Fort Worth Bonsai Society

Transcription

1 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 FWBS 2009/2010 Club Officers Elected: President: Mark Bynum Vice President: Dan Leblanc Secretary/Publicity: Ladd Kelley Treasurer: Steven Hendricks Appointed: Librarian: Harry Ryan Newsletter: Steven Hendricks FW Botanical Soc. Liaison Estella Flather LSBF Representative: Steven Hendricks LSBF Alternate: Gail Williams December Meeting Thursday, Dec. 10, 7:00 PM Pot Luck Dinner No Fourth Thursday Meeting Due to Christmas The society holds its monthly meeting on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00 PM at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Conservatory, 3220 Botanic Garden Drive North, Fort Worth, Texas. A handson, bring a tree on which to work meeting is held on the fourth Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM at the same location. Club Dues: Individual Membership: $25 Joint Membership (Couples): $35 Students (Under 21 years of age) $15 Advertising Rates: Standard Business card (3 1/2" by 2") is $5/month or $45/ year. Other sizes by special arrangement. Articles, letters and other matters pertaining to this newsletter should be sent to: Steven Hendricks 1912 Ashland Ave. Fort Worth, TX (817) (Home) (817) (Work) (817) (Cell) steve.hendricks@lmco.com (Work) stevenhendricks@sbcglobal.net (Home) Online Newsletter Password: FWBS Tagging Expedition to Glen Rose By Mark Bynum The Fort Worth Bonsai Society and the Bonsai Society of Dallas will be taking a tagging trip out to Glen Rose, Texas. This is the same property that we have been to for several years. Many Ashe junipers have come from this area with great survivability percentages. The two large junipers that were dug in February of this year are alive and growing vigorously.

2 2 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 This will be a good time to enjoy the beauty of the land as you leisurely hunt for your perfect tree free from the worry of digging the tree right away. The plan is to meet at the gate on site at 10 am, Saturday, December 12 (see directions below). Each household will be given 3 official tags to use to reserve your trees for the dig, 9 am, Saturday, January 23, This does not mean you are limited to 3 trees when the dig date comes, but you will have at least 3 good ones to work on for sure. This year an added feature will be the availability of a GPS device to record your tree locations. (It seems some of you forgot where your tagged trees were when it came time to dig last time!) At about noon, after we tag some trees and tromp around enjoying the scenery, we will regroup at the gate and head over to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park and eat lunch at the Overlook Restaurant. It is not too far away and will be an exhilarating continuance of our enjoyment of the Glen Rose area. We will treat our hosts, Mel & Jim, to lunch. You may wish to tour the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park after lunch. Another attraction, just west of Glen Rose, is the Dinosaur Valley State Park. If you have not been there, it is a very interesting 2-3 hour experience, from an indoor information building to dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River. There is not much walking and many features are easily accessible by car. Even if you do not want to tag any trees, you are welcome to come on out spend an enjoyable day in the country. Note: This is a tagging trip only; however, you may bring tools to test the digability of your chosen trees. Wear proper shoes and bring a water bottle. A hat is wise. Directions: The easiest route to follow is to get to Glen Rose any way you wish. Upon entering Glen Rose, take Hwy 144 around to the Court House. From the Court House travel south on Hwy 144 six miles to the intersections of county roads 2007, 2008, and Turning left at their juncture with 144, take an immediate right on CR These are now gravel roads. Proceed southeast 3 miles to CR 2730, turn left and proceed l.3 miles. Look for the first rock mailbox on your left; across the street take the first driveway up to the barns and the gate. Some "FWBS" markers with arrows will be posted at key turns. Trust me; these directions will get you there even if the internet maps do not show exactly the same road numbers. Watch the road signs closely as you leave Glen Rose. Mark Bynum is the contact, cell # Cell phones do not always work at this site. Bonsai in December By John Miller There is only two must do things for bonsai in December. One--Watch the weather forecasts. I always look at the ten day forecast too. It is not accurate enough to trust your bonsai to but it may give you some extra time. I like to get the dew point temperature on cold days also. On clear calm nights the temperature can drop to the dew point. I trust that as much as the low given on the TV news. Frost can also occur and damage sensitive leaves at temps above 32. A light cover will usually protect your trees from that or even just having them under a patio cover.

