Bonsai Society of Dallas

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1 Upcoming Programs & Events Saturday, June 2, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Program Bonsai Study Group 9:00 AM Saturday, July 7, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Program Work Stations/Rotation 9:00 AM Saturday, August 4, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Program Ask the Experts 9:00 AM Saturday, September 1, 2012 North Haven Gardens Monthly Meeting & Program Letʼs Go Native 9:00 AM Bonsai Society of Dallas Monthly Member Newsletter June 2012 Message from the President I am pleased to say that we are still receiving excellent feedback from the Lone Star Bonsai Federation convention. It tool almost super human strength but our club did put on a great show. Once more thank you to everyone that helped make the convention a success. Your efforts were much appreciated by all in attendance and yours truly. The final numbers (profit) are still in review but it looks like we made approximately $3500 to split between our club and LSFB. We should have the final numbers announce in a future club meeting. We had en excellent May program with special suiseki artist Chiara Padrini (see Bronsonʼs article if you missed the program.) Many thanks to Sylvia for coordinating the visit and hosting Chiara. Thank you to Hiram for driving her to the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday and bringing her back to the Smithʼs prior to her departure. Attendance was excellent and we learned a lot about this ancient art of stone appreciation and contemplation. A big thank you to the members that brought stones from their personal collections. This spirit of sharing is what our club is all about. By now you have read about the June program, but I want to remind you to bring a tree or two for critique by Bonsai Smiths. If you want to work on your trees bring the required tools. A special thanks to Mary Polk for submitting a wonderful articles about the conventions. It is always great when members submit articles to the newsletter. Iʼd like to encourage everyone to submit an article about a bonsai experience. Your voice is important to all of us. Over the following months we will be publishing pictures from the convention. There are so many good ones it is hard to pick them so instead we will add a few here and there. That way we keep the memories of this effort going for the rest of the year. Well best be getting back to the family, see you all on June 2nd - Chuck BSD member, Diane Lowe participates in one of the convention workshops April 2012 page 1

2 June Program Bonsai Study Group with Howard & Sylvia Smith Please plan to join us for another installment of the Study Group series, led by Howard and Sylvia Smith of Bonsai Smiths. It is an opportunity to bring up to two of your bonsai to the meeting for consultation and work in a large group setting. A photo station will again be set up where you can take a snapshot of your tree before and after work. Now is the time of year to get your tropical bonsai repotted. If you will be doing this at the next session you will need to bring the following: aluminum wire, wire cutters, bonsai pot, bonsai soil, plastic mesh to cover pot holes, sharp root cutters and or scissors, bamboo chopsticks, branch pruners or sharp scissors for cutting branches. Junipers can be wired ahead of time for consultation on styling and technique advice. DO NOT decandle pines as it is not time yet but feel free to bring them for consultation. This is also a good time of year to work on ramification of your deciduous and evergreen trees. Make sure you bring aluminum wire, wire cutters, branch pruners and / or sharp scissors. If you would rather not bring a tree, come anyway and benefit from listening to Howard and Sylvia give advise to those who do bring a tree. A lot can be learned by just listening and observing. There is no charge for members to participate. Non-members may observe at no charge, or there is a $25 fee to work on their trees. Hope to see you at the June meeting Dallas LSBF Convention bring in new members Seven persons across the Metroplex joined the Bonsai Society of Dallas between April during the statewide Lone Star Bonsai Federation Convention hosted by Dallas. Club membership has risen to 93 persons (including joint memberships) or 73 households, making the BSD the second largest society in Texas after Houston, which boasts of near 100 members, according to their website. At five months into 2012, the Dallas membership is also closing in on its yearend record of 97 members in 2010, according to figures surveyed since New members coming in during the convention are Tony Clayton of Coppell, Scott Hubble of Arlington, Leela Sinha of Frisco, Kate Ryer of Plano, Erick Tomas of Dallas, Christopher Holtz of Dallas, and Brandon Steed of Carrollton. The BSD welcomes them all Below pictures from the Ryan Neil demonstration page 2

