Bonsai Society of Dallas

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1 Bonsai Society of Dallas Monthly Member Newsletter November 2012 Message from the President Upcoming Programs & Events Saturday, November 3, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Bonsai Study Group with the Smiths 9:00 AM Saturday, December 1, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting/Holiday Party & Bonsai Journalism & Photography David S. 9:00 AM Saturday, January 5, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Program Hurley Johnson from Houston club demo. 9:00 AM Saturday, February 2, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Bonsai Study Group with the Smiths 9:00 AM 2013 LSBF Convention April 11-14, 2013 New Braunfels Convention Center Hosts Austin and San Antonio In this edition Hello everyone, we are sorry to be so late with the November newsletter. Hiram and I have been swamped at work and we'll be back on schedule next month. We had excellent turnout for the November study group - a lot of trees and as usual, a great time on seasonal care from Howard and Sylvia Smith of BonsaiSmiths. I got some good styling tips on a Shimpaku (Juniper) I obtained from Jackie Paul's recent sale. We had over 35 folks there and several visitors whom I hope continue to join us. Our December program will feature 30 year club veteran Dave Schleser giving us tips on journaling and keeping up with the quantitative side of our collections. I look forward to that and it is our annual holiday party, so expect kolaches, coffees and other refreshments. I am recruiting new volunteers for our board and I need your help. I am pleased to announce that Paul Muraida and Mary Polk have volunteered. I will be sending another message soon explaining the board composition and why I think you should serve. We have a strong board that will continue, so if you can drive a car, use a phone, and do what you say you are going to, then you'll make an excellent board member. In our last board meeting we confirmed our dates for two upcoming club digs and for our annual buying trip to Dallas Bonsai Garden. Be sure to mark your calendars for those events. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks. Enjoy your Thanksgiving - Chuck page 1

2 - November Program - Study Group with Bonsai Smiths A reminder to all that it is once again time to bring your special tree for a styling consultation with Howard and Sylvia Smith. This quarterly program has become a favorite with our members as they receive one-on-one attention from either Howard or Sylvia. Make sure you bring your tools so that you can take action on their styling advice. Due to the popularity of this study group event we request that you only bring one tree for styling advice. You are always welcome to bring more for show and tell but only your main tree will be given advice. As always this workshop gets all of us busy working on our trees. I had the fortune of hosting Michael Feduccia in October. It was you can say my birthday present to myself. I highly recommend to all that are able to host a guest artist in the future to do so. My biggest take away from his visit were some styling tips he gave me at home. You see Michael drew me a quick sketch of what my podocarpus bonsai should look like as well as tips on other small pre bonsai I own. From those quick sketches and small chat about styling my trees I figured out a few tips I wanted to share with the club. Perpendicular lines: Michael recommends avoiding having trunk lines that are perpendicular to the rim of the pot, as this creates an unnatural visual pattern that our human eye will quickly detect. The only exception to this would be in the case of a formal upright design. Learning from a master to be by Hiram Quinones Parallel lines: Branches that form parallel lines with the rim of the pot should also be avoided, as this again provides an unnatural pattern that will distract us from seeing the natural movement in a tree. Irregularities and the lack of visual patterns are much more natural. Never prune back too severely, especially in original styling: Leave more branches than needed for the final design to allow for vigor and health of the tree as back-up branches in case one or more were to perish or break in the wiring process. A dead branch is no longer a branch when its jin material: Even though jin and shari (dead trunk) can add apparent age to a bonsai, in most cases, what"s needed most is a strong vision from the artist, something that I need to develop and tedious wood carving work and a lot of special preservation care afterwards (which I don"t know I can handle yet.. In Memory of The Bonsai Society of Dallas announces with great sadness, the passing of one of our members, Mr. Usman Qureshi, in August of this year. Our condolences go out to his wife, Jean and his daughter Chandra Brooks who will continue to join us for club activities and meetings. page 2

