The Bonsai News of Houston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society Inc. Volume 49 Number 7 July 2018 IN THIS ISSUE Upcoming Events Texas BBQ & BYO Bonsai workshop Showcase of the Month Crepe Myrtles July Bonsai Care John Miller President s Letter Brian Gurrola Growing Japanese Black Pines from Seeds Stone or Slab Plantings with Rodney Clemons Crepe myrtle about to burst into blooms of heavenly pink (Photo: Pinterest) The next meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society will be at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion in Hermann Park, 1500 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77004. Refreshments at 7 PM, meeting starts at 7:30 PM. July 11 HBS monthly meeting: BBQ & Bonsai. Bring your own trees, preferably tropicals, and tools to work on after the meal. Upcoming Events More details in Calendar of Events July 7 BYOT workshops with Jonas Dupuich at Timeless Trees - Japanese Black Pine in morning session: 9AM -1 PM Juniper in afternoon session: 1 PM - 5PM. $60 per session or work with Jonas all day for $110. July 14 HBS Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees, Rosenberg, 9AM 12 Noon - Free, refreshments provided, AND BYOT Shohin Workshop, 1PM - 5 PM - $20 per person. We can style and wire smaller species, repot tropicals, and possibly wire pines and junipers. July 21 BYOT workshops with Rodney Clemons at Timeless Trees - Japanese Black Pine in morning session: 9AM -1 PM Juniper in afternoon session: 1 PM - 5PM. $60 per session or work with Rodney all-day for $110. July 22 Create a stone/slab planting with Japanese Boxwoods with Rodney Clemons, Timeless Trees, 9AM -4PM. Select a stone or slab, and add Japanese Boxwoods, or Kingsville Boxwoods. Price $50 - $250 depends on slab stone and trees chosen. TT provides trees, stone or slab, wire, muck, and moss. July 28 Bird s Tongue Podocarpus workshop at Timeless Trees, 9AM- 12 Noon - $55 including a very small leaf Bird's Tongue Podocarpus already in ceramic pot. Focus on wiring and styling this slow growing semi-tropical.
Crêpe Myrtles July Bonsai Care It would have been well worth a trip to Austin in May for the 3-person critique of Terry Ward, Mike Hansen and Chuck Ware. Having three of that caliber at the same table and talking about each tree was quite an accomplishment. I stayed fully awake all night. If you are interested in doing indoor bonsai, I would suggest you read Mary Miller s last newsletter. Pay extra attention to the words on Jack Wikle. Also some interesting info on Portulacaria Afra (Dwarf Jade). Bonsai Banter Issue #99 (Bonsai_Banter@bonsaimary.com) At the Shohin meeting, one said they had a severe infestation of thrips. A good site for bug info would be: https://www.planetnatural.com/pestproblem-solver/houseplant-pests/thrips-control/ July and August are the two most stressful months for bonsai in our area. Most healthy trees can take full sun on their foliage. But the high ambient temperatures and the heating effect of the sun on the pots and soil, create temperatures on the roots that they are not designed to cope with. Trees with thin leaves like the Japanese maple, (Acer Palmatum) that are understory trees, will probably scorch in full sun. They can also suffer from chemical burn from some fertilizers and insecticides which can be more damaging in high heat. I cannot give you a precise to-do list since your backyard is different from mine, but be sure that the sun does not hit the pots directly. If you use a cover of any kind make sure that the side of the pot is protected also. A loose weave cover that allows air flow is preferable to solid paper or foil. A solid cover or box over the pot would create an oven type enclosure. There should be room for air to flow around the pot. A 30-40% shade cloth over pines, junipers, and elms and maybe 50% over maples would be ideal. And don t forget to provide protection from that mean afternoon sun beating down on the west side. Check your water practices. Normally I prefer to water heavily in the evening. That gives the plant all night to renew itself without losing most of its water to evaporation. Then in the early morning, they get a quick foliage spray and wetting the surface of the soil which may have dried out overnight. This was what I did while working. Be sure to do the double watering bit - water thoroughly so that the dry soil particles will get moistened and after a few minutes later, water again so that they will soak up water fully. Pots baking in the sun can get pretty hot. Not only does the soil dry out very fast but tree roots cannot live in a hot soil. I heard a temperature around 120 degrees would kill roots on most plants. An article by Dr. Bill Cody suggests that his experiments show that an afternoon watering at 2PM will go a long way to keep the soil temperature in a desirable range, while a box close around the pot does little to protect it. Therefore, I now try to water at 2PM to cool and refresh the roots and again after sundown