3 Rare Program on the Art of Stone Appreciation with Bonsai Gives Members New Insights By Bronson Havard They called them suiseki (pronounced suuee-seck-ee) and they are more than just rocks. And by good fortune, the Bonsai Society of Dallas heard from an international expert to explain the ancient art of stone appreciation to its members at their May meeting. So, members brought out their rocks for a closer look with famed collector and lecturer Chiari Padrini of Italy. Novices here learned that the art form, like bonsai, originated in China at least 1,500 years ago. Featured rocks were introduced to the Japanese imperial court about 600 A.D., according to recorded history. The Chinese called the rocks viewing or scholar stones --- something quite suitable to mediate on. According to Ms. Padrini, the Japanese took to stone appreciation and bonsai very well and created their own art forms of the natural elements. Shaped by imported Buddhism and Taoism religious concepts as well as the native Japanese Shintoism, the Japanese person sees art in nature more keenly than we Americans. Too, they see their relationship with nature in these art forms. Such a viewpoint might help Americans --- now crowded into apartments, condominiums and zero-lot-line housing --- make their lives more fully human in a natural world. Alas, there are no teachers readily available unless students come to bonsai society programs. Ms. Padrini said to look at the rocks that are fantastical or mystical, as Chinese do, or reminiscent of something in nature like a mountain or an animal, as the Japanese do. The Japanese term suiseki literally means water stone, and is derived from the traditional placement of stone in water as their scenic coastal rock islands. Here are a couple photos of Chiara during the meeting: page 3

4 Bonsai Novice Defoliating Your Bonsai by Hiram Quinones Hi all Bonsai novice here Well summer is just around the corner and one of the bonsai tasks I have learned about is defoliating or leaf pruning. Last year our club demonstrated this t e c h n i q u e ( D i a n e d i d a g r e a t j o b demonstrating.) So of course, I had to try it when I got home. I want to take a few minutes to share with you some tips I picked up from the meeting, talking to seasoned members and from my personal experience. I do want to say that by now it is a little too late to do any serious leaf pruning (our summer here is so fierce and early.) But this is a great time to leaf prune your tropical bonsai. Leaf pruning is done on deciduous trees (the ones that lose their leaves in the winter) or broadleaf tropical bonsai. It is done in the spring to force the bonsai to replace its leaves and in some cases to create ramification or even smaller leaves. In past articles, John Miller, has shared with us that leaf pruning will help reduce the length of the internodes and in maples help in producing wonderful autumn color. I remember him telling me that when he started with maples he did not realize just how much defoliating you really should do. Once he started doing that regularly his trees were much better for it. There are three basic ways to prune leaves. The first and most extreme is complete defoliation. This means that every single leaf is carefully removed from the bonsai. The best way to go about this is to use very sharp scissors and cut the leaves off completely. Warning: only defoliate a very healthy tree that is growing vigorously. You also have to do it early enough in our zone so that we still get cool evenings and nights that will help promote growth. Never defoliate a sickly tree or remove all itʼs leaves late in the summer. (Or even now in June.) This can shock the tree and it may never recover (aka it can die) Hum personal experience last year with a trident maple, which I defoliated in mid June. A completely defoliated tree will requires less water. Generally it takes 3-6 weeks before new leaves start to emerge. Honestly complete defoliating scares me but I inadvertently did this a few years ago when one of my Ficus bonsai dropped all its leaves. This occurred then I took it outside during the late spring. I was devastated and almost threw out the tree until I realized that new leaves were budding. This was an accidental defoliation (can we consider this another way?) and fortunately for me the tree was strong enough to withstand it. The added benefit was that the new leaves were much smaller than those the tree lost. The second way to defoliate the leaves is to partially remove the leaves. In this case you remove leaves were you want to increase ramification. Before doing this think about the style of your tree and how you want it to look. Partial defoliation is also good for weaker trees or if you wait until later in the season. Remember to water and fertilize the tree. The third way is to partially cut the leaves (cut half or more.) Ray Hernandez taught me this technique during this yearʼs convention. This promotes the leaf buds at the tips of the branches and also encourages ramification. Ray told me this technique helps reduce leaf size on American Elms and other deciduous trees. I have already tried it on a Ficus and Elm tree. Stay tuned for the results. In conclusion, always remember to defoliate healthy trees at the right time of year. Remove as many or as few leaves as you feel comfortable doing. Defoliate were you to encourage ramification and make sure not to over water your defoliated trees. Now pick up those sharp scissors and start defoliating Ok well maybe you best wait until next year unless you have a ficus or two that need it now. page 4