3 2013 Lone Star Bonsai Federation Convention Hosts: Austin and San Antonio Hello members the LSBF"s 2013 Convention is just around the corner. The convention will be hosted by the Austin and San Antonio clubs. Get yourself and your trees ready for this awesome opportunity to see bonsai trees from all over the state. The convention will take place April 11 though April 14 at the New Braunsfels Convention Center. Features as guest artists this year will be: Colin Lewis, Walter Pall and Erik Wigert. See our upcoming articles on the convention and start getting ready now Convention Chronicle Three Ring Circus - New Braunfels, TX by Joey McCoy and Donna Dobberfuhl Originally published in the ABS Newsletter I would like to talk about the exhibit space at the convention. There is a very large space reserved for the exhibit area. Mike Watson (Austin) and Donna Dobberfuhl (San Antonio) are the exhibit chairs. They are interested in following some of the protocols set up by the Dallas convention, such as some pre-organizing of the space by asking information about the trees you plan to bring and also to give info to the viewing public about each Bonsai. So start thinking about which Bonsai you would like to bring and begin prepping them for the show. LSBF will continue to give awards as they did last time and there is the possibility of a national award as well. Competition is not the only reason to show, please bring a tree you are proud of and would like to share with the rest of the Bonsai family. There are going to be three primary sections to the exhibit: The Classical display for Bonsai with the three point design, Suiseki (viewing stones) and Contemporary Bonsai. When one learns an art form it is about the rules of aesthetics, about design. Good design follows certain rules; excellent design goes beyond the rules. To learn about good design, follow the rules; internalize them the rules will serve you well. But if the art form never goes beyond the rules it will become just another pleasant expression of art. When the artist starts pushing the envelope, exploring, understanding the values in design then new dynamic expressions appear. What is interesting about bonsai when applied to native trees with the use of good design different expressions appear. Live Oaks just follow their own design lines, same with Bald Cypress and Tropicals; it is the same with all native trees. When the bonsai artist sees these expressions, understands them, then what is born is contemporary design and Bonsai design grows and expands. Ok, don"t get excited What is contemporary? What it is not is weird. page 3

4 Getting to know Michael Feduccia by Hiram Quinones During the month of October the BSD had the opportunity to host visiting guest artist Mike Feduccia a recently unknown bonsai artist that is well on his way to becoming one of our American Artist. Michael lives in Florida where he has taken a go to the art form and is dedicating himself 150%. I was amazed to learn that he and I have approximately been working at bonsai for about the same number of years. The differentiator passion, dedication and excitement. Not that I don"t share these to some extent but Michael is really living his dream. I had the opportunity to share my home with Michael and more than a few meals and truly the man eats, breaths and sleeps bonsai. He held me and Andrew captive with his stories who for someone so young in the art are quite extensive. His first mentor was Erik Wiggert, followed by Pedro Morales and finally Ryan Neil. His visit to Europe for a bonsai photo shot with Ryan Neil was most impressive. Oh was a fun time I had (so lucky to have hosted him.) pick up Michael. Then on Friday, October 5 we had two paid workshops for members available to come during the day. The morning one was a bring your own tree and the evening one was a chinese elm workshop. Both workshops were full days before the event. I had the opportunity to attend both workshops and have at least one tree from my collection looking better for it. Friday morning, Michael walked by my small collection of assorted brebonsai trees and selected a Podocarpus he wanted me to work on for the the bring your own tree workshop. At once Michael"s artistic side peaked out when he drew a few stick figures of what the final style should look like. Believe me I have a few years ahead for the tree to look like what Michael"s vision for the tree is. Silly me I did not take before pictures but you know I"m always saying pictures are worth 1000 words so here is a picture of my new tree styled by me under Mr. Feduccia"s supervision. Hopefully he also learned some about me and I can and will take credit for being the first one to introduce Michael to Lebanese food. Andrew and I took him to Afrah and had quite a two hour feast. Michael proved himself the artist with both his passion and his sensibility towards life and the hobby. But all was not fun and games for Michael, while he was with the BSD in October he provided 3 wonderful opportunities to see him at work. On Thursday, October 4, Michael did a juniper demonstration to the full club membership. The demonstration was very well attended and he showed us some of his tricks including the rafia trick. Sorry I can"t describe it more but I missed most of the demonstration showing up mostly to Additionally Mary Polk was one of my class mates for the Chinese Elm workshop and she was kind enough to share with us her before and after photos. We will see her photos on the next page. page 4

