “a lot of patience,” Rhona Meislik said – but the trees truly become live art.
“You can be pretty creative, and if you do it right, the trees don’t mind and actually live a long, long time,” Meislik said.
For more information on Jerry Meis- lik, visit his website at www.bonsai-
hunk.us.
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