The Bonsai News of Houston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society Inc.

Volume 49 Number 10 October 2018

A giant Bougainvillea bonsai and Soon at a Hong Kong Nunnery (Photo: Hoe Chuah)

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.

October 3 HBS monthly meeting: Hoe Chuah’s Bonsai Travelogue, a Tour of Penjing Gardens in southern China, Shanghai, Hong Kong, last year’s BCI Asia-Pacific show in Taiwan, and Amy Liang’s Bonsai garden.

Upcoming Events More details in Calendar of Events

October 6 Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees, 9 AM - 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.

October 6-7 6th European Bonsai-san Show in Saulieu, France.

October 12-13 The Garden Club of Houston 76th annual Bulb and Plant Mart at Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, Texas.

October 12-14 Houston Bonsai Society & Houston Chinese Bonsai Society Fall Joint Show at Memorial City Mall. See announcement for more details.

October 20 Podocarpus workshop at Timeless Trees, 9 AM - 1 PM, with Alex Leong, Carlos Santiago and Hurley. Bring your own tree or choose from TT’s trees ranging from $20 - $350. The class is free if tree is purchased from TT.

October 27 Bonsai Basics #2 - Styling and wiring at Timeless Trees - 9AM -1PM. Focus on styling and wiring. $60 include a tree (Podocarpus, Ficus or boxwood), wire cutters, hand-out and wire.

October 28 Sunday Kusamono lecture- demo and workshop with Young Choe at Timeless Trees 1 PM - 4 PM, ( 12 spaces) $65 per person, includes a hand made pot, plants and soil. This talented artist from California is considered one of the best Kusamono artists in the United Stated.

IN THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Events

Hoe Chuah’s Bonsai Travelogue

Showcase of the Month

Bougainvilleas

October Bonsai Care

John Miller

President’s Letter

Hoe Chuah’s Bonsai Travelogue

6th US National Bonsai Exhibit

in Rochester, NY

Houston Bonsai Society & Houston Chinese Bonsai Society

Fall Joint Show at Memorial City Mall

Young Choe’s Kusamono workshop

Bougainvilleas

October Bonsai Care 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 you 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 does not want their roots frozen. The buttonwood is an example of the first group and the crepe myrtle would be in the second. Here in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, we will probably not see a freeze until late November or December, but there may be some cool nights in October. I prefer to leave the tropicals out as long as possible and let the semi-tropicals to go dormant, 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.

Kathy Shaner (and Sylvia Smith too) 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 is not 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 crepe myrtles. 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 protecting the roots, be sure to give it a wind screen and make sure that you can check the soil for watering needs. (It helps here 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 or Chinese 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 so that the ground heat will help keep you pots warm. Plants that grow south of Dallas, crepe myrtle, firethorn, some azaleas, need to have more root protection. I like to let them get frostbit 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 of deciduous trees. They may 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 breakdown into nutrients more slowly as the season gets cooler and the trees activity slows also. The organic spray given below can be used as a soil drench but dilute it a little more. Kelp is an excellent source of the essential minor elements needed by plants.

Insects will continue to be present. Cooler (but not cold) days mean a resurgence of the aphids. Spider mites will still be around and will jump into action during a warm spell. Scale also can be a problem. Treat with a light horticultural 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, 5% apple cider vinegar, and molasses in one gallon of water) should still be used on a regular schedule and will work on evergreens and will also give them some nutrients. The dead scale shell will probably have to be removed physically. A soft toothbrush works for me (I sometimes need to wet the branch to loosen the scale shell).

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.

Some trees may be repotted in the fall but I feel that it is counter-productive to do so if you can do it during bud break in the spring. New roots are more prone to freeze damage if we get a bad winter. It has been stated that the key to safe repotting is to minimize root disturbance and to exclude severe root pruning. This seems to me to be a recipe for developing root problems, poor drainage leading to root rot and the inability of the old soil to hold enough water to last all day. No heavy pruning will lead to the lack of refinement and a top heavy tree. I would recommend

that repot 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.

President’s Letter

Fall is definitely in the air now. I mean we are barely getting to 90. The Fall rush of tropical storms and hurricanes is here. The leaves are turning brown and falling off the big trees, and you can just feel the change of seasons in the air. Behind like always, I’m hustling to do a last few things on tropical trees and have begun switching over to work on junipers. Simply cleaning out the downward growing shoots and dead shoots can greatly improve the looks and health of a juniper. It’s best to start cleaning about April, but I often get to only a few of my junipers through the Spring and Summer. Now is also a great time of year to be styling junipers and I will be doing exactly that with Tyler Sherrod during his visit.

