When John di Vincenzo first walked into a nursery looking for plants for his new home in the 1980s, he did not know a lifelong passion was about to take root.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
John recently received the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria's John Pascoe Fawkner Medal for outstanding service to horticulture, making him the first recipient from outside Victoria.
John has been member of the Bonsai Society of Western Australia since 1987 and has imparted his wisdom to hundreds of budding bonsai enthusiasts over the years.
He has been on the Bonsai Society's committee for almost a quarter of a century, and is a regular speaker at demonstrations held during Perth garden festivals, club exhibitions, special events and education forums.
He also played a strong role in forging stronger ties between Australian and Japanese culture by assisting with Japanese Emperor's birthday celebration displays at the Consul General's residence.
John prides himself on mentoring younger people who are new to the art of bonsai - he readily invests his time to those who seek his guidance and has helped many members improve the health of their trees.
"I like helping people, especially younger people. That's what happened to me when I first started," he said.
"I always try to help them out and start them off on the right foot.
The 75-year-old Kardinya resident first discovered bonsai while searching for plants for the new home he was building in the mid to late 80s.
"One day I walked into a nursery and there were all these bonsais. I asked 'what are all these trees?'"
"I spent about an hour looking around, I don't know what word is, it was love at first sight, I suppose."
After taking a few lessons, his passion was already starting to blossom and before long he had joined the Bonsai Society
"I find it very therapeutic and relaxing as a hobby. They look like trees in nature, but are just in a little pot."
He currently has approximately 150 trees in his private collection.
"I'll get one of my trees and sit down to do my wiring or trimming, and before you know it two hours have gone by."
John said he had been completely stunned when it was announced he had received the award at a Bonsai Society meeting.
"They called my name but I didn't get up. It's one of those things you hear but don't believe," he said.
"It was an unexpected thing, but a great, great honour. I never thought when I first started this was going to come about.
John helped other club members at the 35th AABC National Bonsai Convention, which was at the Crown in Perth from May 19-22.
The convention offered an opportunity to view some of Australia's finest bonsai trees and to view aesthetic stones or suiseki, as they are known in Japanese.
