Florida Bonsai - May 06 Print

7/25/2019 Florida Bonsai - May 06 Print

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B O N S A I S O C I E T I E SO F F L O R I D A , I N C .

VOL XXXV NUMBER 2 ISSUE 146

M A Y

2 0 0 6

BSF Convention 2006


2/26

i May 2006 Florida Bonsai 45

To all club members, and es-

pecially ofcers of clubs. Rec-

ognize your key people, the ones

who make your club work. Who

does the work?

Who can you de-

pend on? Did you

hear from yourDistrict Trustee?

Here is the letter

that was sent to

them by President

Louise. She has

spent a lot of time

trying to get people

to make this hap-

pen so good peopleare recognized for

what they do for others.

Dear Trustees,

As Awards Chair I want to

send you a picture of the New

BSF Volunteer Award Pin. This

pin will replace the old award

given to volunteers within the

clubs. Please take this picture to

the clubs so they might see what

the awards look like. Only two

volunteers per club each year. I

still have many clubs that have

not sent me names of award

winners, It seems like such a

small thing to recognize our

great volunteers and a simple

e-mail would put them in for an

award. Lets try to make sure allthe clubs know what is going on

with BSF at this time. Many hours

of work has been put into this pro-

gram and we need to make sure we

keep the membership up to date on

what is going on.

At this time I want

to thank all of you

for getting in your

Trustee awards this

year. Thanks to you,

I have an award for

each district.

One last pitch

for Scholarship en-

tries at this time.

Any club or study

group can enter theawards this year.

Please have them send all awards

and scholarship applications to me

at my e-mail address.

Thank you, and I look forward

to seeing you all soon.

As always

Louise Leister

You will note, Louise is also try-

ing to get Scholarship entries.

You will want to attend the Club

Night activities at the conven-

tionthat has become the big night

for popular events.

To communicate more the Trust-

ees will have to make it happen at

your meetings. There is much go-

A nice way to say thanks.

AA

S

S

S

S

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

AsagaoAzalea

CityBrevardBrowar

dButton

woodCentra

lFloridaChishik

i-Gawa FortWalton

BchGaines

villeGoldC

oastHamaM

atsuHukyuIchibanIndianR

iverKawaLaubsch

Lighthouse

MarionMiamiNorthF

loridaPensac

olaPalmB

eachesShoFuSouthwestFloridaSuncoa

stTallaha

sseeTreasur

eCoast J

an

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

S

S

S

S

TRY THIS FOR CLUB EVENTSARE YOU LISTED? FOR AC-

CURATE TIMELY INFORMATION SEE THE BSF WEB SITE.

A = AUCTION

S = SHOW

S

S

A

A

S

C


3/26

44 May 2006 Florida Bonsai ii

50601. Bonsai: But-

tonwood, Conocar-

pus erectus, infor-

mal , IT 1979

Price $5,200.

Classifed Page: BSF Members have the following bonsairelated items for sale. Members listing only, anyone can purchase

the object. Contact Editor by email to list or to contact the seller.

Indicate the words Selling or Buying in the Subject of the

Email. Refer to the number and object in the text, and how the

seller can contact you.

4062. Estate sale: a life long

collection of bonsai for sale. 75

Bonsai priced or best offer. All

must go, moving and cannot

keep them. Open house 5/15/06

50623. Tool wrap with wire cut-

ter, concave cutter, knob cutter,

heavy shears, pruning shears,

root hook. Used.

Price $35.00

THIS IS SOMETHING A FEW MEMBERS REQUESTEDA

CLASSIFIED PAGE. IT HAS ALSO BEEN SUGGESTED WE

CHARGE 10% OF THE SALES PRICE FOR THIS SERVICE.

AND, ALLOW SALES BY MEMBERS ONLY, LET ANYONEPURCHASE. EDITOR OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS.

ing onBSF is working for you.

Speaking of goings on. Is your

club showing its schedule on the

web page? Those who have web

sites, and newsletters now can

let the world know what you do.

STOP HERE AND GO TO http://www.bonsai-bsf.com. If you are

reading this on the screen version-

just click it, and go to the Club

Events and Newsletters page.

There you will see a schedule,

similar to the one on the back page

of this magazine, with lots more

information available to you from

every club who sends the mate-

rial to me. Within 24 hours (sofar) the newsletters are available

to your members, and the world

on the web. If you want people in

your area to nd you, this is it. If

anyone comes to Florida, they can

know in an instant who is doing

what along the way. I kid you not,

it was through a meeting notice

in a newspaper I stumbled on in

San Diego that I found a meeting

and through them found a way to

contact BSF, even the West Palm

Club. By chance I saw my rst

John Naka demo whacking a large

juniper, and I never had heard of

him before that.

We are trying to make it easier in

Florida, so get the information to

me. It will get out in many ways.Check for shows, auctions and es-

pecially conventions. You can

see who has a program when

you visit another city in Florida.

You can plan ahead and sched-

ule your travels to attend special

meetings all over the place. I am

even thinking of adding a col-

umn for out-of-state newslettersas I get them.

Louise has asked me to do a

quickie seminar at the conven-

tion to help people know how to

take advantage of the web site

and its content. I welcome any

computer experts to help on this

assignment.

On another subject. Randy

wraps up his juniper series in

this issue. Does anyone have

some technical knowledge they

would like to share, some handy

gimmick they found to work for

them, it would be nice to have

something good for the future

to read in this magazine. Let me

know. The next (Aug) issue will

have a lot of convention news,but we need to be sure to share

bonsai knowledge too.

Cant get anyone to share with

us What bonsai means to me.

Surely anyone can write about

that. I have had good compli-

ments on these past articles by

members.

Editor


4/26

iii May 2006 Florida Bonsai 43

OFFICERS/TRUSTEES &

COMMITTEESOFFICERS:

President Louise Leister

1st Vice President Tammy Malin

2nd Vice President Henri VermeulanTreasurer Ed Lippencott

Assistant Treasurer Dave Bechtold

Corres. Secretary Vladimir Foursa

Recording Secretary Carol McKinney

Past President Gene Callahan

Trustees:

Dist. 1 Lynn Fabian

Dist. 2 Carol Partelow

Dist. 3 Barbara Chapman

Dist. 4 Henry Robbins

Dist. 5 Robert Yarbrough

Dist. 6 Ray MalinDist. 7 Judy Gore

Dist 8 Larry Duke

Committees:

Archives Dick Miller

Education Ray Malin

EPCOT/BSF Peter Wood

Membership Tammy Malin

Publications/Editor: Dick Miller

Publications/Web: Dick Miller

Speakers Stan Orsolek

CREDITS/THANKS

Thanks to the Gainesville Bonsai

for the cover, and the logo paint-

ing by artist Stewart J. Thomas.

Above all thanks to the Gaines-

ville folks for hosting the next

convention

HuhRah!!!

BONSAI SOCIETIES OF FLORIDA

M E M BE R SHI P

Individualsacquire BSF member-

ship as members of a local Member

Club.

Other memberships include:Member-At-Large,

Member Organization At Large,

Donor Membership, or

Special Life Membership.