to get the night started right. When the humidity is low, I mist my junipers in the evening. I believe that in the wild, many desert junipers (like Texas Ashe) open their stomata in the cooler evening to absorb any dew that may occur and close in the heat of the day to conserve moisture. Other species may get their foliage spray in the morning. Also watch for signs of insect problems. The spider mite will always be near. Others to look for are scale of various forms, aphids, and mealy bugs. Preventative medicine is best, so spray on a regular schedule. By the time you see signs, the damage is already done, especially from spider mites. I use the organic foliar feed (1 Tablespoon each of fish emulsion, liquid kelp, molasses and 5% apple cider vinegar per gallon water) to control all these. You can use some of the other organic controls or a chemical according to label directions. Read the label directions carefully. Do not apply oil-based chemicals to buttonwoods. A hose end sprayer does not work very well because its droplets are too large and you have little control over where it goes. Use a pump sprayer with a fine spray and cover both top and bottom of leaves. The humidity in summer varies quite a bit but when it sticks around for a few days, look for fungal problems to appear, mildew being the most prevalent. Black spot will show up if the foliage stays wet very long. Foliage watering in the morning will usually not be a problem because it dries quickly. Treat with potassium carbonate which you can find at any nursery with a decent organic section. There are several chemical sprays available too. As a rule, we do not feed our trees enough. Since the mix we use has very little nutrient value, we must make up with our fertilizer practice. Water soluble fertilizers will be quickly washed out. The best rule I have heard was given by Matt Oiwinga who primarily grows trident maples. Matt s rule: A. Apply organic fertilizer balls every 6 weeks. Discard old balls. B. Apply fish emulsion every 2 weeks. C. Apply liquid plant food on alternate weeks. You can fertilize with most organic type fertilizers without worrying about burning the roots in hot weather. Do not use high-powered types though, such as those made with bat guano or chicken manure in the heat. If you use chemical types, follow the label. If they do not specify any temperature restrictions, try using a weaker solution than normal. Without a lot of organic material in your soil, you should use a weaker solution but more often to provide a more even feeding. Many spring flowering plants will be setting buds for next year s flowers. Azaleas will set theirs toward the end of July. If you prune tips after that, you remove the new buds. Now that night temperatures are staying above 60 degrees, you can repot some of the tropicals. Most tropicals do well with an annual repotting. I would emphasize to check the wires on your trees and also see that the drains are not blocked in any way. Especially check them after a rain to be sure that your pots have drained properly. Keep the tropicals trimmed as they will be growing like crazy. However, if you want flowers produced at the end of the new growth, like pomegranate, crepe myrtle or bougainvillea, you will have to forgo of the bonsai shape to let them flower. These species should be pruned more drastically before the growing season starts, so they can still be in a pretty good shape when in bloom. Your other growing trees need their periodic beauty treatment too. Keep the ends trimmed and the stray shoots cut. It does not feel that bad when you sit in the shade, sipping on a big lemonade, to enjoy your bonsai. That way, you will have your tree ready for the fall show or you will be ready when the change of seasons brings in beautiful colors. John Miller John Miller, who writes a monthly column for the Bonsai Society of Dallas and Fort Worth Bonsai Society, has agreed to share his column with us. We need to make adjustments for our warmer and damper climate, with earlier springs, longer summers, late fall and erratic winters.