3 3 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 Two--Watch the water in your pots. I think more winter damage is done (on most bonsai) from the soil getting too dry. In the good ole days women hung the wash out even in freezing weather because the ice would sublime leaving the clothes bone dry. Also plants cannot absorb water from a frozen soil. Then there is the wind. It doesn t take much air flow to desiccate the top of the trees and dry the soil especially if the sun is warming it some. PERSIMMON HILL BONSAI C L O S I N G S A L E DISCOUNTS ON NURSERY & STUDIO STOCK INCLUDING A LARGE SELECTION OF POTS US FOR DISCOUNT LIST Terry & Sheila Ward Austin, Texas phbonsai@sbcglobal.net By Appointment I consider repotting during the winter a no-no. When you repot you will stimulate new root growth. New roots are much more susceptible to cold damage therefore you would have to move that tree to an area protected from freezing. Repotting tropicals would be subject to your own particular growing area. If you keep the area above 60 degrees and cool enough during the day that the plants are actively growing you could probably do it. I do a lot of extra work on some of my Shohin, especially the Catlin Elms so that I can enjoy them in January. I have found that if I let them get fully dormant and some freezing for about 4 weeks, I can then take them into my cool (40 at night) greenhouse. They will then break dormancy and I can repot them and act like it is March. So I spend a lot of winter playing with them. Other species can be treated in a similar fashion adjusting the amount of cold and length of dormancy for each species. Winter is the preferred time for working on most bonsai. Junipers and pines can be styled and maintenance work done with a minimum of sap bleeding at the cuts. Now that deciduous species are bare you can really see the structure. Any problem branches should be worked on now. Greenhouse work has to be tailored to your particular greenhouse. If, like me, you merely want to keep them from deteriorating, you will do nothing more than prune a few wild branches. If you keep them actively growing you may get to do more. Winter tends to bring a whole new set of pests to contend with. One of the most destructive is animals who like to chew on twigs and bark in the winter when their preferred food is scarce. There is really nothing you can do to prevent it but you can put repellants around and put out an all-season rat-mouse bait. An outdoor cat also works wonders. Since Texas winters tend to have periods of warm weather that can wake up sleeping insects such as mites and aphids, I suggest spraying evergreens a few times with the organic spray. (1 tbsp. each liquid kelp, fish emulsion, 5% apple cider vinegar, and molasses in one gal. water). Deciduous plants can benefit from a spraying of horticultural oil or a dormant lime-sulfur spray. The lime-sulfur must be done while the plant is completely dormant before any bud swelling. Finally, some of best collecting trips can be had staying in town. Go check out the back corners of the nurseries especially those that cleared things out for their Christmas tree sales.

4 4 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 Especially look for stuff that may have suffered top damage but has healthy growth at the bottom which is where your future bonsai is anyway. Sometimes they let you just take it or at most charge very little. Walter Strain November 24, 1943 November 15, 2009 Submitted by Greg Setter Walter, a Dallas native, is the husband of Glenda and father of Regina and Tim. He is survived by six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was quick to remind that they are grandchildren, not grandkids because they aren t goats. A more devoted husband and father you could not find. Walter s appreciation of family traditions like putting up the Christmas village that had been in their family for generations and his over-the-top July Fourth celebration were legendary. He had immense pride in his family and them in him. Walter had careers in radiology and technical services. For many years, he owned Uniserve and later was employed by Mid-States as an expert in technical services. Walter was a long-time member of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Carrollton, where he and Glenda were active in parish activities, including Eucharistic ministry. Walter served as a third-degree knight for the Knights of Columbus. He also assisted in organizing parish fundraising and the annual festivals. His pride in the construction projects at church was evident. Evident also is the great number of friends they have from the parish who love and appreciate Walter and Glenda. Walter enjoyed several hobbies, and not all of his bonsai friends knew how much he loved building and flying model airplanes. His attention to detail was amazing, and like his bonsai, his planes tended to be large. His love of horticulture was begun with an interest in orchids and other tropicals. He was a tenacious maintainer of the Japanese garden surrounding his pool in the backyard and of the koi that reside in the pond there. The koi are well-fed, and like Walter s bonsai, they tip the scales, but as well-fed as they are, they ve persisted in consuming on occasion the water plants in the pond, much to Walter s dismay. Ashe juniper from the collection of Walter D. Strain. Collected in Travis County, In training since In 1987, Walter was a new member of the Bonsai Society of Dallas, and with a group of other newbie s, he was recruited for a six-week beginners class conducted by Ted Guyger. A hastily organized collecting trip for Ashe juniper that spring was the beginning of Walter s affection for large bonsai. If they were large, he liked em if they were Ashe juniper with dead wood twisting trunks all the better. In July 1994, after the untimely death of George Gray, who was, at the time, the convention chair for the 1995 American Bonsai Society Symposium, scheduled to be held in Dallas in May 1995, Walter and Howard Herrington assumed the roles of co-chairmen to bring the event off. To their credit, the symposium was hugely successful and a great money maker for the ABS, LSBF, and Dallas clubs.