5 What a Convention by Mary Polk, BSD member THANKS for the HUGE EFFORT on the part of the Bonsai Society of Dallas Board Members and Convention Committee for carrying out an incredible Lone Star Bonsai Federation 2012 Convention The Roots of Bonsai Celebrating American Bonsai Masters Trained in Japan. Yes, they had a little help from club volunteers as well as help from volunteers from other bonsai clubs (very much appreciated). As just one of the volunteers, I want to say our club members who attended as well as those who were unable to attend need to be extremely proud of the efforts put forth by the Convention Committee including Diane, Chuck, Sylvia, Howard, Bill, John, and Mark. Chuck stayed so calm throughout the entire convention (how did he do that?). We should just call him Mr. Smooth. Diane was so graceful and carried out the coordination of the details without even blinking what a woman How about Wonder Woman? Sylvia and Howard, with their expert knowledge staged the exhibit beautifully. Not to mention getting awards for their exhibited bonsai. Okay, letʼs call them the Power Couple because they have really got what it takes they are purely amazing (and raising children at the same time.) And, thanks to all who brought plants for the exhibition like Dave, Lance, John and others. I just thought every bonsai should have gotten an award. They were all simply beautiful. Bill had excellent vendors lined up and the vendor room was loaded with wonderful selections from the incredible vendors (who, by the way, also kindly donated some items to the raffles and auction.) We do need to support these vendors. Bill can be called Mr. Ever-So- Surprising as he has many talents. John was ever so ready, willing and able to do what needed to be done on his part. Is John not a real treasure? Do you think he would mind being called Mr. AskMeAndIWillShareShowAndTeachYouHow? We all love you, John. And, then there is Mark what can I say He RULES Raffles. Oh, dear, help me with a name for Mark Mr. FrontEndLoader - ICanHandleAnything. The auction was handled so well by Howard with assistance from Chuck and Diane. Oh yes, and Garrett, our precious Garrett, helped out with the heavy lifting of auction items as well as carrying them about the full room of bidders, some of which may have been distracted by Garrettʼs muscles and general cuteness and forgot what they were bidding on Okay, Mr. Cuteness? The table decorations were just so much fun Diane came up with the idea months ago of the little kusamono pots made by some of our club members being a nice table decoration and surprise give away at the convention, as well as many made by Sandi, who had led the fun with the clay and then fired them for us plus helped the members plant the kusamono pots, that were on the tables at each meal and won by lucky people at the convention. Sandi put forth an additional huge effort to decorate the tables. How about calling her The Clay Master. Sandi was helped tremendously by Hiram. Hiram, thank you for all you do. I am not sure what to call Hiram maybe Mr. LetʼsHaveAGreatTime. Haiying helped with workshops and her husband, Chris, took lots of fabulous photos. Chris also helped a bunch at the membership table helping to sell raffle tickets, aprons, t-shirts and miscellaneous items. I think I am running out of names. Eduardo and his wife, Cristella pitched in with their hearts and souls. Cristella was also amazingly calm at the membership table. While I was being a nervous wreck trying to be sure we had the details for Diane or finding Diane to help me help her (looking back, I may have acted a complete pest and/or looked like an idiot, oh well, please forgive me) the ever so got her act together lady Jerry, Michele, Cristella and Chris and others were manning the station very smoothly completely unruffled. The three guest artists were what can I say FABULOUS. All of them having different styles and personalities and having them in separate workshops as well as on stage together AND doing separate critiques of the exhibit area was just amazing. The timing was impeccable. I not only respected their knowledge of their craft, but also found great fondness for each of them and appreciated their willingness to be part of the convention and make it so successful. Each of them being Americans and each of them being trained in Japan for years and years by different masters well, my goodness how will bonsai be influenced in years to come in America using traditional techniques being used for centuries with the typical plants most often used in bonsai originating in China and Japan but additionally with our own native trees found here in the United States. Hummm, bonsai (means tree in a pot). And, as for the design of the pots that, too, may evolve as well. Still, to me, the traditional Chinese/Japanese styles of plants and containers are the foundation of this form of art and gardening my instincts tell me we must not wander far from tradition but only vary it ever so slightly to properly honor this ancient art. WHAT A GREAT JOB DONE by ALL page 5