President s Letter Once again, we find ourselves in the middle of a Houston summer. It is nasty hot and humid outside. If you are working outside on your trees, make sure you stay hydrated and do something regularly to cool off. Keep an eye on your trees and make sure they are getting the water they need. Several of my large trees that get watered every few days in the winter, now need it twice a day. Think about whether you need to protect the root balls from overheating by misting regularly or by placing some type of cover around the pot or shade cloth over the tree. However, if you like tropical trees, this is a great time of year to work on them. Tropicals respond best to repotting when the nighttime temperatures are above 60 degrees, and even better in weather like this, when the low temperatures are in the 70 s. The high heat and humidity we are experiencing will trigger many species of ficus to produce aerial roots, so this is a good time to think about where you would like to have them on a tree and to take steps to encourage them. Campeche respond extremely quickly to defoliation at this time of year. I defoliated one a few weeks ago and it opened new buds in just 2 days and has new shoots several inches long already. I get tired just thinking about how fast Escambron grow this time of year and how frequently they need pruning to stay in shape. Houston will be hosting a combined Houston Bonsai Society/Lone Star Bonsai Federation and American Bonsai Society convention from April 11 14 next year, so go ahead and mark those dates on your calendar. This will be the largest bonsai event ever held in Houston and most likely the largest ever in Texas. The planning committee has assembled a program featuring three outstanding headliners ( Boon Manakitivipart, Ryan Neil and Enrique Castano), supplemented with other international and national artists (Will Baddeley, Jonas Dupuich, Danny Coffey, ) and Texas talent (Bill Boytim, Dr. Hoe Chuah, Howard and Sylvia Smith, Mark Bynum ). There will be more workshops than ever before along with seminars and two-artist spotlights that feature Ryan Neil and Boon Manakitivipart. We have doubled the normal space for the exhibit, and there will be cash prizes awarded. We also have more vendor space than ever before and are already having vendors sign up. So, plan on being there, and plan on helping out with one aspect of the convention or another. Pete Parker
Brian Gurrola Growing Japanese Black Pine from seeds At the June meeting, HBS very own Japanese Black Pine expert Brian Gurrola, let the club in on many trade secrets on how he created the beautiful pine bonsai in record time. Every single step he took was documented in minute details in the superb slide show. Where did his passion for Japanese Black Pines come from? At the age of 12, after watching The Karate Kid movie, Brian had to acquire a few bonsai. In time, he was able to purchase a Japanese Maple and Chinese Elm, and a few bonsai books to learn how to care for them, but no Japanese Pine. School and other activities got in the way, so those first trees did not live long. Brian tried to pick up the hobby once more while in high school, but these bonsai also suffered the same fate. He was not ready to be an attentive dad! In his early 30s, still adamantly determined to pursue the hobby, Brian joined HBS and started taking lessons with Scott Barboza, his first mentor. He was introduced to Boon Manakitivipart, whom he had the good fortune to study with a few times in California. It was Boon who encouraged him to grow JBP bonsai from seeds. After all, with a curious and creative mind, and a long life ahead, Brian is destined to realize many splendid discoveries growing from seeds. It s wise to start with the best seeds. Brian searched high and low for the best JBP seeds to make it worth his while, and lucky for him, he found them at Roy Natagoshi s nursery. As some of you may remember, Roy was the bonsai master/artist whose bonsai were featured in all The Karate Kid movies. Brian was ecstatic to see Roy s creations with his own eyes, since they were the very trees that made him fall in love with bonsai. Armed with renewed passion and a lot of knowledge from great sensei near and far, Brian began his work with his 100 seeds in early 2010, close to 9 years ago. There is not enough room in this issue to share with you all the photos of Brian s incredible labor of love. Here are just a few to demonstrate how JBP grow so fast in colanders, in Boon s mix and Akadama, supplemented generously with both organic and inorganic fertilizers, and most importantly, watered 3 times a day. It s unbelievable how this young man, with a full time job, a husband and a father of two can find the time, the energy, the focus as
well as the patience to accomplish such phenomenal experiment! How shallow root ball was created Brian starts the scarification, stratification and germination processes by the book, and waits for the seedlings to develop to 4 to 5 inches above the soil level before he gently removes them from the rooting sandy medium. The trunks are cut in half. The bottom half with mostly tap root and other vertical roots is discarded. Only the top half was kept for future pines. With the help of liquid and powder rooting hormones, new lateral roots sprout fairly quickly but from that point on, these pines have lost the tap root habit of growing deep. The feeder roots spread shallow and wide instead, as they need to as a bonsai. Here is how seedling tops look like at 4 months, then 1 year in 2 years, and 3 years. As you can see, the one on the left was left to grow normally with its tap root. It has the tendency to grow tall and straight up, no side branch. Only