5 Chinese Elm Workshop with Mike Feduccia by Hiram Quinones & Mark Polk Below: Michael Feduccia works on styling the chinese elm. Above: Mark Polk"s tree at the beginning of the workshop. Above: Michael creating a sharp bend. Above: first styling all it needs is a blue pot. page 5

6 November Bonsai Tips and advice by John Miller I am concerned this year by the way the fronts seem to be shaping up. Usually the fronts come down with a broad leading edge covering the whole Midwest and behaving rather nicely. This year they seem to be more narrow. The last one (in October) was real thin only as wide as Kansas and Oklahoma. The problem with this is that all the cold air shoots south giving us a sharper and deeper drop in temperature. They tend to move out quicker also with a lot of warm air coming in behind them. That means you get a harder freeze and then it jump up toward 90 in a couple of days. That variation is not good for bonsai. This made me dig out an interesting fact that is surprising. There is only one month of the entire year, in the Dallas records, that the high temperature did no reach 90 and that month the record high was 89. Surprisingly that month was not January, it was November. All of this means that you should have your winter quarters ready. Select one for deciduous trees that will be out of the sun. Air circulation is good but too much wind will desiccate them especially in freezing temps. Be sure you can check their watering. Clean up all debris. Before putting the trees into winter storage treat them for over-wintering insects and eggs. Dormant oil spray is good on trees with no green. A dilute solution of lime sulfur is an old gardeners dormant spray for insect and fungus control. Use it on very cool days and dilute it 1 part lime sulfur to 20 parts water. Be sure to read the label on your bottle in case there are different strengths available. This solution should also be applied to benches tops, posts and the soil surrounding them (if you have gravel instead of grass) to eliminate hiding eggs and spores. If you have a greenhouse treat it also before the weather gets too cold to put your plants outside or move them to one end while you treat the other end. At this time of the year deciduous plants do not need fertilizer. Evergreens will continue a slow growth and will benefit for a light fertilizer feeding. Use one with a lower nitrogen (first number) like at no more than half the recommended feeding rate. Watering should be done with care during the cool and/or cold weather. Deciduous trees will use some water to replace that lost to winds wand evaporation. Evergreen trees will need a little more but not as much as in summer. The easiest way is to sort your pots into groups, those that dry quickly, those that are slower to dry, and those that seem to stay damp. This will let you water faster and yet not over-water the ones staying damp. Make a mental note to repot the ones staying too damp. Most important is winter is to keep the soil moisture at a proper level. This sometimes is hard to do because the trees do not use as much water as when they are growing. However the cold winds will dry out the tops quickly. I believe that most winter damage in Texas is due to lack of water rather than to low temperatures. Mulch helps keep the roots warm and retards evaporation but it makes for difficulty in seeing if the soil is damp enough. Most soils with enough organic material to keep the tree happy in the summer will be too wet if watered daily in the winter and wet cold means root rot. Repotting of hardy trees can be done anytime the trees are dormant. However it is safer to do that chore in the spring as the buds are swelling. New roots will start forming immediately upon repotting in order for the tree to absorb water. If you do repot in the fall you should protect the new roots from freezing during the winter. Do you need to change the pot? Making notes at this time while getting the trees ready for winter will give you 3-4 months to find the proper pot. Continued next page page 6

