February 2022 Workshop

On February 19^th, 24 members of the Southern California Haiku Group met via zoom:  Lynn Algood, Kathryn Bold, Jackie Chou, Marcyn Del Clements, Lynne Fayne, Joan Fingon, Diane Fungston, Carol Hajdu, Charles Harmon, Deborah P Kolodji, Yvette Nicole Kolodji, Gregory Longenecker, Seretta Martin, Richard Matta, Vicki Miko, Rita Melissano, Genie Nakano, Susan Rogers, Bona M. Santos, Sigrid Saradunn, Lorraine Padden, Patricia Wakimoto, Kath Abela Wilson, and Sharon Yee.

After a read-around of poetry, Vicki Miko did a short featured reading of haiku.  This was followed by a beautiful virtual ginko of the Japanese Garden at the Huntington presented by Greg Longenecker. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens are on the former estate of Henry and Arabella Huntington.  In August of 1919, they signed a trust document that transformed their private estate into a public institution making their collections available “to promote the public welfare.” 

The Japanese Garden comprises a traditional Japanese house, a moon bridge, a walled Zen garden, bonsai courts, and Seifu-an, a ceremonial teahouse and garden.  The Huntington’s bonsai collection is one of the largest bonsai collections in the United States. Started in 1968, the bonsai holdings now number in the hundreds, representing many different species, styles and sizes, from centuries-old twisted junipers to majestic pines, elm forests, bougainvillea, and more. Some bonsai in the Huntington collections are estimated to be over 1,000 years old. In addition to the two bonsai courts in the Japanese Garden, which are linked by a Suiseki Court (viewing stones), bonsai can also be found in the Chinese Garden (Liu Fang Yuan, or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance).  No two visits to the bonsai courts are ever the same because these displays only represent a portion of the overall collection, and trees are rotated throughout the year to highlight seasonal features.

The Huntington also has a collection of camellias of 80 different camellia species and 1200 cultivated varieties, in full bloom in February in the North Vista, Japanese Garden, and the Garden of Flowing Fragrance.

Many haiku were inspired by Greg's wonderful presentation.

The March workshop will be on March 19^th via zoom at 2 pm.  Peter Jastermsky will do a presentation on split-sequences and Lorraine Padden will do a featured reading.  If you are interested in attending, contact Debbie Kolodji at dkolodji@aol.com.