the top portion of the one growing in the colander was kept, so its nebari and trunk grow thicker and produce many side branches to choose from. By the second year, most young pines have outgrown their plastic pots, so their living quarters are upgraded to small colanders with a lava, pumice, and akadama mix. Their roots seem to enjoy the nice air flow. Who knew these fabulous root balls are products of ample breathing room? That growth spurt was accelerated by a well thought out feeding plan. Brian has proven to be an extremely self-disciplined bonsai scientist. As the pines are left to grow freely, their small colanders eventually are nested inside larger colanders packed with Akadama. Larger soil surface, more fertilizer cubes. Brian does not mind buying time, very precious years of growth, with mega doses of fertilizers. The results are certainly very rewarding. Since the first roots were not disturbed at all, no root pruning, no recovery also means no interruption. They just happily and quickly spread out into the second collander with even faster draining Akadama. During the first years, Brian keeps an eye on the pine pbranch development to envision
which style each tree begs to become. Some of the branches are removed but most retain a sacrifice leader, which is left to shoot up and thicken the nebari and the trunk before its removed in the styling phase. Calendar of Events 2018 JUL 7 Workshops with Jonas Dupuich - Bring your own Tree Japanese Black Pine in morning session: 9AM - 1PM, Juniper in afternoon session: 1 PM - 5PM. $60 per session or $110 all day. JUL 11 HBS monthly meeting: BBQ & Bonsai. Bring your own trees and tools to work on after the catered meal. Here are two 9-year old pines grown exactly the same way until the last year. The one on the left asked to be a semi-cascade, so it s kept in a narrow terra cotta pot. The skinny leader will be some day the new apex. The green fur ball with a round belly on the right was potted in an oversized bonsai pot with the intent to develop a sumo waistline in the next years. Brian has already selected the branches he wants to keep but they need to thicken some more to look good with the chubby trunk. My dear Brian, Congratulations on your 90% success rate in this spectacular and meticulously planned out experiment. Many thanks to you for sharing with the club all the steps of your fascinating journey. Did you learn anything from speed growing JBP you can apply to raising your boys? For now, enjoy the little ones while they re young. They ll grow up faster than you think, although not as fast as your JBP. Shawn Nguyen For more info on growing JBP, visit Jonas Dupuich at: https://bonsaitonight.com/2016/08/17/grow-japaneseblack-pine-seed/ JUL 14 HBS Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees Nursery, 9 AM-12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided. JUL 14 BYOT Shohin Workshop, 1 PM - 5 PM - $20 per person. At this time of year, we can style and wire smaller shohin species, repot and wire tropicals, and possibly wire pines and junipers. JUL 21 BYOT workshops with Rodney Clemons at Timeless Trees - Japanese Black Pine in morning session: 9AM -1 PM Juniper in afternoon session: 1PM - 5PM. $60 per session or work with Rodney all-day for $110. JUL 22 Create a stone/slab planting with Rodney Clemons, 9AM - 4 PM. Rodney, King of boxwoods, is also known for his boxwood plantings on stone. Select a stone or slab, and add Japanese or Kingsville Boxwoods. Price from $50 to $250 depends on the stone selected and the number and type of Boxwoods chosen. TT will provide stone, trees, wire, muck, and moss. JUL 28 Bird s Tongue Podocarpus workshop at Timeless Trees, 9AM- 12 Noon - $55 including a very small leaf Bird's Tongue Podocarpus already in ceramic pot. Focus on wiring and styling this slow growing semi-tropical that can be left outside most of the year. Great workshop for beginners. AUG 1 HBS Monthly Meeting: Antique Japanese Pottery with Michael Ryan Bell AUG 4 Saturday Study Group at Quality Feed & Garden in the Heights, 9AM -12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.
Don t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to create your own masterpiece, like those below. with Rodney Clemons July 22 nd Once again, HBS will have the chance to create beautiful bonsai forests on stone or slab with Rodney Clemons, at Timeless Trees bonsai studio. As we all have learned over the past decade that Rodney has been visiting Houston, he is well known as The King of boxwoods, to be specific, Kingsville boxwoods. He is also famous for his beautiful plantings on stone. Among the kingdom of boxwoods, already very popular as bonsai, Kingsville has been the favorite not only for its beautiful dark green color and tiny leaves, but also for its extremely slow growth. That s a significant advantage when it comes to forests and group plantings, since pruning only needs to be done once or at the most, twice a year. Rodney also provides the stones or slabs he had worked on to fit the profile of mountains and plateaus for tiny plantings. There s much preparation behind the scene for such a workshop, so call and reserve your spot early. Also come early to select a stone or slab, before adding Japanese or Kingsville Boxwoods. Stop by and enjoy Phil s weekly bonsai show & sale, and a study group on Saturday morning, 8AM-12 Noon, at the Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers Market, 3000 Richmond. Make appointments to see pre-bonsai and large bonsai. Price from $50 to $250 depends on the size of stone or slad selected, and the number and type of Boxwoods chosen. Rodney will provide all the instructions, and TT will provide stone, trees, wire, muck, and moss.
