Here's a fun little update to a thread that's now over 7 years old. We still have a decent chunk of time before we hit 20 yrs. It seem like one of the biggest influences over the last 7 years have been the influx of Bonsai Professionals that have come mostly from Japan. The use of technology-Blogs, Video's, Social media has and will continue to elevate the level of Bonsai as well.
It was fun looking back on this thread, here's a few quotes I found interesting below.
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Smoke
"None of the above will happen.....
without education there is no growth.
Collecting will continue and probably be larger than it is today as the real people in bonsai move from urban lives to more rural areas in search of a smaller tax burdon."
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Brian Van Fleet
"Actually, I agree with Al...I foresee a trend toward working with native trees, and with those field-grown just for bonsai. My guess is that we'll advance double from 2010-2030 than we did from 1990-2010...go back and look at "old" International Bonsai and BCI magazines...we've made quantum leaps in the last 20 years. Material is bigger and better, and we have easier access to images of the great trees being done in Japan and Europe.
Onward...Upward!!!
But I still wonder where my jetpack and hovercraft are...thought those were coming soon too..."
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davetree
"Maybe in 20 years the import ban will be lifted."
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JasonG
"My opinion is that there are a few key people in American bonsai that will drastically change the face of American bonsai in the 5-10 year time span. The quality of work and material will be elevated to another level and excitement for bonsai will be greater than ever before. I look forward to this and am excited to be a part of it, and know that right now the sky is the limit and we are just at a kicking off point.
20 years looks like an awesome time for bonsai, but I am most excited for now thru the 3, 5, 7 and 10 year mark. If we want 20 years to be killer then we need to make that happen today and it takes ALL of us to accept the challenge and elevate our games. The single biggest thing to elevate passion, your eye and your collection is to be around killer trees. It could be at a public garden, a friend’s collection, a person you met in the club (who you volunteer to help for free) that has a great collection, a nursery with great material, etc….. If you are not around good trees on a regular basis then you will struggle to get to the next level. "
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Here's a few of my predictions in the next 13 years just for fun. Would love to hear yours?
-The highest quality Trees, Pots and Stands will be exponentially more expensive
-Mid and low quality Trees, Pots and Stands will only raise near the rate of inflation
-The average level of Bonsai knowledge will be much higher
-More of our Native Species will be championed by individuals resulting in more types of US Natives in our Bonsai shows
-We’ll see a $30,000 or greater first place prize in a Bonsai show.
-We’ll see a lot more Bonsai competition/exhibits
I can't afford real bonsai equipment as it is if i ever even get slightly good at bonsai i will write a book called Bonsai - doing it on the cheap.
