T he B onsai N ews of H ouston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. Naturally literati style shaped by the sun, the drying wind and heavy snow on mountain tops (Photo: Bunjin Parade on Kyriolexy.worldpress.com) The next meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society will be on Wednesday October 7 th, 2015 at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion in Hermann Park, off of Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030. Refreshments at 7 PM, meeting starts at 7:30 PM. Wednesday October 7 th , HBS Monthly Meeting: Planting Bonsai on Rock Slab with Pete Parker. For Show & Tell with Ray, please bring similar works for display. Upcoming Events Friday, October 9 th - Saturday, October 10 th, LSBF Seminar 2015 focusing on bunjin and bonsai display at Kingwood Community Center in Houston, TX. Workshop on bunjin azalea bonsai with Dave Kreutz. October 16-18 th , Kathy Shaner Seminar. See full page advertisement for details. Saturday, October 24 th , Basic Wiring Class at Timeless Trees, 9AM – 1PM, $25. Focus on basic wiring on practice trees to get ready for the winter. Saturday, October 31 st , Houston Bonsai Society Annual Fall Show, Mercer Arboretum, 9AM – 4PM, Exhibit, demos, workshops and vendors. Wednesday, November 4 th , HBS Monthly Meeting: Guest artist Bjorn Bjorholm will do a demo on a large Prostrada Juniper. He is the owner of Bjorvala Bonsai Studio and former apprentice of contemporary Japanese bonsai master Keiichi Fujikaw. Saturday, November 7 th , Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees, Rosenberg, TX, 9AM – 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided. Saturday, Nov 14 th , Japanese Black Pine Study Group, 9AM –1 PM, needle thinning and structural wiring/designing for the future. Bring tools, wire, sketch paper and ideas. Friday, Nov 21 st , and Saturday , Nov 22 nd – Advanced Bonsai Techniques with Pedro Morales. 9AM- 5PM: Building Kurama’s, Phoenix grafting, deadwood carving, and adding a Prosthesis. Includes all supplies for Kuramas, and all participants will receive a small three speed grinder and several bits. Volume 44 Number 10 October 2015 IN THIS ISSUE Upcoming Events Ficus Rock Planting Showcase of the Month Literati style bonsai 0October Bonsai Care John Miller President’s Letter LSBF 2015 Seminar October 9-10, 2015 HBS Fall Show October 31, 2015 Literati or Bunjin Style Robert Steven Kathy Shaner Seminar October 16-18
11
Embed
The Bonsai News of Houston...2014/11/10 · (bunjin) bonsai, as is the foliage, still, this one aptly represents that unique grouping of bonsai we call literati … Bunjin style tree
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The Bonsai News of H ouston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc.
Naturally literati style shaped by the sun, the drying wind and heavy snow on mountain tops (Photo: Bunjin Parade on Kyriolexy.worldpress.com)
The next meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society will be on Wednesday October 7th, 2015 at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion in Hermann Park, off of Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030. Refreshments at 7 PM, meeting starts at 7:30 PM.
Wednesday October 7th, HBS Monthly Meeting: Planting Bonsai on Rock Slab with Pete Parker. For Show & Tell with Ray, please bring similar works for display.
Upcoming Events
Friday, October 9th - Saturday, October 10th, LSBF Seminar 2015 focusing on bunjin and bonsai display at Kingwood Community Center in Houston, TX. Workshop on bunjin azalea bonsai with Dave Kreutz.
October 16-18th, Kathy Shaner Seminar. See full page advertisement for details.
Saturday, October 24th, Basic Wiring Class at Timeless Trees, 9AM – 1PM, $25. Focus on basic wiring on practice trees to get ready for the winter.
Saturday, October 31st, Houston Bonsai Society Annual Fall Show, Mercer Arboretum, 9AM – 4PM, Exhibit, demos, workshops and vendors.
Wednesday, November 4th, HBS Monthly Meeting: Guest artist Bjorn Bjorholm will do a demo on a large Prostrada Juniper. He is the owner of Bjorvala Bonsai Studio and former apprentice of contemporary Japanese bonsai master Keiichi Fujikaw.
Saturday, November 7th, Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees, Rosenberg, TX, 9AM – 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.
Saturday, Nov 14th, Japanese Black Pine Study Group, 9AM –1 PM, needle thinning and structural wiring/designing for the future. Bring tools, wire, sketch paper and ideas.
Friday, Nov 21st, and Saturday , Nov 22nd – Advanced Bonsai Techniques with Pedro Morales. 9AM- 5PM: Building Kurama’s, Phoenix grafting, deadwood carving, and adding a Prosthesis. Includes all supplies for Kuramas, and all participants will receive a small three speed grinder and several bits.
Time to take a good look at your tropicals. Before going into the dry, low light conditions most of us have for winter quarters, they need to be vigorous, pruned and free of problems. Give them a good feeding preferably with an organic fertilizer. If you use a water soluble type, use a low dilution and feed every 2-3 days. Prune all new growth back to the trees best shape. To increase ramification on developed trees, keep any new growth pinched to 2-3 leaves. Use your desired insecticide and/or fungicide now and again, just before you take them in.
