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The Bonsai News of H ouston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society Inc.
Make the Cut” , April 6th -9th. Sheraton Dallas North Hotel, Demos
A mysterious Japanese musician praised the bonsai with his melodious flute (Photo: Ken Cousino)
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.
Wednesday, June 7, HBS Monthly Meeting: Developing Broadleaf Bonsai with Scott Barboza. For Show & Tell with Ray, please bring your best looking broadleafed bonsai at various stages of development.
Upcoming Events
Friday June 9 – Sunday 11 Tropical Bonsai School Reunion with Pedro Morales, Timeless Trees, open to students who have taken at least one of the Tropical Bonsai Schools sessions. $85 per person/ per day, Friday June 9th, Saturday June 10th, and Sunday June 11th from 8AM- 5PM.
June 10 Saturday Study Group at Maas Nursery. Free, refreshments.
June 17 Shohin Society of Texas meeting at Persimmon Hill Bonsai, 12001 Red Hawk Cove, Austin, TX, featuring Shohin Bunjin with Junipers, Chinese elm, Yaupon holly. More details in Calendar of Events.
June 23-25 US National Shohin Exhibition at North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, NC featuring Suthin Sukosolvisit, Kathy Shaner, John Romano, Sean Smith, Michael Lebonik, Marc Arpag, Michael Ryan Bell, and Bill Valavanis.
June 24 Day of Bonsai /LABS 2017 hosted by Lake Charles Bonsai Society, featuring Michael Ryan Bell and Adam Lavigne in Lake Charles, LA.
Volume 46 Number 6 June 2017
IN THIS ISSUE
Upcoming Events
Developing Broadleaf Bonsai
Showcase of the Month
LSBF Accent Plants
June Bonsai Care
John Miller
President’s Letter
LSBF 2017
Bonsai: Make the Cut Dallas Exhibit
HBS Spring Show
at Japan Fest in Hermann Park
Accent Plants at the
LSBF Dallas exhibit (Photos courtesy of Joey McCoy)
June Bonsai Care A subject brought up in the azalea workshop at the LSBF convention indicated that a lot of people do not really know what the growing conditions are in their backyards or what their plants need. That it may depend on local mini-environments. I have a maple that turned red in December in Dallas but now it does that in November when I moved only 30 air miles away.
Most plants in pots will not enjoy a full day of 90+ sun. Partial shade should be provided. A shade cloth awning is the best as it protects from the hot middle of the day sun. A vertical shade cloth on the WEST side may shelter from the late afternoon sun. This is the worst sun as the temperature is already high and the drier air makes the rays more intense. The higher humidity on the coast may alleviate some of the problem.
Even if the days are relatively cool, the sun can still get the pots pretty hot. Not only does this dry out the soil very fast, but the tree roots cannot live in hot soil. I have heard a temperature of 120 degrees will kill roots on most plants. I cannot give you a precise to-do list since your backyard is different from mine, but you should be sure that the sun does not hit the pots directly. If you use a cover of any kind be sure that the side of the pot is protected also. A loose weave cover is preferable to solid paper as it allows water through more easily. Leave an air space between the cover and pot and soil. Do not use foil as it reflects sun rays upwards, into the underside of the foliage, giving it a double dose of too much.
A layer of shredded long fiber sphagnum moss on the surface of the soil would help keep the soil surface damper, hence cooler. That will encourage roots to grow into the surface layer. Without it, the top roots die from dryness as well as from the heat.
You might still be able to leaf prune if you need to, but be careful, the sun could turn hot in a hurry. Remember do it only on healthy vigorous trees. Put the tree in a semi-shade, out of the wind until new foliage appears. Again never leaf prune the atropurpeum varieties of Japanese maples. They do not rebud but will usually come back next spring.
However, some tropicals can be leaf pruned all summer. It is important to continue the twig pruning of your trees on a regular basis. I think the Ficus nerifolia especially benefits from leaf pruning and can be done more than once each summer. That will help develop the heavy twiginess you see in the Ficus bonsai from the Far East.