For membership information con-

tact your local club, the BSF web

site, or:

Tammy Malin

Membership Chair

P.O. Box 12124Fort Pierce, FL 34979-2124

Email: [email protected]

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

You will nd many members of

BSF recognized at the convention

in Gainesville, some noted herein,

so we wont deal with it in this

short space.

For all the work the Gainesville

club is doing, lets take advantage

of it and be there for another great

show.

See you in Gainesville on May 26

- 29, lets build some BONSAI

BRIDGES.

CBI, Inc. Handmade Bonsai Containers

Wholesale to the Trade

1408 Colwyn Dr.Cantonment, FL 32533

Come

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2006

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onvention

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sville

Tel: 850/937-1468, Fax: 775/256-1639


Register at www.chinaBi.com for latest Catalog

DRAGON TREE BONSAINURSERYPre-Bonsai:

Collected or,Nursery Grown

Classes

Club ToursWorkshopsDemonstrations

Specializing in largespecimen bonsai plants.

Enjoy! Happy to see you.

Robert Pinder3663 S.W. Honey Terrace

772/418-7079Right Next to Turnpike Exit #133, in Palm City

Vendor &

Advertiser

WEBSITE: www.Bonsai-Mart.com

189 pages and adding items regularly.

Seeour

monthly

discoun

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onthe

webpage.

August

isaFRE

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5/26

42 May 2006 Florida Bonsai iv

Thekla T Morris

Award: a big thank

you for years and years

of unsung work. Every

convention, every day

from morning to closing,T rules the tables with

the donations for the

silent auction to be sold

to support the magazine.

Volunteers come and go, but T stays

and watches her hoard of goodies.

She knows from being the editor for

12 years, what goes into the magazine,

the value of having it and the need for

support to keep it going.

This award adds to the growing

numbers of recognitions that she has

been getting for her many many years

of work for BSF.

Since 1973 T Morris has been

involved in bonsai at her home club of

Pensacola Gulf Coast Bonsai Society

and with BSF since its inception. She

was one of the rst people to join

PGCBS, along with Ed Potter (BSFs

founding and rst president.)

Her contribution has been her

willingness to take on supporting the

magazine not only once, but again and

again. She donates to all the club and

convention auctions and often takes

home more than she donates (she is her

best customer at the silent bidding).

Most of us reserve the #1 bidding cardfor T. Beware anyone who tries to out-

bid her on an item she really wants. She

is usually rst and last

in line anyhow. From

this job she can see all

the good things up for

sale, and is there when

the bidding closes. So

it you see her name onthe bid sheet, you can

bet you are not going

to steal it for less than

it is worth, so keep

trying.

She has presented many programs at

club shows, meetings and the local Japan

Club in Pensacola. T goes the extra mile,

she pro-

vides the

material,

prepares

the stones

for the

plantings

and brings

the soil for

potting and supplies the trays to display the

stone planting on.

She holds the ofce of treasurer of

PGCBS. In March of 2005 Thekla Morris

was recognized by the Azalea City Bonsai

Society for her contributions to bonsai, and

at the convention she received the Legacy

Award for many things not included above.

T Morris, I thank you from the bottom

of an editors heart, and hope you will

continue to keep us on the straight and

narrow with these silent auctions for manyyears to come.

Editors Award

CONTE

NT

S

BONSAI CLUBINFORMATION

FEATURED

ARTICLES

SPECIAL

FEATURES

Editors Award ..........................................................

45

iVolunteer Award .....................................................

Calendar/Club events .............................................

42

6

8

28

3

38

14

1

BSF Featured Club ..................................................

19Convention Information ........................................

Presidents Page: by Louise ...................................

Interview: Pedro Morales ......................................

The Art of Joe Samuels ..........................................

Morikami ..................................................................

34ECOT Sampler ........................................................

Junipers Part Four: Randy Brooks ......................

Prison Update ..........................................................

Classified Page Proposal ....................................... 44

32Bonsai Raffle ............................................................


6/26

v May 2006 Florida Bonsai 41

FLORIDA BONSAI IN COLOR

A black and white printed version

of the magazine is provided to

members of the Bonsai Societies of

Florida.

It is also available to them in full

color for viewing or by download-ing from the BSF web site:

http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/color_cy.htm

There is a version for printing a

booklet, and another one for read-

ing on the screen.

Be sure you have a current version

of Adobe Reader available free onthe rst Publications page.

CORRECTIONS

I am not that good. You are holding

back corrections or comments.

FLORIDA BONSAI

444 MUIRFIELD DR.

ATLANTIS, FL 33462-1206

Editor:

Richard M. Miller

[email protected]:

Louise Leister

7 Coverdale Ct. S.

Palm Coast, FL 32127

[email protected]

FLORIDA BONSAIis the

ofcial publication of the

Bonsai Societies of Florida.

It is published quarterly, in

Feb., May, Aug., and Nov., andis provided to each member.

Be sure to visit our web site at:

http://www.bonsai-bsf.com

Web Master:

Dick Miller

[email protected]

ADVERTISINGALL ADVERTISING RATES

HAVE CHANGED.

Contact the Editor, noted above,

for rates and conditions.

DEADLINES FOR MATERIAL

& ADVERTISEMENTS:Spring. issue.. . . . . . Dec 10Summer issue . . . . . . Mar 10

Autumn issue . . . . . . .Jun 10Winter issue . . . . . . . Sep 10

Wigerts Mango Grove & NurseryErik Wigert

15857 Quail Trail * Bokeelia, FL * 33922239/985-0036 or 239/283-2910

By Appointment

Your new South West Florida source for Quality

Pre-Bonsai, Bonsai, Mica Pots, Soil & Tools

Lonely Lookout


7/26

40 May 2006 Florida Bonsai 1

The Pines

Time

See PRESIDENT page 2 >

From the Top:

Again I find myselflooking and wonder-ing where the time hasgone as we are fast ap-proaching our springevents. Tey say time

flies when youre hav-ing fun, so we must behaving fun!!

Te InternationalFlower and GardenShow at Epcot will behere soon and it was adifficult task pickingthe trees this year. We had a record 67entries and even with the additional

trees to the China exhibit we were lim-ited to 30 pieces. Last August we askedthe membership to send in Penjingentries for the expansion of the Chinaexhibit and to no surprise the BSFmembership came through and sup-plied us with a large amount of beauti-ful Penjing submissions. We welcomeyour comments on the trees and theoverall exhibit. Epcot is working withus and is very happy to again preview

Florida Bonsai trees to their guests.Japan again will include the BSF logotree and a tree from the Morikami

which is the beautiful Powder Puffthat the late Millie Cooper donated tothe Museum. We also had two youngartists for the second time: RyanGlenn age 15 and Charles Bevens age17. Along with these two young men

we have also had several new first time

members trees in the exhibit. Again,our very talented artists

from Florida willbe exhibiting theirmasterpieces, JimSmith, Ed rout, JimVan Landingham,Mike Cartrett, MikeRogers and Rob

Kempinski. I inviteyou to attend theEpcot Flower andGarden Show andgive support to yourfellow bonsai artists.Pictures of the trees

will also be includedin the BSF magazine

for those who cant make the show.I want to thank the exhibitors, the

committee and our committee chairPeter Wood for all the hard work ittakes to put on the exhibit each year.