These days, much of my world seems to revolve around the 2019 convention. Registration is now open online and registrations have been coming in fairly quickly. Three of the workshops are full already, so take time soon to register so that you can get the workshops that you want. Take a look at your trees and think about which ones you could exhibit and what you need to do with the tree to get ready for the show. It looks to me like we have space for 90-100 trees in the exhibit, so there is plenty of room.

Dr. Hoe has arranged for our Joint Fall show to take place at Memorial City mall, in conjunction with the Houston Chinese Bonsai

Society. This should provide great exposure to the public for us, so I encourage everyone to bring a tree and participate. There is more detailed information about the show on the last page of this newsletter. Don’t forget to sign up with Dr. Hoe at the October meeting.

Pete Parker

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This October monthly meeting, HBS will have a fantastic treat, a bonsai lover’s dream comes true: Hoe Chuah will share with us photos of the most outstanding bonsai masterpieces he and his wife Soon have seen on their extensive trips to southern China, Shanghai, Hong Kong and last year’s BCI Asia-Pacific show in Taiwan. The highlight of their travel to the Orient was probably the visit to world renown Professor Amy Liang’s bonsai garden.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, no doubt Hoe’s slideshow would be worth a few millions. Make plans to come and see those treasures with your own eyes. It’s the next best thing to

making the trips yourself, perhaps better since this couple can speak Chinese and we don’t.

For those of you who like to find out which tiny but very crucial details distinguish the Superior Award winner from the Grand Champion, read all about them in Hoe’s revelations in his most delightful bonsai blog.

HBS is incredibly fortunate to get a glimpse of the couple’s travel photos to view the bonsai of the world. As a great writer and very sharp photographer, Hoe shares their life bonsai experience in great blogs at wordpress.com. There are older posts from China and Hong Kong, and museum collections of antique Chinese Bonsai pots, which can be found from blog post content, but here are the links to the more recent blogs from BCI show in Taiwan.

https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/taiwan-bonsai-journey-hwa-fong-show/

https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/taiwan-bonsai-journey-more-trees-from-the-hwa-fong-show/

https://bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/taiwan-bonsai-journey-3-juniper-bonsai-at-the-wanjing-garden/

See y’all next Wednesday!

Shawn Nguyen

6th U.S. National Exhibition

We arrived in Rochester, NY for the 6th National Exhibition to warm weather, in the 90’s. But by Friday, it had cooled down to the 60’s in the evening, and a high of 75. Vern and Ken had driven the long haul from Houston and Austin, to bring three of our trees, stands, and Kusamono to the show.

Hurley’s ficus on the rock with beautiful accent

Thursday and Friday were a flurry of activity as the people brought their treasures in, did the final grooming of foliage and moss, and checked them in. Bill Valavanis has a professional photographer and studio set up, so all trees and stands get photographed for his book of the show. That in itself is a daunting task.

Some of the basics: 1. There were 281 displays, 2. 121 cultivars, 3. from 27 states, 4. 136 exhibitors, 5. 29 Shohin displays, 6. 120 Shohin trees, 7. … and an indoor soccer field, full of 45

vendors.

The Exhibition was spectacular!!! Houston was represented by three exhibitors. We did not win any awards, but we all had a great time. Just being accepted to the Exhibit was an honor. There were over a thousand entries, and jury the best.

Scott’s uniquely fine juniper and accent

At the last Exhibition 2016, Dr. Hoe Chuah won Best Tropical Bonsai, and Soon Chuah won the Best Kusamono.

Vern’s exhibit with fine trees and kusamono

The National is a great place to see old friends, and make new ones. We enjoyed the fellowship of the folks from Louisiana, California and Florida. The artists and vendors are very accessible, and new friends were made. Even the teardown and trip home was alive with discussions future projects, and upcoming exhibits.

The quality of trees and displays just gets better and better. In the exhibit for next year’s HBS/ LSBF / National Convention you should get a hint of what happens the National Exhibit. Our goal is to keep raising the bar for quality of trees in Texas, and the nation.

Hurley Johnson P.S. I am already working on two trees to take to Rochester in 2020. What about you?

Kusamono artist

Young Choe, a talented artist from California, one of the best Kusamono artists in the United Stated, will honor Houston with a workshop on Sunday October 28th, at Timeless Trees.

This celebrated Kusamono artist studied traditional art-ink painting and calligraphy-in her native Korea before she moved to the United States. She obtained her BS in Horticulture from the University of Maryland. While volunteering at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, she was able to bring her artistic talent together with her knowledge of horticulture to create Kusamono. She traveled to Japan to study this unique art form with the master Kusamono artist, Keiko Yamane, a former student of Saburo Kato. In the world outside the Museum, she worked with native plants at the USDA, NRCS, National Plant Materials Center in Beltsville, Maryland. Also, she was a propagation horticulturist at the US National Arboretum. Young currently works at the US National Arboretum.