Remember that some tropicals do not like to go below 50 degrees, while others are only semi-tropical and will take a frost but do not want their roots frozen. The buttonwood is an example of the first group and the crepe myrtle would be in the second. Here we will probably not see a freeze until late in November but there may be some cool nights in October. I prefer to leave the tropicals out as long as possible. I want the semi-tropicals to go dormant and then put them in a cool location to stay dormant all winter.
Now is the time to start your outdoor trees toward their winter siesta. If you wait until the temperature drops, you get too rushed and omit some of the little housekeeping duties. Start now by making sure that the area will be free of insects and other vermin.
When the leaves start turning, the sap has quit for the year and you may check the branches and twigs to see if any need to be trimmed. Cutting back any protruding branches will keep them from snagging and possibly breaking other trees when you put them down close together. Don’t cut the buds off the spring flowering plants unless absolutely necessary, if you want flowers next spring.
Kathy Shaner suggests removing the top half-inch of soil and replenishing it with new soil. This will remove weed seeds that have blown in and will make next year’s job easier. Of course if you plan on repotting next spring that isn’t necessary.
Winter quarters: Remember that here in Texas, more trees are lost in the winter due to drying out than to the cold. Of course that does not mean for you to leave the tropicals out or to let the roots freeze on southern trees, like the crape myrtle. Even in a greenhouse or sunny window, the soil can dry out amazingly fast. The wind in winter has amazing drying powers too. (Ask your grandmother about hanging the wash and letting it dry while frozen stiff.) So while you protect the roots, be sure to give it a wind screen and make sure to check the soil for watering needs. (It helps if you know which particular plants dry out faster and so you can situate them together). A lot of winter kill comes because the soil has frozen and the sun or wind is removing water from the tops. The roots cannot obtain water to replenish the loss and the top desiccates to the point of death.
For the beginners, plants like the cedar elm, oak, maple that are hardy much further north, can be set on a clean gravel bed. When the real cold (26 or lower) gets here, cover the pots with 3 - 4 inches of a fairly loose mulch. South of Dallas, crepe myrtle, firethorn and some azaleas need to have more root protection. I like to let them get frostbitten but bring them in before freezing. Of course the tropicals need to be babied.
All this is basically talking about the broadleaf deciduous trees. Evergreens do not go fully dormant in winter and need to be exposed to sunlight. Some
broadleaf evergreen types like boxwoods slow way down but still need sunlight. Some people leave the needled evergreens on top of benches all winter but I prefer to give the roots the same basic winter protection as deciduous trees for they have a higher water need.
Feeding of deciduous trees should be discontinued for the winter. Evergreens and conifers will benefit from a low nitrogen feeding. One such mix might be 70% cottonseed meal and 30% bone meal. Being organic, this will break down into nutrients more slowly as the season gets cooler and the trees activities slow down. The diluted organic spray given below can be used as a soil drench. Kelp is an excellent source of the essential minor elements.
Insects will continue to be present. Cooler (but not cold) days mean a resurgence of the aphids. Mites will also still be around and will jump into action during a warm spell. Scale also can be a problem. Treat with a light horti-cultural oil which will kill the adults and also wipe out the eggs and over-wintering pupae. Be sure to cover all the cracks in the bark to get to the eggs. The organic spray (one tablespoon each liquid kelp, fish emulsion, apple cider vinegar, and molasses in one gallon of water) should still be used on a regular schedule and to give some nutrients to evergreens. The dead scale shell need to be physically removed. A soft toothbrush works after wetting the branch to loosen the scale.
Some may repot in the fall but I feel that it is counter-productive if you can do so during spring bud break. New roots are more prone to freeze damage if we get a bad winter. The key to safe repotting is to minimize root disturbance and avoid severe root pruning. There may be not enough time for the bonsai to grow new roots that will feed the trees in the winter. Hence, poor drainage may result and lead to root rot. No heavy pruning will lead to the lack of refinement and a top heavy tree. I would recommend repotting at the proper time next spring, which is when the buds swell and new growth is imminent.
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.
Full bodied literati by Carlos van der Vaart. Though the trunk is somewhat heavier than your average literati (bunjin) bonsai, as is the foliage, still, this one aptly represents that unique grouping of bonsai we call literati…
…Bunjin style tree has a number of idiosyncratic features that come together into a surprisingly balanced, dynamic tree. A couple things that caught my eye right away; the little deadwood curlicue that’s stacked up where the trunk turns right, the branch that performs a full loop and then appears to split into the two branches that hang down to just above the curlicue and the distinctively patterned deadwood (shari) that runs most of the length of the trunk (this includes the curlicue). (Excerpt and photograph from BonsaiBark.com with Wayne Schoech’s permission)
Wow, just returned from Portland, Oregon at The Artisan’s Cup. What an amazing event. Seventy two world class trees competing for the $10,000 first prize. I would have loved to own any of them. I was joined by fellow members, Ron Smith, John Denton, Brian Gurrola and Ken Credeur. We had a great time, enjoyed the exhibit, visited the Pacific Rim Collection up in Seattle, and found a few new vendors. I was particularly pleased to meet Sara Rayner and buy a few of her pots. I have owned some of her pots for years. This classy event was hosted by Ryan and Chelsea Neil.