Convention time is right aroundthe corner and I look forward toseeing all of you at the conventionthis year. Gainesville has gatheredquite a block of bonsai talent for usto see. I cant wait to see the mate-rial and look forward to being part

of this event. Awards for Volunteerswill be given at the BSF annualmeeting where we will make severalimportant announcements for themember clubs of BSF. Insurance formember clubs is one item on theagenda along with events for 2007and 2008. Dick has an informative

website program in store for you. Ithink all who attend will be quitehappy with what we are planning

for the following years and changes


8/26


> PRESIDENT From page 1

Louise

made. We need you to attend themeeting so all clubs are informed andabreast of the new changes within theFlorida Bonsai world.

Our Visiting Artist Program hashad a very busy winter and spring

with visits from new artists andsome revisiting old friends. Tose ofyou lucky enough to have had edMatson enjoyed his knowledge andtalent. I know the e-mails I receivedshowed that everyone felt he was a

wonderful and talented artist and allshowed great interest in having himback again next year. I was luckyenough to have him overnight andenjoyed his company and our con-

versation. Along with ed we againhad the pleasure of Roy Nagatoshispresence. What can be said aboutRoy is that he is a real gentleman andhis knowledge of the art of bonsai isa joy. As usual, Ben Oki was a realattention getter and was a sell out ashe is every year. Ben will always be aspecial friend to us here in Florida.Tese three California artists we

would welcome back anytime. Pleasetake a moment to drop Stan a lineto say what a great time you had and

whether you would like to see theseartists back again. I want to thankStan for all his hard work and thetrouble he has to deal within todaysage of travel. His job is the hardestone in BSF and most times he deals

with airlines cancelled flights and thetrouble of getting the artist from one

place to another. Most of us dont un-derstand what is involved in making

these arrangements so please let Stanknow what a good time you had.

As awards chair I have the pleasureto announce the winners of the 2006BSF awards.

Lifetime Award Elyse Van DykeLegacy Award 1. Mary Madison 2. Mary Miller 3. Ed LippincottTese are the top award winners

but we have many more awardswhich will be presented at the 2006convention. I want to congratulate allthose who have given of themselvesto the art of bonsai in Florida. Lookaround you and notice the world-class trees we have within the stateand realize that these people are the

reason we have these tress amongus. Over the years they have givenof their time and craft to the educa-tion and betterment of bonsai inFlorida. Tey are the legacy of BSFand through their dedication have

worked hard to create beautiful worksof art. Tey are the embodiment ofour history, and I know that without them our bonsai talent would belimited. Im honored to present them

with their well deserved awards at the2006 Banquet in Gainesville. Tankyou from BSF.

I hope to see you all in the nearfuture and I plan to visit many moreof your events this year, so keep yourevents coming to me via e-mail orsnail mail, or get on the BSF websiteso I can keep up. Stay well, and mayall your trees grow happily

Take A Walk Through

B O N S A IWith

Jim SmithStudy a GreatCollection

The Dura-Stone Co.

Learn From the Master In person or on

Video tape

Everything for The Bonsai

Enthusiast.

Have

itYour

way

VHS $24

DVD $30

To order,

Call 860-464-0312

Bonsai to the trade.

Tours and Demos

by Reservations only.

Call : 772/562-5291

See our web site:

http://jimsmithbonsai .com ENJOY


9/26


Joes ArtHere are a few samples of the beautiful art work of

Joe Samuels.It is rare anyone gets to beneft by seeing these

wonders, until he had a show last December. It was

a pleasure and honor to be there.

Sabal Palm

Calle Ocho

Pedro Morales

An Interview

See Interviewpage 4 >

Pedro is a very inter-esting, energetic youngman and he doesntspeak with a Chicago ac-cent. In the photo, he is

a walking advertisementfor the BCI conventionin San Juan, in 2007.Tat very patriotic logohe is showing on his sleeve, is that ofthe Federacion De Bonsai De PuertoRico. Te other one is BCIFELAB2007, he is Chairman of that and a

World Convention in 2009.

See http://www.bcifelab2007.com,

you will get a South of the Bordertreat, hold on to your seat.

Ed: How long have you been work-ing at bonsai?

PM: I have been doing this for 22years now. I began to get seriousin 1984

ED: How did you get started?

PM: My teacher at the University

of Puerto Rico, Maria Riera,gave me an assignment to write areport and give an oral presenta-tion. Te theme was Bonsai. SoI had to look for information onthis.

ED: About how many do youhave?

PM: At this time, too many!!! Morethan 300. And, now Im work-

ing on my own nursery and havea lot more there.

ED: When did youjoin your first club?

PM: A few yearsafter the report, Iheard about the localClub de Bonsai dePuerto Rico and I

started going there.I took classes there

with Adan Montalvoand kept looking

for any information available onbonsai.

ED: What clubs do you belong tonow?

PM: Here in Puerto Rico: Club deBonsai de PR, Federacin Bonsai

de PR and Bonsaistas Asociadosde Carolina.

ED: What offices have you held?

PM: President, vice-president,treasurer and officer. I am still thepresident of the Federacin deBonsai de Puerto Rico and havebeen an officer since the founda-tion in 1993.

ED: Married-how long- where youmet-when and where?

PM: Divorced, with two boys, Kikeand Joel and now married againfor 5 years with Yrene Vsquezfrom Venezuela, with 2 more chil-dren, a girl & a boy. Yrene alsodoes bonsai.

ED: Where were you born?When?

PM: I was born in Chicago,


10/26


11/26


Maple

Acer buergerianum

32/20/15 (L/H/D)

Juniper

Juniper procumbens nana

31/24/14 (L/H/D)

Winged Elm

Elmus alata

32/42/22 (L/H/D)

EPCOT Samples (Continued)

>EPCOTfrom page 35selection as second runner-up onthe World Bonsai Contest. Mademy wife and me cry with joy.

ED: Biggest frustration?

PM: Not being recognized in myown country.

ED: Any other hobbies?

Pm: Strangely! I collect guitar pinsfrom Hard Rock Caf and 1:18scale cars. I have many, manymany of both!!!!

ED: Any thing else you want tosay.

PM: I have to say that I enjoy whatIm doing now. Tis is the perfect

way to live. My two families

are happy, my boys help me alot with the nursery and rent-ing bonsai business and I get totravel all around the world doingbonsai. Life is great!

I like to be alone sometimestothink and relax. I can do this

when Im watering my trees. Tisgives me time to talk to them

PS: Pedro sent me the Neea Buxifo-lia shown below to be displayedin the Gulf Stream bonsaiCollection at the MorikamiMuseum. He has worked on itfor about two years, and finally it

was ready to be sent.