7 November Bonsai continued from page 5 Tips and advice by John Miller When trees go dormant which indicates a reduced sap flow they may be pruned, that is have major limbs removed. Trimming may also be done while the leaves are off the trees and you can see what you are doing. Evergreen types will probably still be active. Pruning them should be held until later. If you have a tree that is weak and unhealthy you should not attempt to style it in any way, just get it happy by adjusting its soil, feeding, and getting rid of any parasites. Styling just adds to its stress and problems By this time any tropical you have should be under cover. Most do not like the temp below 50 degrees. All tropicals should be checked and treated for any insect problems since any insects will multiply fast when they get into warmer quarters. Spider mites and scale can be especially damaging if the plant is moved in the house where the humidity is low. The semi-tropical plants like crape myrtle pomegranate and pyracantha need to go dormant to stay healthy over a long time but they cannot take much cold on the roots. They will be killed by temps somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees. These I set down on the ground and mulch for light freezes and then bring into a protected area for the colder winter. Sometimes I will let them go dormant for a month and then take into the greenhouse to start early and I can enjoy their new foliage in January. Plan your spring repotting tasks so you will have the necessary pots and other supplies. Take advantage of low prices when nurseries are clearing out space for Xmas tree sales. You can sometimes find some bargains there especially if you remember that a tree with broken/dead tops can make nice bonsai starter material. The dormant season is also a very good time to study your deciduous bonsai. You can see clearly the structure and where improvements should be made. Remove any wire that is tight or where it has done its work and the branch stays in position. Work can be done more leisurely over the winter. Take care not to damage the small buds. Learn to think in terms related to plant characteristics instead of calendar periods (i.e. use when dormant instead of October, candle growth instead of April, etc). That will enable you to read bonsai articles correctly whether written in Japan Florida or wherever. Note that some tree cultivars (like the cork bark black pine) are notably weaker than the standards of the species and require different pruning and care. page 7

8 BSD Board of Directors President - Chuck Talley co-program Chair chuck_talley@tandybrands.com Vice-President Vacant Diane Lowe Treasurer diane_lowe@live.com Bronson Havard Secretary bhavard@flash.net Jerry Riley Member Relations jafa625@gmail.com Hiram Quinones Newsletter Editor hiramaquinones@yahoo.com John Miller President Emeritus bonsaimiller@aol.com Sylvia Smith President Emeritus slysmith@earthlink.net Has your address changed? Comments? Hiram at hiramaquinones@yahoo.com Guess the artist - these three trees were designed by our 3 convention guest artist. Guess which tree is associated with which artist Photos from the internet. page 8

9 Howard and Sylvia Smith Cultivators of fine trees Collection maintenance Tel# (972) Private instruction Fax# (972) Classes, lectures & demos "#$%&'(&)(*+&"%,* Timeless Trees (832) "#$%&'##"($)*+,-./01/ Place Your Ad Here Business card size is $5.00 per month Half page size is $20.00 per month Full page size is $35.00 per month For more details contact: Diane Lowe page 9

10 B O NSA I SO C I E T Y O F D A L L AS M E M B E RSH IP F O R M Please mail to: Bonsai Society of Dallas P.O. Box Richardson, T X O r turn in at any Club Meeting The Bonsai Society of Dallas meets on the first Saturday of each month. Time: 9:00 A M Place: North Haven Garden Center 7700 Northaven Dallas, T X Name(s): Address: City: State: Zip Code: Telephone: Date: Individual Membership: $25.00 Renewal Joint Membership: $30.00 New Membership Include only my in the roster Exclude me from the membership roster For the convenience of our membership a roster is published for members only in March of each year. Please check the appropriate box if you do not wish to be included or want to limit your information " " " Do Not Cut: For T reasurer Use Only Member Receipt: Name: Amount Paid: Membership Year: Date: Dues received by: "#$%&'()*$+&,*#-.$&/$0)11)(2$3#34#5("*6$/##($)5#$78#$*'$9)'8)5.:$;'$*'7*<*78)1$3#34#5("*6$*($ $25.00; a joint membership is $ Memberships run from January to December of each year.