Suncoast Bonsai Society October 2016

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The Bonsai Epitaph

Van Nguyen’s Insight into bonsai

Allan Horseman open house The Saturday following the club

meeting which is October 22 from 1-4. Alan is a new

member this year following the Green Thumb Festival and

the workshop at Doris’s. He is enthusiastic and took part in

Linda’s Pine Study Group, the recent auction in Clearwater

and the impromptu trip to Landmark Nursery near Tarpon

Springs. Lets visit and see how he is coming along.

Directions to be included with the email.

Same bat time, same bat channelSaturday the 15th

Seminole Recreation CenterSet up at 9:30am

Van has an underlying philosophical approach to bonsai

that he is going to discuss. Hopefully he will also shed

some light on how he has grown as a bonsai artist so

rapidly.

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October 2016

Officers:

PRESIDENT - Cathy Wolfefairlady.taichi@gmail.com727-391-2501

VICE PRESIDENT - Noa Spector-Flocknoanik@gmail.com727-345-2570

SECRETARY - Sally Molsickrmolsick@tampabay.rr.com727-360-6483

TREASURER - John Goff

Directors:

Past President - Doris Burns

Newsletter Editor - Jack YostOldTreeMaker@gmail.com727-391-2501

Membership &Hospitality - Diane Roush

Others:

BSF District 5 trustee - Sally Molsick

Historian - Ruth Osganian

Supplies - Joe Bruni

Webmaster - John Goff

Facebook Admin - Cathy Wolfe

Library operations - Noa Spector-Flock

Please bring in Flowering Quince and

Loropetalum for show and Tell. As always

you are not limited to these. Also (as

always) bring in anything that you need help

with and we will find a way to make time

for you.

Don’t forget that we have silent auction

forms available at the meetings for things

that you want to sell for a 10% commission

(or more) to the club as opposed to donating

to the raffle.

Linda Gibbons has graciously agreed to host a pot luck dinner/social event at her home at 1pm on December 18 for members and their guests. In lieu of a Dirty Santa gift exchange wewill have a silent auction to raise money for a projector for the club. Items can be all orpartially donated. In addition we are planning on having a Naked Tree Show and Tell spacepermitting. Details to be provided as we go along as Linda processes the scope of thisundertaking…

NEW FORMAT for the Christmas Party

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Flowering Quince and Loropetalum

That is because it blooms on new wood. Exactly when“fall” is for quince in Florida is a work in progress. Lastyear I repotted in October, this year I will repot a bitearlier if I can actually go do it. One interesting thingis that cuttings from roots take well. This means thatduring normal repotting you generate cutting materialand it is usually all weirdly bent in ways that onlynature can do. One online source ishttps://www.forestfarm.com/search?q=flowering+quince

Loropetalum seems to have become popularfollowing our club night in 2014. Loropetalum is arelative of the witch hazel and has very similarflowers. Witch hazel flowers are yellow and the

October 2016

Flowering Quince may be at the edge oftheir growing zones here in central Florida.However, I have been growing one since2001. Unfortunately during those 15 years I

have had only threeor four flowers!Sad, I know. But Iam moderatelyoptimistic that it hasbeen my own faultand that I may havefound the fix.Flowering Quincewas selected for thisarticle because it isone of the few

plants that should be pruned andpotted in the fall and not prunedagain until the following year orat least until it is done blooming.

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October 2016

loropetalum flowers are available in white, though that hasn’tcaught on much, and various shades of pink, fuchsia, red-purpleand red, all of which are quite showy. The foliage also comes indesigner colors from almost Snow Bush-like to very dark red. Oneimportant tidbit that we learned at Landmark Nursery is thatloropetalums have an aversion to reclaimed water. So far the loroshave proved pretty malleable to general bonsai practice and arefree flowering. One caveat they are very slow to make sizeabletrunks. If you want a big trunk style spend the money to buy the

trunk and spend your time building the rest of the tree. Styles you can make without waitingare weeping, literati, cascade and semi cascade anda forest would be wonderful project. Purple Pixie(see picture) is a small spreading variety that would

be good for a smallweeping or cascade. Iam going to try to getone into a smallcrescent pot. I havelost some branches

following wiring but have also wired and bentseverely and not had a problem. Perhaps time ofyear is important or maybe they need to dry outprior to wiring. There are still things to learn withthis relatively new introduction.