Choe’s Autumn theme with mixed media

Kusamono refers to a Japanese botanical art that developed alongside bonsai. Kusamono are potted arrangements of wild grasses and flowers in unique pots or trays selected to suggest a season or place. The name is composed of two Japanese characters-- “grass” and “thing”—which together suggest humble, everyday plants. Originally, this name referred to the small, potted grasses displayed next to bonsai as accent plants. More recently, creating Kusamono has developed into an art form of its own. A well-chosen kusamono reflects the season in which it is displayed. Some compositions are designed to include plants that will look good in several seasons. Besides the season, a Kusamono should suggest a specific natural habitat—such as a wetland, meadow or woodland. Whether using a single plant or a group of plants, there are three basic styles of planting: moss-ball, out-of-pot, or in a container.

Kokedama is a ball of soil covered with moss on which an ornamental plant grows. The idea has its origins in Japan where Kokedama are very

popular. Kokedama is a style of Japanese bonsai, where a plant's root system is simply wrapped in moss and bound with string, transforming it into a sculptural art form. Loosely translated, ‘koke’ means moss and ‘dama’ means ball. The original Japanese form of kokedama had miniature sculptured bonsai trees displayed on handmade pottery or pieces of driftwood.

A lively Spring symphony of dainty kokedama

Young Choe’s scheduled workshops will be on Sunday, October 28, 1 -1 4 PM at Timeless Trees in Rosenberg. The cost per person is $65, which includes a hand made pot, plants and soil.

Once again this month, we have Hoe and Soon to thank for bringing this very busy artist to HBS, a very rare occasion not to be missed!

Shawn Nguyen 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.

Calendar of Events

2018

OCT 3 HBS meeting: Hoe Chuah’s Bonsai Travelogue: A Tour of Penjing Gardens in southern China, Shanghai, Hong Kong, last year’s BCI Asia-Pacific show in Taiwan, and Amy Liang’s Bonsai garden..

OCT 6 Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees, in Rosenberg. 9 AM - 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.

OCT 6-7 6th European Bonsai-san Show at Parc des Expositions 21210 Saulieu, France. Details at http://www.european-bonsai-san-show.com

OCT 12-13 The Garden Club of Houston 76th annual Bulb and Plant Mart at Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, Texas. Mart hours: Friday, 9AM - 5PM and Saturday 9AM - 3PM. Featured speakers: Heidi Sheesley of Treesearch Farms (Friday 9AM.), Susie Marten of Katy Prairie Conservancy (9 natives presentation - Friday 12PM), and beekeeper Shelley Rice (Saturday 10AM). All sales are tax-exempt. Free admission and parking.

OCT 12-14 BCI 2018 at Mulhouse, France and hosted by the French Bonsai Association. Details at https://www.parcexpo.fr/congres-bonsai/accueil-uk.php

OCT 20 Podocarpus workshop at Timeless Trees, 9AM - 1 PM, with Alex Leong, Carlos Santiago and Hurley. Bring your own tree or select from TT’s trees ranging from $20 - $350. The class is free if you purchase your tree from TT. Focus on first wiring and planting in a good soil.

OCT 27 Bonsai Basics #2 - Styling and wiring – Timeless Trees, 9AM - 1PM - Focus on styling and wiring a tree. $60 include a tree ( a Ficus, boxwood, or Podocarpus), wire cutters, hand-out and wire. Everyone goes home with a styled tree. No repotting at this time.

OCT 28 Sunday Kusamono workshop with Young Choe at Timeless Trees 1 PM - 4 PM, ( 12 spaces) $65 per person, includes a hand made pot, plants and soil.

NOV 7 HBS monthly meeting: Basic Botany of Woody Plants with Hurley Johnson.

NOV 10 Saturday Study Group at Quality Feed & Garden in the Heights, 9AM-12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.

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.

Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help you with bonsai trees, basic tools, pots and soils like Akadama, Lava, Pumice, Kanuma, and “Dr. Ken’s Special Bonsai Soil mixes in 10 lb. & 50 lb. bags. Free Bonsai Study classes for HBS every 3 months. Ask for 10% HBS discount.

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.

The rain has cooled the heat a bit at JRN II and tropicals, Asian exotics and ficuses are loving it. Indoor bonsai are at their prime, waiting to decorate your home. Arrangements of orchids and bromeliads for all occasions can be ordered year round. Check out fruit trees and bonsai supplies too.

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

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

1st Vice President Scott Barboza markyscott@me.com in charge of Education 2nd 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.

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