12/26


Junipers Part IV

By Randy BrooksMiami Bonsai Society

Gold Coast Bonsai Society

Attack of the killer mites

Warning: Tis article has not yetbeen rated and may contain depictionsof violence, crawly things and yuckystuff. It may not be suitable for theembarrassingly squeamish. Parentalsupervision is not advised, kids tend tolike bugs.

Youve got mites. No, not youpersonally. Tats what theyre say-ing about the juniper that youve

brought in to a club meeting. Ofcourse, youre in immediate denialas the declarer calls out for a sheet ofpaper to prove your malady. How-ever, what is even scarier than thepossibility of mites, is the enigmaof where all those sheets of paperappear from. Say the word mites atany bonsai club meeting and a slip

will materialize from thin air. If youwere stuck on an island with justyour juniper and ten other bonsaienthusiast, someone would say,Youve got mites, and immediatelya perfectly clean, unfolded sheet ofplain white paper would materializeso they could prove it you. Penn andeller have nothing over some bon-sai hobbyist and their blank pages. Idont know about you, but stuff likethat frightens me.

So you watch as they abscond

with your plant andbegin to shake it over thatmysterious slip of paper.If youre lucky, they dontbeat your poor tree todeath. But do beware,these people may be moredangerous than the mites.

After some prescribed time, orwhen they feel they have sufficientlydislodged enough material to showyou, the spontaneously appearingleaf of paper is suddenly under yournose, and someone is shouting,See! SEE! SEEEEEE! I OLD

YOU!!! Do you seeem? Seeem? Doyou see them RUNNING?!

Afraid of being the only one

who apparently doesnt see them,or more probably out of the fear ofthose who areseeing these thingsscurrying about, and are getting somaniacal about it, you mumble,Uh, yeah, sure.

You better get rid of them.You better get them under control UNDER CONROL! Yep, youbetter get them under control, they

implore, or theyll kill your plant!

Kill your beautiful juniper? Yousnatch it back protectively andbegin looking for an opening toescape from these crazy people withtheir sheets of paper and things youcant see.

(Warning: One of those icky scenesnot for the timid is about to berecounted. You may want to momen-

tarily turn away. Dont say you

Ficus

Ficus retusa kingman

29/23/46 (L/H/D)

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea

44/42/34 (L/H/D)

EPCO International

Flower and Garden Show

See EPCOTpage 36 >


13/26


Ilex

Ilex vomitoria nana

31/30/30 (L/H/D)

Willow Leaf Ficus

Ficus salicifolia

28/38/27 (L/H/D)

Buttonwood

Conocarpus erectus

45/42/38 (L/H/D)

A few Samples

of the display at

See JUNIPER page 22 >

werent warned!)

Just look at them!they command of you,and even though youknow you shouldnt,like an accident on thefreeway that you cant

turn away from, youlook. Watch this! Andthey drag their fingeracross the paper, appar-ently over some tiny alien bodiesthat you were previously unawareof. Smudges of something appearon the paper. Look at them smear,they cry gleefully.

(Icky scene over: You can look back

now.)Who are these nuts, and why

would killing some microscopicbugs amuse them so? Should theybe feared? Is this condition con-tagious? And, what about thosesmears? Tere was something thereafter all something that was livingand feeding off your plant. How docombat something you cant evensee? Its like a scene out of a bad sci-fi movie.

Well, were glad you asked,because mites are serious business.(Cant you tell?). But, before we cantell you what to do about them, youneed to know just what it is yourecombatting.

First of all, mites arent bugs. obe bugs they would have to be in-

sects, and theyre not insects. Mitesare arachnids. Teyre related to spi-

ders, scorpions, daddy-long-legs, and ticks. Tisis an important thingto be aware of becauseif you arent aware ofthis and its implicationsyoull end up doingmore harm than good.Even people who areaware tend to ignore themeaning and proceed

with actions that they should knowwont be beneficial to their plants orsurroundings.

A lot of different critters live inyour garden, and, contrary to yourfears, most of them probably domore good than harm at least the

ones you can see. Youve got birds,reptiles, snails, insects, mites, and amillion other things living out there.Now, you wouldnt spray your plants

with insecticide to keep squirrels offof them, would you? You wouldntspread diatomaceous earth to keepraccoons out of your yard, wouldyou? Well, you shouldnt be spray-ing insecticides to keep mites away

either. Insects and mites are physi-ologically very different. Insecticideswont have any effect on mites, andeven those insecticides that claim tobe effective against mites have sucha weak or diluted miticide compo-nent that theyre more likely to justincrease resistance in the mites thanhave any real benefit. Tese sprays,and the even more powerful miti-cides, have no effect on the eggs, so

if you ignore everything here and


14/26


THE PRISON PROJECT

by John Derr

Mr. Ben Oki hasvisited Florida each

January for more than

twenty years. Eachof the last twenty twoof those years, he hasmade the trip to a prisonin Starke, where he donates aday ofhis visitto work

withinmateson a

bonsaicollec-tion.Bonsai enthusiasts from Florida andGeorgia have participated in the

workshop, working with and alongside the inmates to transplant, trim,

and wire. Tere have been as manyas eight volunteers, and more thantwenty inmates in attendance. Tis

year there were two volunteers andtwenty three inmates. Still, each

inmate was able to create his ownbonsai and to assist in the

work on the collection.

New River Cor-rectional Institutionis right across thestreet from the Flor-

ida State Prison.It is just a half mile

or so down the streetfrom the Union Cor-

rectional Institution. NewRiver C.I. hasthree commer-cial greenhousesand a largearea of nurseryplants, gardens,and livestock.

Tegreen-houses

hold tropical bonsai, in-door plants, orchids, seedflats and cuttings. Inmatesare selected to work in thenursery and bonsai area,and must earn their place.

Te day begins earlywhen Mr. Oki visits. He

arrives and is ready to work at 8:30AM. Te inmates are present and a

few problem trees have already beenselected and lined up for inspection.

Visit our web site:

On the web based color issue, you can click the

web site for direct access.

Nursery StockPre-bonsai

Soil

Wire

Pots

Tools

Stands

Large/small Bonsai

http://jupiterbonsai.com

Call for information. 561/746-5074

Wholesale to the trade.

Retail, Demos, and Workshops, for

Bonsai Clubs, by appointment only.

NOTICEUnder NewManagement


15/26


JUNIPER BONSAI RAFFLE

Heres your chance to add an excellent tree to your collection andhelp out a good cause. BSF is raffling this tree off to raise money topay for a visiting artists travel expense. Te tree will be exhibited at

the 2006 Convention in Gainesville and will travel to clubs through-out the state over the course of the next 6 months. Te winningticket will be drawn in December, which should give everyone achance to buy a ticket for this spectacular tree. ickets for this treeare $5 a piece. You may buy tickets at the convention, through yourBSF trustee, or you may purchase tickets from the BSF treasurer.Jason Schley of Schleys nursery in Daytona Beach supplied this tree.Jason has many fine trees at his nursery, so stop in when you have thechance. Please visit Jasons website at http://www.Schleysbonsai.comfor more information. (See his new ad in this issueand thank him.)