Tree of the Month

A Loropetalum

forest would be

wonderful project

Free tip: Very small trees (mame) are cute and

relatively cheap to buy or make - However they are

more difficult to keep alive and not necessarily a

good place to start for beginners.

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October 2016

The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by President Cathy Wolfe, atour meeting place at the Seminole Recreation Center. We had four guests.

The meeting began with a quote from Ruth Osganian about the Humboldt tree from a bookcalled “The Wild Trees.”

This meeting was a Bring Your Own Tree workshop, with the focus being on beginners’ treesworked on during the workshop in Doris Axon-Burns’s backyard last May.

The Suncoast/Hukyu joint auction held in Moccasin Like of the previous weekend wasdiscussed, and Cathy informed us that a committee had been formed to start planning for

next year’s auction, which will be hosted by Suncoast.

Sally Molsick, as BSF rep, reminded us of the 2017 Memorial Day weekend ABA/BSFconvention, and urged anyone who had not received information on this to let her know.

Doris Axon-Burns then gave a short talk on potting, and we learned among other things thatplants with seasonal blooms are best in glazed pots.

On the morning of Saturday October 22, Wilcox Nursery will be having a Florida Native PlantFestival, and in the afternoon, Alan will be having a garden open house.

Show and Tell followed, and Jack Yost showed two of his podocarpus trees, Cathy Wolfeshowed her dwarf bottlebrush and juniper, and Michael showed his maple. John Goff showedhis buttonwood, which he had gotten from our raffle table, Van Nguyen showed two beautiful

junipers, and Ruth Osganian showed turntables George had made for Shohin and mamebonsai. Linda Gibbons showed some black pines, which she plans to fertilize on October 1

and November 1, and then not until March or April.

We then had our raffle, and the meeting adjourned at 12:00 Noon.

Suncoast Bonsai Society MinutesFrom September 17th 2016

By Sally Molsick

You know you’re addicted to bonsai when: You find yourself watering yourtrees in the rain because you don’t trust the rain to be good enough.

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October 2016

Cathy was playing with her phone picturesettings…

Below is a good picture of the new meetingroom. Note how expansive it looks.

Below right is Doris talking pots andpotting.

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Quick Snips by Jy

How to get started. You’ve got your comfy work clothes onand a glass of wine or your favorite IPA. You have your lucky hat. You have the turntable andtools, the light is good and the temperature is fair. The bushy plant thing sits in front of youand gently mocks, or maybe not so gently. Now what?

Lets review how we got to this point. Let us assume that the plant thing was not a gift andthat you selected it yourself from somewhere that you had a selection to choose from. Forexample you were at Landmark Nursery and picked from 30 three gallon podocarpus (orloropetalum or whatever) or that you were at Home Depot or Willow Tree and picked from 20junipers at $4.95, or $7.95 or more bravely, from the fewer more expensive ones. Askyourself why you picked the one that now sits in front ofyou? There must have been something. Was it the biggest ordid if have a wild bend in it somewhere, was there alreadysomething dead that looked intriguing. Hopefully you did notpick it at random. If you picked it at random, next timedon’t.

We have all collected things that looked good in the wild (or nursery) and later invoke that“What was I thinking” thought when we get it home. So if that applies, don’t despair, you willdo better next time, probably… OK, so lets say that you remember what it was that attractedyou to this little beast in the first place, start there. Now, if you know exactly what you wantto do, stop reading right here and go do it. However, I assume that most of us go throughsome kind of process to help us find a plan. A good way to start is to set your tree intoanother pot on an angle and on a turntable. The new angle frees up your imagination, youcan even put a towel over the pot to view it with less the distraction. You will probably wantto cut the nursery pot down with a utility knife to get it out of the way to some extent.

Now rotate the turntable around and around lookingfor some feature that you can use. Generally we arelooking for a “front”, the side that it looks best fromoverall, but especially from the roots. Look from theroots and up and then from inside to out. Nowreposition the tree in the holder pot so that it is 90degrees different and repeat the process. Do this untilyou have examined the tree from all angles, includingwith it set normal and upright. We build the skeletonfirst and the foliage clouds later. Tips: generally youdon’t want a “pigeon breast” bulge to the front. Nordo you want the tree to lean dramatically towards the

“Rules are generallywhat not to do ratherthan what to do.”