Make sure you go to Timeless Trees website and subscribe to weekly Current Events to stay in the know. You can find the best gifts: trees, pots, all sorts of bonsai supplies, soils of all kinds, tools and books for your bonsai lovers and yourself. Classes are offered every week-end. Summer is officially here and so are the heat loving tropicals at JRN II. Asian exotics and ficuses do well as indoor bonsai. Arrangements of orchids and bromeliads can be ordered for all occasions year round. While you are at the nursery, give fruit trees a try as bonsai too. Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help you with bonsai trees, basic tools, pots and soils like Akadama, Lava, Pumice, Kanuma, and Ken s Bonsai Soil in 10 lb. & 50 lb. bags. Free Study classes for HBS every 3-months Ask for 10% HBS discount. Visit artist Andrew Sankowski at the Mossrock Studio & Fine Art Gallery for the finest gifts and most uniquely beautiful bonsai pots in every shape, form and color. Personalized pots or gifts can be commissioned year round. Weekly pottery classes are also available. Andrew Sankowski 26002 Oak Ridge Drive Direct (281) 684-4411 The Woodlands, TX 77380 Fax (281) 363-9032 andy@mossrockstudio.com Come stock up on bonsai soils, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and other supplies. The plant doctor is always on duty, so bring your unhappy or unhealthy bonsai for a free check-up. Don t forget to ask for a 10% HBS discount. For high quality daizas for viewing stones, Suiseki, bonsai stands and Shoji screens in any shape, form, style, wood, dimensions and colors, please visit artist Jerry Braswell. Send him your designs and specifications for custom wood work. For more info: www.artofthedaiza.wordpress.com
Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. P. O. Box 540727, Houston, Texas 77254-0727 www.houstonbonsaisociety.com HBS Board Members President Pete Parker peteparkerbonsai@yahoo.com 1 st Vice President Scott Barboza markyscott@me.com in charge of Education 2 nd Vice President Hoe Chuah hoe.chuah@gmaill.com Secretary Maria Grissom pazitagrissom@yahoo.com Publicity Ken Cousino krcousino@yahoo.com Treasurer Eldon Branham elmo4635@aol.com in charge of Membership Webmaster Anthony Cutola acutola@gmail.com Member at Large - O Gale Childers f5gale@macconnect.com Member at Large - O James Kelly kurstyn.castillo@gmail.com Member at Large - O Ryan Vollert rmvnucks@gmail.com Member at Large E Sharon Barker barkersharonr48@gmail.com Member at Large - E Ray González raygonzalez47@yahoo.com Member at Large E Brian Gurrola bgurrola@gurrolareprographics.com Delegates Past President Hurley Johnson hurley@all-tex.net LSBF Delegate Terry Dubois tdubois1@comcast.net LSBF Alternate Pete Parker peteparkerbonsai@yahoo.com BCI Ambassador TTSBE Representative Alan Raymond amraymond@suddenlink.net
Refreshments Website/email Gary Teeter houstonbonsai@gmail.com Newsletter editor Shawn Nguyen hbs.news@yahoo.com The Bonsai News of Houston is a monthly publication of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. Copyright 2011. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the editor or a member of the Board of Directors. Exceptions exist, however, for certain not-for-profit and non-profit bonsai organizations or associated bonsai and bonsai nursery newsletters, including without limitation the American Bonsai Society. HBS participates fully with reciprocation of contents and material between other LSBF member organizations and others. Authors who submit articles for this newsletter thereby give permission to such organizations to reprint, unless they expressly state otherwise. Space for advertising in The Bonsai News of Houston can be requested by contacting the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board. The rates for a business-card-size ad (approximately 3 1/2" x 2") are $10 per month, and $75 per year (12 issues). A full-page ad is $50 per month. Rates are subject to change without notice. 3½" x 2" classified ads are run free of charge for one month once per 12-month period for non-commercial members. For special requests or questions related to The Bonsai News of Houston, contact the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board.