In anticipation of the proposed Classied Page on page 44, I was

asked to notify you about this opportunity to be presented to inter-

ested parties as noted. Study your last three issues on how to keep

this great juniper healthy.

Juniper Parsonii:

19 inches tall

21 inches wide Nebari 7 inches

At 4 inches

from the base,

the trunk

width is 11/2in.

In a 121/2in

Japanese pot

See Prisonpage 10 >

Tis year, I had the privilege of in-troducing Mr. Oki to the group, andthe painful task of telling everyone

of Harold Harveys passing. Mr.Harvey was the programs organizerand chief spokesman for more than

ten years. He is sorely missed.Many of the inmates rememberedhim well, and I heard him spokenof often that day. He was certainlypresent inspirit, andmany ofthe lessonshe taught

were re-memberedand passedalong toothers bythe inmates

who re-memberedhim.

As somefellows

worked on

the repot-

ting and trimming of the collection,others went with me to the nurseryto select trees to make into bonsai.

Many of the inmatesselected personal treesfrom these, but somehad already put a treeaside, months before,

in anticipation of ourvisit. Once a tree wasdesigned, Mr. Oki

would have a finallook at it, then drawa picture of the futuretree for the proud

new owner. We discussed care andfuture training, the value of patienceand importance of discipline. Some

inmates talked of home, or of im-pending release. Few had experiencewith bonsai outside of the program,but each year I have been involved I

have marveled at their interest


16/26


>Prisonfrom page 9

This year, in response to many requests by partici pantsand volunteers, we will be expanding the project to threevisits, spr ing , fa ll and January. Anyone intere sted involun tee ring should contact me, and ask to be inc luded onthe email or phone l ist.

and enthusiasm.

I hesitate to suggest that lunch isthe high point of the day, but lunchis always good, and a full morningof potting, trimming, wiring andteaching certainly creates an ap-

petite. Volunteers eat in the Cor-rection Officer canteen, outsidethe fences. Before the canteen wasadded, we ate inside the compound.During the conversion to privatiza-tion, there was one year when theCorrections Officers made lunch forus. Fresh greens from the garden

were put in a large pot outside, over

a propane cooker. Cornbread,venison, chicken wings and home-made salsa had been brought fromofficers homes. It was a memorable

feast. If Florida ever had a chanceto convince Mr. Oki to move fromCalifornia, that was the day.

Years ago, wehad to go throughthe main gate toget to the trees. Inthose days, eachtool had to be in-spected, and cata-loged, on enteringand exiting the facility. Just getting

to work was complex. It did helpme identify which of my tools werereally essential. Tose days are nowpast. Now we let the administrationoffice know we have arrived, and areescorted around the facility directlyto the nursery area.

In the afternoon, after lunch, anew group of inmates brings theirenthusiasm and ideas to the workarea. Te workday ends at about3:30 - 4:00 PM. Tis is to allowtravel time. Leaving takes a little

while as we shake hands and learnwho will be there next year and whowill not. In this place, not being

there next year is a good thing.

Bonsai cultivation began at theUnion Correctional Institute,sometime after 1960. It appears

to have grown out of the instituteshorticultural project, as a result of

inmate interest. Aplaque, prominentlydisplayed at NewRiver CorrectionalInstitute, indicatesthe Garden TerapyProject was started in1960, by the FloridaFederation of Garden

Clubs. We do know that in 1983,

A big old pot with a chipped lip.

Put them together and you have . . .

A phoenix Graft.

A new bonsai arises, with lots ofopportunities for development.

Shazam!!!

The moral ofthe story is:Dont throwa n y t h i n gaway.

A great master said,

There is no such thing

as an ugly tree, just

poor bonsai skills.

challenge out there.

3

4

A mythical oriental phoenix


17/26


Honor Roll in the Morikami Park.Because PresidentLouise had to leaveSaturday, and Ed

was there Sunday,I had to do thehonors for her andBSF.

She had to gethome to deal withthe jewel she foundat a vendor booth.

Always anotherchallenge to con-quer. Oh, I gottahave that one.

I need to makean other pointhere, Larry constantly provides me

with photographs for all kinds ofprograms, and rarely gets mentionof his work. I really appreciate it,and get the credit for publishing thegreat photos he takes with his trustycamera. Glad we dont have to buyhis film. Henry, he deserves to bepaid for the disks, even though they

are cheap.

Sorry Kawa, we showhere a poster picture of

true Joy Of Bonsai

And, a very dead tree stump.

Take a sorry looking tree with

little or no bonsai potential.

There is always a new

And . . . .

1

2

> BSPB from page 29

S Prisonpage 14>

the horticultural project as wellas bonsai were at Union C.I., justdown the street from New RiverC.I., where the bonsai collectionnow resides. See Te wentieth

Anniversary of Bonsai Behind Bars,Florida Bonsai, Feb. 2005, XXXV,page 28, also, XXVII (1998); 1:38,

AND XXIX (1999); 2:11.

BSF involvement in the bon-sai project began in 1983, whenmembers of the aki Bonsai Soci-ety of Lake City paid a visit to the

horticulture project at Union C.I.At that time, under the supervisionof M. B. Jordan, inmates at UnionC.I. had been working on bonsai foryears. Edna Hindson, a foundingmember of the club, wrote about thebonsai efforts in the prison and withher club members, set out to deter-mine how best to assist their efforts.

Jean Smith, then chair of the Speak-ers Bureau of BSF, realized Ben Oki

had an open day in his schedule in

the area, and called him to ask ifhe would be interested in going toprison. When he learned the fullstory, Mr. Oki eagerly agreed. Hecharged for the workshop only onhis first visit. Tereafter, and fortwenty-two years, he has donatedthe day to the project.

Duane Clayburn was also involvedearly on.Mr. OkistravelthroughnorthFlorida isby auto-mobile,through

club vol-unteers.His Janu-ary visitbegins inPensacola

and moves through allahassee, toStarke, to the central Florida clubs,before turning south. Mr. Clay-burn, and others, have driven him

to prison each year. Mr. Clayburntold me about the project, andshared pictures of the collection ofa number of large podocarpus fromthe grounds of Florida State Prisonin 1991.. Tese trees had been in ahedgerow for more than 45 years. Acouple still survive. Tey representsome tough and heavy transplanting

work.

For several years, I have driven Mr.


18/26


Elyse J. Van Dykeby E.L. Fabian

Ms. Van Dyke is one of our

most honored and respected

individuals having devoted over

thirty years to the art and science

of bonsai. This generation-long

dedication to our Club, the

Bonsai Societies of Florida,

Bonsai Clubs International and to

many other national and Interna-

tional bonsai entities has brought

our Club and BSF to the atten-

tion of national and international

bonsai masters. She has worked

on behalf of the bonsai commu-

nities, representing our interests

and representing us to world class

masters. Her energetic attendance

at Conventions worldwide has

provided exposure for BSF and our

Club. In the process, we gained the

goodwill and dedication of others

who came and taught us the art of

bonsai.