Things

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viewer at the base. A slight forward lean is fine farther up the tree and especially at the apex.You don’t want the tree to “run away from you” either. So if you have a nice bend or slantfrom the base it will point to one side or the other.It is almost impossible to work with branches that come straight out from the tree towardsthe viewer, this is especially true in the bottom half of the tree. This are called “Eye pokebranches”. You will probably have heard of other bonsai“rules” and they are good to learn and follow when youcan. Such things as bar branches and armpit branchesand crossing branches etc. I’m not going to detaileverything here, get a book or look around on line.

Rules are generally what not to do rather than what to do. What TO do gets into art and thatcan not be nor should it be reduced to rules or guidelines. Sometimes art involves breakingthe rules, if not exactly on purpose, at least with acknowledgement of them. Tips forbeginners though: look for “lines of movement” that can be repeated or echoed rhythmicallyand that are pleasing to your eye. Create depth, call attention to something. Make sketches ifit will help you things.

Things continued

“Look for “lines ofmovement” that arepleasing to your eye.”

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October 2016

55 Shades of greenTrees we are actually growing

1 Azalea Azalea2 Bahama Berry Nashia inaguensis3 Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum4 Black Olive Bucida spinosa5 Bougainvillea Bugainvillea glabra6 Boxwood Buxus microphylla7 Brazilian Rain tree Pithecellobium tortum8 Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus9 Camellia Camellia sinensis10 Campeche Haematoxylum campechianum11 Chinese Sweetplum Sageratia theezans12 Cotoneaster Cotoneaster13 Crepe myrtle Lagerstroemia14 Dwarf Jade Portulacaria afra15 Elm Ulmus parvifolia16 Eugenia Eugenia myrtifolia17 Ficus Ficus18 Flowering Quince Chaenomeles19 Fukien Tea Carmona retusa20 Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba21 Golden Dewdrop Duranta repens22 Grape Vitis vinifera23 Hackberry Celtis24 Hawthorn Crataegus25 Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum26 Holly Ilex27 Hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana28 Ixora Ixora coccinea

29 Jaboticaba Plinia cauliflora30 Jasmine yellow Gelsemium sempervirens31 Juniper Juniperus32 Lavender Star Flower Grewia Occidentalis33 Ligustrum (Privet) Ligustrum vulgare34 Loropetalum Loropetalum chinense35 Malpighia Malpighia36 Maple Acer37 Natal Plum Carissa macrocarpa38 Oak Quercus39 Orange Jasmine Murraya paniculata40 Pine Pinus41 Pitch Apple Clusia rosea42 Podocarpus Macrophyllus43 Pomegrante Punica granatum44 Powder Puff Calliandra45 Pyracantha Pyracantha coccinea,46 Sammy tree Antidesma acidum47 Serissa Serissa foetida48 Shefflera Shefflera arboricola49 Simpson Stopper Myrcianthes fragrans50 Sinojackia Sinojackia xylocarpa51 Snow Bush Breynia disticha52 Surinam Cherry Eugenia Uniflora53 Sweetgum Liquidamber styrachiflua54 Tamarind Tamarindus indica55 Water Jasmine Wrightia religiosa

Sorry, lists aren’t very exciting but we have quite a

few newer members and there is often a a question

of “What kind of things can you bonsai?” This list is

by no means exhaustive but it is pretty close. If

something that you are actually growing or know for

sure that is OK is missing, contact your intrepid

editor and I will add it and rerun the list. I actually

have 46 of these but do not have Buttonwood for

example but know that others do. The azalea picture

is just to brighten up an otherwise dull page…

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October 2016

Fall

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October 2016

Check out the Suncoast Bonsai Club Facebook page. Post your bonsai pictures tothe page and Cathy will repost them to the Timeline. You can also post questions.

Doris for talking pots at the last meeting

The Pres at play with power tools!

Pedro Morales'Tropical Bonsai School

This is a 3 year program designed forenthusiasts, at any level of expertise,that wish to strengthen and intensifytheir knowledge in tropical Bonsai andadvance techniques through "hands on"experience and classroom instruction.Taught by Master Pedro Morales with more than 25 years of Bonsai experience.