We have the Lone Star Bonsai Federation, holding an Educational Seminar “The Reel Deal”, October 9th and 10th, at the Kingwood Community Center. This will be a Friday and Saturday event focusing on Displaying, and Bunjin Style. The guest artist will be Matt Reel, a terrific up and coming artist, recently completing his apprenticeship in Japan. There will be workshops, lecture/demos, exhibits, an auction, raffles, vendors, and the Emerging Talent Contest. David Kreutz, of Satsuki-en Bonsai in St. Louis, is holding an azalea workshop that was the most very popular workshop we had last year. Make plans to be there, I know we will. You can find more information at the LSBF Website. http://www.lonestarbonsai.org/convention/ This Learning Seminar will be held at the Kingwood Community Center, so the dinner Friday evening, and lunch on Saturday will be provided there. The Emerging Talent winner, winners of the Exhibit, and the annual LSBF Auction will be at the Saturday Lunch.
LSBF State Educational Seminar planners have chosen La Quinta Hotel as the preferred hotel. It still had rooms available when I booked our room. Events will start at 1 PM Friday and run
through a demo ending at 5:30 PM on Saturday.
We will have our Houston Bonsai Society 2nd Annual “Day of Bonsai” on Saturday, October 31st. It will be at Mercer Arboretum and last from 9AM – 4 PM. We will have an exhibit, some demos and vendors. It is free to all. The Board of HBS has decided to present the Best of Show for the exhibit in memory of Donald Green. So Diane and family will be on hand to present the first “Donald Green – Best of Show” award and the $100.00 first prize. Make plans to attend, it will be a hoot.
Thanks again for all of our auction supporters in September. And special thanks to Alan Raymond for being the auctioneer. We raised over $2,000.00 to be used for speakers, demo material, and refreshments in the coming year.
Thanks for all your support. Your participation is always appreciated. Hurley
An intriguing literati Japanese Black Pine with gracious twists and turns
2015 OCT 1-3 73rd Annual Bulb & Plant Mart sponsored by the
Garden Club. Info at gchouston.org.
OCT 7 HBS monthly meeting: Planting Bonsai on Rock
Slab with Pete Parker at Hermann Park.
OCT 9-10 LSBF State Learning Seminar, “Bunjin & Display: The REEL Deal”, at Kingwood Community Center, Kingwood, Texas. Workshops, lectures/demos, exhibit and vendors.
OCT 11 Carolina Bonsai Expo at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, NC.
OCT 16-18 Kathy Shaner Seminar . See ad below.
OCT 31 HBS Annual Fall Show at Mercer Arboretum, 9 AM – 4 PM, with Fall bonsai exhibit, demos, workshop, and vendors.
OCT 31 – NOV 1 Golden State Bonsai Federation Convention “Bonsai Fusion: Where Tradition Meets Innovation” at Riverside, CA. http://www.gsbfconvention.org/.
NOV 4 HBS Monthly Meeting: Bjorn Bjorholm lecture-demo at Hermann Park
NOV 7 Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees Nursery, Rosenberg, TX, 9 AM – 12 Noon. Free, refreshments.
NOV 14 Japanese Black Pine Study Group: Needle thinning and structural wiring/designing for the future. 9 AM – 1 PM. Bring tools, wire and sketch paper with your idea for the tree and its future.
NOV 22-23 Advanced Study Group with Pedro Morales: at Timeless Trees. Focus: Building Kurama, deadwood carving, Phoenix Grafting and adding a prosthesis. 9AM- 5 PM
DEC 2 HBS Christmas Party and Gift Exchange
Check out timeless-trees.com and get on the mailing list for Weekly classes by very knowledgeable artists and masters. Huge selection of bonsai, pots, tools, supplies and soils.
Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help bonsai lovers with all bonsai supplies. Ask for 10% HBS discount.
Come stock up on bonsai soils, pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. Don’t forget to ask for a 10% HBS discount.
Gift giving for the bonsai lovers on your list or yourself is easy with Pineywoods Easy-Care artistic bonsai. Ask Larry and Judy to send you photos to choose from. Check out their collection at the upcoming bonsai events in Houston. Shipping is available.
Fall has arrived at JRN Nursery II. Come enjoy the Autumn flowers and tropical bonsai styled and maintained by an Asian Bonsai artist. Don’t forget to ask for 10% HBS discount.
Visit artist Andrew Sankowski at the Mossrock Studio & Fine Art Gallery for the finest gifts and custom bonsai pots in any shape, form and color. Christmas gifts can be commissioned now.
Andrew Sankowski 26002 Oak Ridge Drive Direct (281) 684-4411
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 $6 per month, $30 for 6 months and $50 per year (12 issues). A full-page ad is $25 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.