Presidents, secretaries, planners,

committee chairs, hosts and oth-

ers involved in making Clubs and

events successful devote enor-

mous amounts of time that are not

recorded. Many single deeds and

contributions worthy of recogni-

tion get lost. Occasionally, we rec-

ognize some by highlighting their

major activities and participation insignicant events, knowing

that the underpinnings of

these successes have

long been forgotten.

Elyse and a few

others gathered in

Ft. Walton Beach andbegan what was to

become the

Ft. Walton

Beach Bonsai Society. She also helped

create the Bonsai Societies of Florida,

becoming a charter member.

Her activities at the BSF level were:

Treasurer (1977), President (1985-87

and 1991-93), and as First and Second

V. P. She spent years on the board oftrustees and committees.

She served BCI as corresponding

secretary (1984-1986), director (1986-

87 and 1989-91) and chairman of the

BCI convention in Orlando in 1983.

As part of the recognition for her sup-

port of BCI, she was awarded the BCI

Meritorious Award in 1999.

It is almost impossible to list all

of her achievements over these three

decades. It must be said, however, that

few individuals have contributed more

than she to advancement of bonsai to

the benet of FWBBS, BCI and BSF.

She deserves the highest accolades we

can give as she is a most honored and

dedicated member of our societies,

who has served with seless dedica-

tion and continues to serve with asmuch vigor and energy as ever.

Lifetime Achievement Award will have to take it on ourselves toadvertise that we do thatthe worddid not get out.

Tere were others working at thetables, but our crack photographer,Larry Duke only sent me photosof oby Diaz. oby and his wife

helped a lot with visitors. On top ofthat oby had a special assignment;he did a World Masters job of

wiring the Winged/Lemon Elm(Elmus alata) Eric Wickert put ondisplay at the Museum. What anbeauty that is! Tis thing can best bedescribed as Bonsai oday Covermaterial. And, since then, we have

leaves roaring out all over it in itsnew location in the Gulf StreamCollection.

Anyway, we surely appreciate theoutstanding Winged Elm, even ifthe wings are missing for now.

Ten there was the delivery of thelong promised bonsai from PedroMorales, one of his famous Nias(Neea buxifolia).

Finally, and I mean finally, we

Great location for a great bonsai

recognize Ed rout for all he hasdone for bonsai in Florida, and atthe Morikami in particular. We took

this opportunity to let Ed watch the

fixing of his name on the BSF

See Morikamipage 30 >


19/26


More thingsgoing on at theMorikami thanyou can count.

We started with Ben Oki doing

some work and critiquing the collec-tion and demonstrating his skills inJanuary.

Tenit wasget readyfor theHatsumeFair forFebru-ary. Te Museumdid its thing andprovided us with

the samegreatfacilities

we had

last year,and it worked great.

Tanks goEd rout,Merv Green-berg, and VladFoursa for do-ing outstand-ing demonstra-tions again.

Others

worked atthe tablesfor thevisitors togawk atand askquestions.

We got a

few people with bonsai troubles forour clinic. However, next year we

Donor, Designer, and new Keeper.

Collaboration: Ernie & Toby

From The Morikami

Schleys Bonsai & Supplies1080A Ridgewood Ave.

Holly Hill, FL 32117

386/295-2612

http://www.SchleysBonsai.com

Why spend $800 on a tree likethisyou can get anywhere?

When you can get massive trunkslike this for less at Schleys..

My Little Grape

My Little Ilex

We sell everything for bonsai, and specialize in largediameter trunk pre-bonsai. Classes available.

Check out our web site: http://www.SchleysBonsai.com,

Email: [email protected],

Or Call: 386/295-2612

Open: Tuesday - Saturday

10:00 am to 5:00 pm


20/26


>Prisonfrom page 11

Oki to Starke and volunteered withthe program. Last year, Mr. Harveyasked me if I would be interested inrunning the program. I told him I

would. I did not realize I would becalled upon to step in so soon.

Tis year, in response to manyrequests by participants and vol-unteers, we will be expanding theproject to three visits, spring, falland January. Anyone interested involunteering should contact me, andask to be included on the email ortelephone list. Te project needssoil, tools, books, pots, and trees.

Anything bonsai related will bewelcomed by the participants.

I hate more government, and inparticular more taxes for them tospend, but, with all the money theyspend on stupid ineffective pro-grams, it would seem that this is anexcellent, inexpensive, and provenprogram for either the Bureau ofPrisons, or Parks and Recreation toimprove recycling people. Strikes

me this kind of success should bepropagated to more prisons, (zerorecidivism, in 20 plus years!) and thestate could provide a grant for BSFto pay for masters to do this every-

where they can. Tank you Ben fordonating your time, but it isnt yourresponsibility. If we plan on doingmore programs, with more masters,and volunteers who give of their

time and work days.....(ask Force?)Louise - another opportunity!

Maybe we should get someonesattention in allahassee (with theprison managements knowledgeand agreement of course). I won-der why this program has not beentried elsewhere? Tey try all kinds ofother crazy stuff.

Editor

About Junipers Questions for Randy

Here are some of the question re-

sulting from the rst three issues

of Randys presentation about

junipers. If you have a question

that is not covered here send it

to me at [email protected] before June so Randy can

answer them for the next issue

ofFlorida Bonsai.

1. What is this thing about sea-

sons?

What should be done only

in winter, or spring, sum-

mer and fall for that mat-

ter?

2. I hate pinching, especially the

ones that hurt. Do I have to pinch

the tips? Cant I cut them?

3. You talk about leaves, how

can those tubular pointing

things be leaves, and do we

treat them the same as other

leaves?

4. I try to pot in the winter. Is itsafe to reduce the root mass at

that time?

5. What kind of soil do you

recommendorganic, non-or-

ganic, akadama only? Does

this depend on the zone (north

Florida vs. south Florida?)

6. How do you balance more

ramication and removing thedense growth out of the junc-

ture of the branches?

7. What kind of fertilizer do you

recommend?

8. When is it safe to remove ma-

jor branches, many branches or

any branches from the tree?

9. When is it best to wire and bend

branches severely, or at all.

10. Many people ask me for help,

often they have several branch-

es that are brown and look dead.

What should be done?

11. I see remarkable jins and shari

on junipers in books. How canyou do that to a tree and keep it

alive? Where do you start, and

what is safe to do?

12. I have several junipers and

cannot keep up with the pinch-

ing and care I use. What do you

recommend I do to keep them

pruned?

Randy asked for any feedback,

so here is your chance to ask

questions or critique what he

wrote. You dont have to give

your name. Randy has tough

skin, you will not hurt his feel-

ings, just tickle his brain to

think about it. Let us know

while the subject is still hot.

Editor


21/26


As already stated, treatment shouldinclude removal of affected tissue,and in the case of phomopsis andcersospora, a copper based fungi-cide, Bordeaux spray, or mancozebcan be used. Tere is no treatmentfor kabatina.