6 June Bonsai Tips and advice by John Miller Maintenance - the act of maintaining. Maintain - to hold or to keep in any particular state. When applied to bonsai maintenance consists of two aspects. HORTICULTURAL maintenance is keeping the tree in good vigorous health. This encompasses providing proper location, sunlight, water, soil, and fertilizers. Horticultural maintenance must be done before you can be successful in doing ARTISTIC maintenance. Artistic maintenance is continuing the plan you used when you styled the tree. It will develop ramification, grow bark, get smaller leaves, and all the other good characteristics of a great bonsai. Each one of these items above is a chapter in a book, all I can hope to do is help you know when to do some of them. Going into summer means your trees in pots will be given the hot foot out in the sun. Think of walking barefoot down an open sidewalk. Anything solid will soak up the direct rays and get very hot. Its bad enough when the air temp goes over a hundred without the sun adding to it. You should do something to block the direct rays of the sun and put a bit of air, however thin, between the sunscreen material and the pot and/or soil. Afternoon shade helps the foliage but the morning sun can heat up the pot too much. A solid cover on the soil is not very desirable as it makes it hard to water. Long fiber moss on the surface will protect the soil and let water thru. Cloth would work but does not look very good. Protecting the pot is a harder job. Aluminum foil, shiny side out, has been used but usually does not leave enough air around the pot for cooling. Some have built wooden boxes the same size as the pot to set the bonsai in. You may figure out something in between. I would prefer using a coarse fabric. Use a piece big enough to extend well outside the pot. Cut a slit to go around the trunk. Weight it down to prevent blowing away from the pot. Notice especially where the hot afternoon sun, from 2pm to sundown, hits your bonsai area. As the summer progresses the growth of the deciduous trees will slow also. But you still need to keep an eye out for errant shoots. Keeping a clipper with you when watering would let you take care of most of them. Just like in the spring a shoot too long will thicken the twig too much. The daily (seems like) pruning chore is now transferred to the tropicals. Tip pinching on flowering species like the crape myrtle will result in fewer flowers but if you let it go they get out of shape. I prefer to try to balance the flower/design question by pinching early. This provides more growing tip to divide the energy and the resulting flower is shorter. Its less showy but more in scale. Also If you have fruiting bonsai, you should reduce the number of fruit on the tree. The number one goal of the tree is to provide seeds for reproduction and it will starve itself in order to do so. Again, most fruit are too large to look good on a bonsai. The best way to fertilize bonsai is by using fertilizer cakes. The cakes provide a slow constant feeding each time you water. Cakes made with a cottonseed base will provide as acid ph when they break down which we need in any city water system I know of. Making your own is easy and much cheaper than buying them. Try making them by adding a little water and Elmers glue to one of the Espoma fertilizers like Holly-tone or Planttone. I use chemical fertilizers such as Miracid or Peters a couple of times a month also. My main problem with chemicals is not knowing how many bad salts may accumulate in the soil and also in knowing that each time I water I am washing the chemicals out on the ground. As usual, keep an eye open for insect and fungal problems. If you are using the organic spray you should not have any problems. If any fungicidal problems show up, mildew is a possibility, use potassium bicarbonate (does the same as baking soda but contains no sodium). I used the 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide which worked ok but it did burn some tender new growth on an elm cutting. I will only use that in cooler weather. The organic spray is 1 Tbsp each of liquid seaweed, fish emulsion, 5% apple cider vinegar, and molasses in 1 gallon of water. Be sure to use a sprayer with a pretty fine pattern and cover both top and bottom of the leaf. If ants, or any other creature, are building nests in the soil, the tunnels and cavities will prevent proper watering and result in loss of roots. After you get rid of the ants be sure to grab your chopsticks and work the soil down and eliminate any holes. You will probably need to add a little more soil on top. page 6

7 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 page 7

8 BSD June 2012 Howard and Sylvia Smith Tel# (972) Fax# (972) """#$%&'()"(*+#,%- Cultivators of fine trees Collection maintenance Private instruction Classes, lectures & demos "#$%&'(&)(*+&"%,* "#$%&'##"($)*+,-./01/ Generous Businesses Give Discounts to BSD Members Place Your Ad Here Present your BSD membership card at the following participating businesses for a 10% discount on merchandise: The Bonsai Smiths Sanderson Creek Bonsai Business card size is $5.00 per month Half page size is $20.00 per month Full page size is $35.00 per month Ray Hernandez s Bent Tree Bonsai Dallas Bonsai Garden We are so grateful to these businesses for their generosity to BSD members If you have a business and would like to offer a discount to club members, please contact James Bonney at amy.james@gte.net. For more details contact: Hiram Quinones hiramaquinones@yahoo.com Bonsai Society of Dallas, P.O. Box , Richardson, TX page 8