5 5 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 Walter was a prolific digger of wild material for conversion to bonsai. Over the years, many of the trees used for demonstrations and workshops at club events as well as the LSBF conventions were collected by Walter and his digging buddies. He was particularly attracted to the most challenging pieces of raw material both in size and wildness. Ashe juniper, red cedars, cedar elms, and live oaks were his favorites to collect. He also was fond of taking seedlings and cuttings of a variety of Japanese and Trident maples and putting them into ground beds to see what they would do. Often, they became massive, wonderful things. Andy Smith Styles a Ponderosa Pine Walter s talent in creating bonsai was obvious, and it is gratifying that his son is ready to step in to take over Walter s bonsai collection. Tim s vast experience in the fields of horticulture and landscape will serve him and the collection well. Walter was my best friend for 22 years, and words cannot describe how much I and others will miss him. He had a knack for having fun and for being there for his family and friends. Over the years, I ve joked a number of times that Walter and I worked well together because he took himself too seriously, and I didn t take him seriously at all. But, in truth, I must confess that I did take him and his friendship seriously and that is what Walter was about: making friends and being loyal to them through the ups and downs of life. Andy Smith and Demo Tree Winner Diane Lowe May the Good Lord bless Walter and his family greatly. **************** Editor s note: Walter was also a member of the Fort Worth Bonsai Society this year. He attended the spring dig and gave us a presentation on collecting and styling Ashe junipers. Ladd Kelley Shows His Wiring Technique at the Saturday Workshop Notes from the President By Mark Bynum I enjoyed having the Fort Worth and Dallas bonsai clubs over to my house for the demonstration by Andy Smith in November.

6 6 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 Because everyone brought a little something, we had variety and plenty of food and beverages for all. The informal atmosphere was great and many people stayed after the demonstration to chat with Andy. I was privileged to spend the afternoon with him and we talked "shop", exchanging ideas and techniques about digging trees and caring for them afterwards. One of our better visiting artist programs in my opinion. We paid the shipping costs, but Andy graciously donated the demo tree and the raffle proceeds went a long way in paying for his visit here. Please check the "Upcoming Events" section of this newsletter for dates on the Glen Rose Tagging Expedition, the "Sift It & Mix It" event in January, and the Glen Rose Dig now moved to January. Our annual club juniper potting and styling meeting also comes up in January on the 4 th Thursday. There is plenty to do in an active club! Business at the next meeting will include: approval of purchase of club junipers for fundraising, discussion of the Japanese Festival sales area, president's discretionary fund, and year end Treasurer's report. We will keep the business portion to 15 minutes tops so that we may enjoy the food and Chinese gift exchange of our annual Holiday Pot Luck Dinner Meeting. Please note an early start time of 6:30 pm at the Garden Center. As a final thought, we mourn the untimely loss of FWBS member, Walter Strain, in November. Our thoughts go to the family who lost an energetic and charismatic family man. Several of our club members attended. I was looking forward to tagging junipers with Walter in Glen Rose. I may just tag one for him anyway. Mark Bynum, president **************** "SIFT IT & MIX IT" EVENT Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 (rain date: 1/16/10) January begins the potting season for bonsai enthusiasts in Texas and it is time to get your special mix of bonsai soil ready. Some of us need quite a bit of soil for repotting and the chore of sifting and mixing it can be overwhelming if done by hand. Between 9am and noon at Mark Bynum's house, the members of the Fort Worth Bonsai Society will have an opportunity to have their bonsai soil ingredients sifted and then mixed to your own proportions. Scott Rae has a sifting rig that will separate ingredients into 3 sizes; course, medium, and small. At the same time the unwanted "fines" are sifted out. His rig works with Landscaper's Mix, akadama, lava rock, pumice, expanded shale, and other bonsai soil ingredients. Mark Bynum has a concrete mixer that will mix your ingredients together in whatever proportions you prefer for your bonsai soil. You can even throw in some organic fertilizer if you like. Here is what you need to bring: 1) Your favorite bonsai mix ingredients: bagged goods such as lava rock, akadama, etc. are fine to bring. Each ingredient will be sifted separately. Purchase ingredients at Sanderson Creek Bonsai, Bent Tree Bonsai, or elsewhere before the event. No ingredients will be