When night temperatures stay above 60 degrees, you can think about repotting some of the tropicals. I would wait another month though for the buttonwood. While doing this chore, look at the tree to see if there is a need to do some restoration pruning.
Restoration pruning is a deeper pruning to replace a branch that has grown too long or too big, with a smaller one. This is usually done with the secondary or tertiary branches, not the primary branch coming from the trunk. I prefer to do this restoration pruning on deciduous trees in the winter when I can see the branch structure. But on bonsai like the yaupon hollies, I like to do it at this time, when the tree is actively growing so that any winter dieback is apparent. Trees that weep a lot from cuts such as maples or pines should not be done at this time.
Any extended cool and damp weather is good for fungal diseases like black leaf spot. The heat and dampness also bring other fungii like mildew. Treat with potassium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). After the foliage has hardened a bit, you can treat with a 1% hydrogen peroxide (1 part 3% peroxide to 2 parts water) weekly.
Also watch for signs of insect problems. The spider mite will always be near. Others to look for are scale of various forms, aphids, and mealy bugs. I use the organic foliar feed (1 tablespoon each fish emulsion, liquid kelp, apple cider vinegar and molasses per gallon of water) to control all these. It also gets the caterpillars, even bagworms. You can use other organic controls like horticultural oil or a chemical according to label directions. Read the label directions carefully. DO NOT apply oil based chemicals to buttonwoods.
It does not do much good to spray if you do not do it correctly. Hose end sprayers have too coarse a spray and usually do not cover foliage very well. All pathogen controls must be sprayed with a sprayer that has a fine spray nozzle in order to cover the entire leaf surface, top and bottom. You must get all of those bugs or they will come right back. Do spray on a regular basis. Any bugs or spores hiding in cracks will repeat the infestation.
If ants or other creatures are building nests in the soil, the tunnels and cavities will prevent proper watering and may result in loss of roots. After you get rid of the ants, be sure to grab your chopsticks to work the soil down, to eliminate the holes. You will probably need to add a little more soil on top.
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
Many thanks to Dr. Hoe for organizing our exhibit at Japan Fest this year. It is hard to imagine any event in Houston that gives us more exposure to the public than this annual
festival. I also want to thank the volunteers who stood out there in the sun and talked to literally thousands of people about bonsai. It is a fun event and I would encourage each of you to take the opportunity to participate next year. I just returned from a road trip to Orlando to attend the American Bonsai Society (ABS) annual Learning Seminars. It’s hard to believe that in the eight days that I was gone, my trees have grown as much as they have. It is hard to decide whether to take a pair of scissors or a machete out to the bonsai area to start working things back into shape. The Learning Seminars were organized by ABS and the Bonsai Societies of Florida. The format contains a mix of workshops along with topical lectures. So, while we might have 3-4 workshops going on at once at our state conventions, the Learning Seminars would have 3-4 workshops and 3-4 lectures going on at once. The stated intention is to provide a learning experience for those who travel by air to the Seminars and have only limited abilities to take trees home with them. The display held about 35 trees all of very high quality, with most of them being tropical or sub-tropical material as you might expect. The two pictures below show the John Naka award winner (bald cypress grove) for Best in Show and…
… the Ho Yôku award winner for Innovative Design and Display.
Last month’s program by Bill Boytim was about tool care. I have to ask: Have you cleaned and/or sharpened your tools since hearing Bill’s talk?
Pete Parker
hosted by Bonsai Society of Dallas
April 6-9, 2017 (continued)
As promised in the May issue, here are a few
more of the beautiful bonsai displays in the
LSBF in 2017 at the Exhibit in Dallas. These
bonsai belong to LSBF clubs members.
For the “Excellence in Bonsai” Recognition
Awards, the trees were judged by the guest
artists Bjorn Bjorholm, Daisaku Nomoto and
Juan Andrade in the following categories:
Conifer,
Tropical or Semi-Tropical,
Deciduous,
Broadleaf Evergreen,
Texas Native and
Best of Show.
For this exhibit only, the hosting Dallas Club
has chosen a special recognition category, Best
Display.