Te good news is that preventionis possible and effective, and thatthese diseases do not have to beplant killers. Tese few rules reallydo make a difference. Remove deadfoliage when noticed. Dont pruneyour plants during the rainy seasonif possible, and not when the foliageis wet. Do not shear your plants.Tis is asking for problems and is

not conducive to attractive or wellstyled plants anyway. Water yourplants earlier rather than later inthe day. Keep the areas surroundingyour plants free of debris.

Closing thoughts

You have more influence on thesurvival and health of your plantsthan any pest or disease will have.Most problems are environmental

meaning you, since you create theenvironment. Water, feeding, place-ment, pruning, soil, and pottingare the most influential factors inyour plants health and are all thingsthat you control. Healthy plants,especially junipers, are very resistantto any attacks by pest and disease.

Learn all there is to know aboutthe plants you grow. We are fortu-

nate to live in an age when there isso much information and data

readily available. All the answers in theworld are available to the inquisitiveand those with a thirst for knowledge.

All major universities have wonder-ful sites that have a wealth of reliableinformation. Shareyour knowledge

with others, and they will share withyou. Tats what clubs are supposed to

be all about.

Speaking of sharing knowledge, Iknow many of you have the talent andknowledge to contribute this to publi-cation and/or your clubs publication.So sit at the keyboard, or get out yourpen, and start writing. So many of youhave so much to share on so manytopics. Many of you could add a tonof wisdom to what I have written, so

get to it! Dont make me start namingnames! I look forward toyourarticles!

As always, I welcome [email protected].

Happy trees!

Te editor thanks Randy Brooks forthis series of remarkable information.If anyone knows otherwise please let

me know. We have over seven majorjuniper pieces at the Morikami col-lection, and I plan to make this seriesrequired reading for all volunteers. Putthis information to practice, see pg. 32for a great juniper raffle.

Do you have special knowledge thatcan be shared with our members andan increasing readership through outthe world, via our web posting? Dont

be intimidated, be generous and share.Editor

> Juniperfrom page 25

GainesvilleBonsai Society

Meeting address:Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in

Gainesville, FLS.W. Archer Road (State Road 24) 1 mile west of Inter-state 75 (exit #384)

BSF Featured Club

Mee ting time and dates:Third Sat urday of the month at9:30 AM.

Club activity photo before turning

the lights on, and after turning the

lights off.

Sorry,nophotosofclub

ac-tivitieswereavailabletotheeditor.


22/26


23/26


Try our web site http://www.miamitr opicalbonsai .com

MIAMI

TROPIC

AL

BONSAI

Nursery Stock

Call us toll free at 1-800/777-0027

Monday-Saturday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Fax us any time at 305/258-583.

Pottery

Tools

We buy Bonsai Tree Collectionsand Large Specimens.

Call for details.

Soil

Styled Bonsai

M I A M I T R O P I C A L

Other Stuf f

> Juniperfrom page 23

apple rust is a disease that requirestwo different hosts to survive. Tedisease lives half of its life on onehost, and is then transmitted to theother. It is then transmitted back,and the cycle continues. One ofthose hosts can be junipers, and the

other one will be a plant from therosaceous family, which includesapple, crab apple, and hawthorn.Te disease is actually worse for thehost from the rosaceous family thanthe juniper. It will create galls on

junipers. If you have hawthorn andjuniper in your collection then youcould technically have the hosts forcedar apple rust to survive, but this

disease should not be a problem forus here in Florida.

Tere are three diseases that doaffect junipers here in Florida. Again,

we are fortunate in that the juniperswe use for bonsai are the most resis-tant to these diseases. Also, healthyplants are much less prone to any ofthese diseases. Te junipers we usethat are most prone will be any of

those with Blue in the name, andany progeny of Rocky Mountain

Juniper, Juniperus scopolorum.

Te first disease is cercosporaneedle blight. Tis disease oftenresembles mite damage except it startson the lower interior foliage near-est the trunk. As it progresses, it willmove up and out on the foliage. Teappearance will be of a tree that only

has foliage at the tips. When the dis-

Lucy Skelley


I am a researcher with a background in

entomology and agronomy.

I have been trying my hand at bonsai for 12years and I have belonged to GBS for 12

years. During that time I have been librar-

ian of the club, and now Secretary.

I have approximately 20 bonsai and many

hopefuls. My favorite style and one to

which I aspire is literati.

I enjoy sharing the process of growing

bonsai with those who are interested in

learning. Im looking forward to being the

host city (with Ocala and Kawa clubs) of

the 2006 Bonsai Convention for our larger bonsai community.

Secretary

Program Chairman

Jerry Beneeld

See his article on the next page.

We all know the program chair-

man makes the club go around,

and keeps members happy.

Convention ChairmanJeff Ketts (No photo)


I am a retired Nurse from the V.A. in

Gainesville and for the past 6 years

I have worked as the School Nurse

Supervisor for Alachua County Schools.

I have been doing bonsai for 25 years. I have belonged to GBS since 1979

and was President from 1988 until about 1995/96. Currently, since mov-

ing and after the storms, I have 10 trees and maybe another 10 in training.

My favorite bonsai right now is the Zelkova that Im restyling.See GBSpage 18 >


24/26

18 May 2006 Florida Bonsai 23See GBSpage 20L >

Gainesville Bonsai

Society ActivitiesBy Jerry Beneeld

Program Chairman

GBS members meet monthly at

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens,

where we have been able to

establish a small permanent ex-hibit of bonsai, with the promise

of more space as we are ready.

Club members Lucy Skelley

and Mike Purcell take responsi-

bility for rotating the trees

according to the season

and ensuring they are kept

well watered, fertilized and

cared for.

The monthly meetings

of GBS are planned in

advance. This past year

members have had hands-

on opportunities to see

how to make soil and slabs, as

well as how

to prop-

erly replant

bamboo. (Seepictures) In

addition,

upcoming

meetings

include pest

identication,

plant nutrition, getting plants

ready to show, and how to work

with Lantana. Of course, extra

meetings include how to put on

a convention!

At the February meeting, Presi-

dent Jay Beckenbach took me up

on my offer to serve as the new

Program Chair, by appointing me.

My plan is to poll members to see

what their educational needs are

in learning about, growing, andmaintaining their trees. Some

members are just beginning and

want more basic workshops,

while others are experienced and

are seeking styl-

ing techniques,

wood carving,

and opportunitiesto invite bonsai

Masters to our

club meetings

on a quarterly

basis, if possible.

Once I obtain

the completed member surveys,

I hope to be able to tap into the

Masters schedule offered by BSF

and provide somethingSee Juniperpage 24 >

by a pest or disease. Once a pest findsan appropriate host, it is very easy forit to spread from one plant to the next.Dont place all of your junipers, orbuttonwoods, or black olives, or any-thing else all together. If you do, youmay as well be putting a bulls-eye onyour plants. Te pests will certainlyzero in on them. Dont make it easierfor the bad guys.

Tere are some environmentallyfriendly solutions like ladybugs andpredatory mites; however, they prob-ably arent going to be of much benefitto the hobbyist, and the cost to benefitratio is bound to be lousy, as much asI wish I could recommend them. Ladybugs have a tendency to travel, so even

though they can be of amazing as-sistance against a wide range of pests,once they feel like theyve done their

job, theyre off. Predatory mites maybe a better choice because they willhang around better. And as we alreadyknow, theyll always have victims herein Florida. But, predatory mites will dieoff between infestations so theyll needto be reapplied when mites reappear.