7 7 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 available at the event. 2) 5 gal. Buckets or other containers: bring enough containers to get your new soil mix back home. Bags are OK but are not nearly as good as buckets. A few buckets will be available in case you misestimate your needs. December Program Notes By Dan Leblanc Merry Christmas and Happy Bonsai New Year. It is time for our annual Christmas Party. We will have no formal program or presentation. We will have our usual potluck dinner. No meat provided this year so please bring a suitable potluck dish. Finger foods and snack foods or drinks are always good. If you can t bring food bring a friend and enjoy the festivities with your fellow bonsai enthusiasts. Brooke and Autumn are looking forward to the Chinese Christmas we do every year. This is the only FWBS meeting they look forward to all year. I wonder why? Scott Rae sifts soils at last year s event. Notes: -Keep your ingredients DRY. It is hard to sift moist/wet material. -Scott asks that you use landscapers mix over pine bark mulch. It is much easier to sift because it generally has a finer texture. Also, much more of the material is usable. -No job is too small. One bag of each ingredient is just fine. -Course or large ingredients above ¼" are good for large bonsai, 2' ht and above. -Medium sized ingredients are ¼" and smaller and are used for most bonsai trees. -Small sized ingredients are 1/8" or less and are used for shohin & mame bonsai trees. -It is suggested that you purchase medium to small sized aggregates. -For questions, call Mark or Scott. You may show up anytime between 9 am and noon. We will work till we are finished. Some donuts and coffee will be available. In case of inclement weather, a rain date of the next Saturday is scheduled. If you want to participate, bring something small, inexpensive and wrapped. We have had a great time in years past and we should have a wonderful time this year as well. Thanks for allowing me to serve as your program chair and vice president for this past year. Keep in mind I m still learning and looking for ideas for programs for Don t be shy we welcome any and all suggestions. As always for Show and Tell please bring any trees, to share with the group. Membership Renewals Remember to renew your membership for 2010! Individual memberships are $25/year; couples

8 8 Fort Worth Bonsai Society December 2009 for $35. There is a registration form attached to this newsletter and we will be distributing registration/ renewal forms at the next several meetings. Even if you are a longtime member, please fill one out at least your name and any change from last year, such as a new address. This helps the treasurer keep track of who has paid and insures that you will continue to receive your newsletter. New Source for Pumice in Texas (From the BSD December Newsletter) Chuck Talley wanted to pass on to the membership that there is a new source for pumice in Texas. McCoy s Building Supply now sells pumice under the brand name Dry Stall. Chuck says that Howard Smith has looked at the product and verified that it s a quality pumice. There are four locations in Texas: Terrell, Gainesville, Cleburne and Corsicana. Upcoming Events Thursday, December 10: Club Holiday Pot Luck Dinner and Chinese Gift Exchange, Botanical Garden Center, 6:30 pm No 4th Thursday meeting in December Saturday, December 12: Tagging Expedition to Glen Rose, 10 am. Saturday, January 9: "Sift It & Mix It" Bonsai soil event, Mark's house, 9 am. Thursday, January 14: Regular Meeting Saturday, January 23: Glen Rose Dig, 9 am. Thursday, January 28: Club Juniper styling & potting event, 7 pm. Convention Raffle Items We still need convention raffle items. We are now just 5 months from hosting the state convention. Please bring non-living raffle items to the club meetings each month. In addition, we need items for the goodie bags. That means around 110 of anything that is inexpensive. Things related to bonsai are preferred but not required. Cross Section of a Ponderosa pine, dug and sectioned by Andy Smith. You can see by the very thin rings, how slowly these trees can grow when constrained by weather and restricted nutrition. Remember, whatever money we make on the convention comes from the raffle income so be generous.

9 Fort Worth Bonsai Society Membership Form Please mail to: Fort Worth Bonsai Society 1912 Ashland Ave. Fort Worth, TX Or Turn in at Club Meeting The Fort Worth Bonsai Society meets on the second Thursday of each month. Time: 7:00 PM Place: Conservatory of the Botanic Gardens 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd Fort Worth, TX (817) Date: Name(s): Address: City: State: Zip Code: Telephone: Individual Membership: $25.00 Joint Membership: $35.00 Student Membership: $15.00 Please Check Your Membership Selections Below: Individual Joint Student How would your prefer to receive the newsletter? By (.pdf, Adobe Acrobat format) By US mail