Visit Artisans Bonsai website for details. www.artisansbonsai.com

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OCTOBER 15 - (Flowering Quince & Loropetalum) Van Nguyen explains it all.October 22 - OPEN HOUSE to Alan Horseman’s 1-4 pm (Dues are due soon)

November 6 - FIELD TRIP to Robert and Vicki Yarbrough’s 1 pm Rendezvous at the Rec Ctr or just goNOVEMBER 19 (Buttonwood?/Water Jasmine) Our own Patti Farrell on a water display. (Dues)

Sunday DECEMBER 18 - Naked Tree Show and SILENT AUCTION benefit for a club projector.This is THE ANNUAL PARTY at Linda Gibbons’ Potluck Social Event bring stuff.

DUES ARE DUE

JANUARY 21 (Bald Cypress) Robert Yarbrough on STYLING and US National Bonsai Exhibitionreport

FEBRUARY 18 (Juniper) The long awaited Flaming Dragon Juniper branch bending thing with TommyMiller and Jack as assistant AND EVERYTHING JUNIPER, repot, style carve etc.

MARCH 18 - (Maple)

APRIL 15 - (Azalea) - We will probably have a “pre-Green Thumb” practice show/meeting.April 22 and 23 - Green Thumb Festival

MAY 20 - (Elm/Hornbeam) Post Green Thumb Workshop Workshop?

JUNE 17 - (Ficus)

JULY 15 - (Bougainvillea)

AUG 19 - (Pine)

SEPTEMBER 16 - (Podocarpus)

Things under discussion - your input is requested - email a board member or talk to us.

October 2016

UPCOMING EVENTS

Pine study group meeting to be determined

See article about featuredtrees for each month

● Field trip to Artisans Bonsai● Field trip to Mike and Lunetta’s● A fertilizer expert● Meetings, tours, or open houses at different

members homes● Everything rocky, root over, plant on etc.● Mame/Mini workshop or demo and/or in-house

show● Mini-club night type projects as a meeting

event● Style off contest with provided trees chosen by

lottery

● Some type of event with the Museum of FineArts or Sunken Gardens

● Species specific meetings i.e. Maple or elm orjuniper etc.

● Indoor Bonsai● Micro-Bonsai● Multiple demos around the room● Hands on workshops● Forest workshop● Traveling guest speaker ($$$)

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October 2016

Fertilizer Talk - November

Fish Emulsion stinks - There is no getting around it.BUT there are better options than the Fertilome and Alaskabrands available locally. Principle among them are the Age Oldproducts that are available at Wilcox Nursery in smalleramounts and online from Amazon in any size. One gallon ofthe Fish & Seaweed is $58.99 delivered. That sounds like a lotbut it lasts a LONG time, there are 256 tablespoons in agallon. The Bloom is a little less expensive at $49.99. But at5-10-5 you could cut this

in half this time of year. The Age Old Fish & Seaweed hasway less of a bad smell than the box store brands. And itis way more convenient to use that the solid crumblyorganics that we also use. I like those too but it is a choreto put them on a large collection. You can review the AgeOld website at http://www.ageold.com/liquid/

As too whether or not we should fertilize in November that is up to you. My personal ‘belief’ isthat nothing is ever truly dormant in Florida and that a little taste of something organic andlow nitrogen will not hurt. skipping November and December wouldn’tmatter much either, especially if you have been on schedule up this point. But really who has?

Harry Truman had a famous quipabout economists. He said: Giveme a one-handed economist!All my economists say, 'On onehand ... And on the other.’

Print this page and add to your clip board or notebook

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 December 1 2 3

November 2016

Election Day

Thanksgiving Day

Veteran’s Day

3 - Fish Emulsion or Organic Tea or other liquid organic (maybe add some liquid iron &/or kelp to the fish emulsion)

3 - Fish Emulsion or Organic Tea or other liquid organic (maybe add some liquid iron &/or kelp to the fish emulsion)

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Things we can’t remember

● pH Which way does it go? Neutral is 7. Less than 7 is acid and greater than 7 is alkaline

● Bug Spray recipe ONE GALLON

5 Tablespoons (2.5 oz) Dr. Bronner’s Castile or other 2 Tablespoons (1 oz) Neem Oil or any light vegetable oil (optional?)