Tere really arent many other peststhat we should have to contend with

when it comes to junipers here inFlorida. Tey can get scale, but Ivenever had a problem with any on juni-pers, and in some areas of the countrybag worms are a problem, but we donthave a problem with them here onthe southern end of the state. Most ofthe junipers we use for bonsai here inFlorida are the most resistant to pestsand diseases. Both Eastern Red Cedar

Juniperus virginiana and any ofthe chinensis varieties are very resis-tant to pests and disease. You will

prob-ablybemoredan-ger-ous toyour

trees thananythingelse they

will face,but if youtake careof their

wateringneedsandaddresspotting/

soil concerns, then your plants willnot have to fear you either.

One final note on junipers andmites when you water your juni-pers, notice the wet foliage. Healthy

foliage will have a nice green color,whereas mite damaged foliage willbe a drab gray color. Te differencereally stands out when the foliage is

wet.

ake two fertilizer pellets and callme in the morning

Junipers arent susceptible to verymany diseases, and since we dontgenerally grow apples or crab apples

the list is even shorter for us. Cedar

Can you fnd the bagworm in the top photo?

Editor fnds them allover, but no resultingdamage. Best camou-age youll ever see.


25/26


spray, be prepared to be doing soconstantly until the mites are undercontrol, and then be prepared tocontinue this regimen when theyrecur. What you are more likely todo is to kill off any beneficial insectsthat would see mites as a nice snack.

oo many people spray way toomuch, and end up killing desirableinsects.

Real miticides are only availableto licensed applicators, so chancesare you wont be able to get them.Miticides are also very, VERY toxic.

You really shouldnt be messing withthem. You should be more worriedabout what miticides can do to you

than what mites may do to yourplants.

Having said that, if you live inFlorida, and you have junipers,then youre going to have bouts

with mites. Just look at some of thecommon host plants of spider mites:azalea, camellia, citrus, silver thorn,hibiscus, ligustrum, pyracantha,rose, viburnum, juniper, arborvitae,

holly, wax myrtle, and croton. Andanother group of mites (the eri-ophyid mites) attacks black olive,podocarpus, boxwood, maple andcitrus, in addition to junipers. Dontyou think that there are more than

just a few of these plants in yourcommunity, or yard, if not in yourcollection? Mites are just a fact oflife for us, and acceptance of thatfact is certainly the first step in deal-ing with them. Tey are never,

ever going to go away unless wecan get some of those crazy people torun around with tons of copier papershaking every plant in sight and thenshipping those reams to some far awayplace like the Moon or Mars, but thenthat wouldnt be very environmentallyfriendly to those other worlds, would

it? We already litter our own planetenough.

So if mites are always going to bearound, how are we to deal with them?

Well, most of you have probably heardof the remedy of hitting your plants

with a jet of water, especially on theunderside of the foliage where themites live. Youve heard it, but do youuse it? A method is only effective to the

degree to which it is carried out. Sincemites are always around, it needs to bepart of your routine to make sure thatyou give your plants a nice shower tokeep them off.

Something else thing you can do isplace your plants properly. You knowthat youre supposed to provide plentyof space between your plants so thatthey receive adequate sunlight and

airflow. Airflow is very important inpreventing many pathogens and pests.

Also, when placing your plants, dontgroup them! Tis may be one of themost important actions you can takein preventing problems. Commercialnurseries have to group their plants alltogether by species and variety becauseotherwise they would have an impos-sible management task. It also explains

why theyhave to spray so much andwhy they can sometimes get wiped out

> Juniperfrom page 7 Welcome to Bonsai

Bridges 2006By Jeffrey Ketts

General Chairman BSF 2006 Conv.Gainesville Bonsai Society

Te Gainesville Bonsai Societyis really proud to be presenting the

2006 Bonsai Convention, BONSAIBRIDGES. When the club mem-bers asked me to chair the conven-tion, it started me thinking backabout our little club.

Te club was born sometime in1973 (that sounds ancient). erryDavis and some of his friends, PaulBurdick, Bud Calderwood, and sev-eral others in the bonsai world, gave

the club its start. I became a mem-ber in 1979 and have seen the club,like most clubs over the years, waxand wane. Te nice thing about ourmembers,though, isthat theyhave neverlost theirvision ofpromoting

what weall love:bonsai andeducatingeverybody we can about it. At a re-cent club meeting we all pored overthe historical album with picturesof where weve been and what wevedone.

In the past thirty plus years, we

have been involved in many shows,

like the Kanapaha Spring GardenShow. My greatest memory aboutthis show is this clubs performance.Different club members trees have

won Best of Show at least threetimes in that show. Te club exhibithas been named Best Display two orthree times and weve won Best Edu-cational Display, I dont know howmany times! Te club membershave always done themselves and thebonsai world proud.

We are now in the middle of put-ting on our 2ndbonsai conventiontogether, our first being in 1997. Ifeel honored to be the chairman ofa group of people that are so goaldirected to make this convention the

best it can possibly be. We have hadour setbacks, with the loss of SteveChapman, our driving force, but

that only seemed tostimulate others toredouble their com-mitment to his andthe clubs commongoal.

I think that these

people have puttogether a great listof Masters and havechosen trees that

no matter what your liking, there isone for you, such as the Powderpuffshown here or the Catlin Elm shownon the next page.

Donations for the raffle table havebeen generously rolling inbut

dont let that stop you. If you have

See Conventionpage 20R >


26/26


something you think people wouldlike to bid on, contact Barbara

Chapman at [email protected] let her know.

Tose of you coming to the con-vention will find Gainesville a greatplace in the spring. Te weather ismild and the hotel has a lake rightbehind it, a nice place to sit and

watch the sun go down and the ga-tors float by.

As General Chairman of Bonsai

Bridges 2006, Id like to say thatwe have a great convention comingreal soon and hope many bonsaienthusiasts will come and enjoy. Ihope everyone takes time to visitthe Kanapaha Botanical Gardensin Gainesville, where our club hasestablished a permanent exhibit. Itis small but is a good start.

Hope to see you at the conven-

tion. And bring a friend.

> GBSfrom page 18

Gainesville Bonsai Society

Activities (Continued)

for everyone in the club. The

club as a whole will approve the

programs, of course.

Our club membership includesmembers of all ages as you can

see from the pictures. It is a

great group of people who are

supportive, enthusiastic and

open to learning everything pos-

sible about bonsai.

>Conventionfrom page 19

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1380 NW 65 Ave. Suite BPlantation, FL 33313Phone: 954/331-9611

Cell: 954/668-6372Email: [email protected]

We do wholesales bonsai pots,bonsai tools, imported pre-bonsai trees, shermen, andgranite lanterns.

All our products are high

quality at good prices.Appointment only.

Call for information

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Florida Bonsai - May 06 Print