24 OZ RECIPE - Who needs a whole gallon of this stuff, right?1 Tablespoon soap and 1 big teaspoon oil. Mix right in the spray bottle.

TIP - Put the recipe on the jug along with fill lines.

● 1 oz = 2 tbls or conversely 1 tbls = ½ oz This is useful when making up 5 gallons of fertilizer which is 2.5 oz (at 1 tbls/gal)

● Soap vs Detergent (and why bother?) Soaps are made from fatty acids, animal or plant.And detergents are made with synthetics. An example of a soap is potassium palmitate orpotassium hydroxide. An example of a detergent is sodium lauryl sulfate. The story is that ifyou are going to add oil use a soap. If you are just going to make a little soapy water then itprobably doesn’t matter. Detergents to not combine well with oil.

For example: Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap is a detergent, the first ingredient afterwater is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Dawn is also a detergent. Castile soaps like Kirk’s or Dr.Bronner’s are good If you want to add an oil.

● Always pour acid into water, never water into acid. You'll be diluting the muriatic acidwith water before cleaning bonsai pots. Be careful when pouring the acid; the fumes areintense and can be painful if inhaled. Never pour water into a bucket of acid. A reaction canoccur that can cause the acid to bubble out of the bucket and onto you.

● Sources for power tools Woodcraft at www.woodcraft.com and Arbortech atwww.arbortechusa.com

● Muck recipe Equal parts long fiber sphagnum moss and peat moss are the base, experimentwith adding other things like potting soil and sifted fines. Add small amounts of powderedclay and water until you are satisfied with the sticky muckiness that you want. Wear gloves.

October 2016

Follow us onWe are a proud member ofBonsai Societies of Florida

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October 2016

(for soil rock)5612 56th Commerce Park BlvdTampa, FL 33610 (813) 622-7031

(for Turface)6782 118th Ave NLargo, FL (727) 531-3180

(for Turface)2040 Range RdClearwater, FL (727) 441-9530

4401 49th St N,St. Petersburg, FL 33709 (727) 522-2594

12501 Indian Rocks Rd,Largo, FL 33774 (727) 595-2073

853 E Lake Rd STarpon Springs, FL 34688 (727) 938-2971

6831 Central AveSt. Petersburg, FL 33710 (727) 344-1668

801 62nd Ave N,St Petersburg, FL 33702 (727) 525-343

(slabs by the #)2001 13th Ave N,St. Petersburg, FL 33713 (727) 822-3370

(rocks and slabs)13122 Walsingham RdLargo, FL 33774 (727) 595-2662

(rocks and slabs)3701 W. LambrightTampa FL 33614 (813) 870-2620

(powdered clay) 6462 125th AveLargo, FL 33773 (727) 530-9581

Local Sources for bonsai materials

CLUB INFORMATION

We are on the web! Check it outsuncoastbonsaisociety.com - bookmark it -

We Meet: At the Seminole Rec Ctr near theSeminole Library on the 3rd Saturday of mostmonths. Occasionally at outdoor venueselsewhere. Watch Facebook for EVENTS.

LIBRARY: Some books should be availableat each meeting.

RAFFLE TABLE: Raffle tickets, $1.00 each.Bonsai related items are donated by clubmembers. Please identify the plant materialso we know how to take care of them!

BONSAI SOIL: Bonsai soil is available @$20 per 5 gallon bag for members and $30for non-members Joe Bruni is our soil man,our mover and shaker, but Doris is our contactfor sales, let her know ahead of time if youneed soil brought to the next meeting.

Doris Burns - For Soil - phone is the bestchoice Phone: 727-343-7992email: daxon@tampabay.rr.com (rarely)

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More recent pictures of Vaughn Banting’s Bald Cypress in training since 1972. Pictures fromCapital Bonsai blog the personal bonsai blog of Aarin Packard, Assistant Curator of theNational Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Dare to go skinny. The artist inthis picture is Chris Baker curatorof the Chicago Botanical Gardensas of 2014. Also from the blogmentioned below.

He is working with Bald Cypress.