The convention started with the Texas Talent
Contest sponsored by Joshua Roth bonsai tools
– Ryuga tools and Timeless Trees Nursery &
Studio of Rosenberg. For some mysterious twist
of fate, the two Houston teams received the best
and second prizes.
In the lobby of the hotel, early birds enjoyed
refreshing drinks and relaxing serenates by the
String quartet. What a beautiful touch to get
everybody in the mood for… bonsai!
Early the next morning, the exhibit opened with
King of the Hill, a majestic Ash Juniper
yamadori. This gigantic collected Texas native
bonsai with breathtaking deadwood and
incredible twists and turns has been lovingly
styled over many years by Howard and Sylvia
Smith, of Dallas club. From the nebari, dead and
live veins, spiked with shari and jin, merge into
snake like fluid movements to burst into
dancing flames. No wonder why this spectacular
masterpiece won both of the highest awards of
any exhibit: Best of Show award and the
People’s Choice award.
Howard and Sylvia Smith’s Ash Juniper yamadori
Below are more of the displays in the exhibit for
your enjoyment.
The headliners took the stage during the dinner: (from left to right) Juan Andrade, Daisaku Nomoto and Bjorn Bjornholm.
Beyond the stage, each artist also conducted their own critique of exhibit trees, very valuable lessons for the serious bonsai aficionados.
Besides the fabulous workshop trees, many took
home unique bonsai or bonsai related items
from the raffles. Those raffles are always a lot
of fun, but this year, there were unexpected
surprises, like artist Daisaku Nomoto’s apex
pruning followed by a daring chair dance.
Every day was filled with activities, mostly by
headliners’ lecture-demos and high quality trees
and stones auctions. However when old and new
bonsai friends get together in the bonsai spirit,
the room was always filled with plenty of joy
and laughter.
Daisaku Nomoto and Bjorn Bjorholm collaborated on a
graceful Suiseki auctioned by Mark Bynum
There was also no better shopping for quality
bonsai, supplies, stands and viewing rocks,
especially pots than at the state convention.
Over a dozen of vendors came from various
states, some traveled quite a distance.
Michael Ryan Bell, the pot guru, with Joey McCoy
Sylvia Smith from Bonsai Smith nursery of Dallas
Larry Gockley from Pinewoods Bonsai
Hurley from Timeless Trees Nursery, Rosenberg
Clark Long, a very enigmatic but also very talented swamp man, from Lake Charles, Louisiana
David Kreutz from Satsuki Bonsai-en Imports
All photos pictured above are shared by Joey
McCoy from Austin Bonsai club and The Texas
State Bonsai Exhibit, and by HBS own Ken
Cousino. Thank you both for your generosity
and your professional photographs of the
convention exhibit. Hopefully we can entice
more bonsai lovers to attend the next event.
Shawn Nguyen
HBS Spring Show at Japan Fest
This year, the sun was shining brightly on Dr.
Hoe Chuah, the coordinator for this year’s
Spring Show. The weather was ideal for an
outdoor exhibit at the Japanese Garden and for
Japan Fest too. The air was cool and crisp with
low humidity, the temperature just perfect!
From what I have observed all day on the first
day, the crowd has tripled the previous years’
and the number of talent shows performed on a
covered stage has more than quadrupled.
I arrived early with my young son’s family.
Through the iron fence, I already saw a high
energy crowd gather around Hoe, Soon, Vern,
Anthony, Clyde and Yanni.
From the several accent plants displayed with
the bonsai, I could tell Hoe’s inseparable, our
HBS kusamono lady, was there. There were as
many folks interested in bonsai as those who fell
in love with her colorful grass creations.
Soon sharing her passion for grass plantings.
Anthony beamed with joy when conversing with an international crowd in bonsai language.
Vern Maddox with a fun rock planting and a stunning juniper
It took three seniors to control a budding bonsai lover – my grandson – who just couldn’t take his hands off the little trees.
Probably that was our best show ever since we
started a new tradition in the Japanese Garden,
with Japan Fest. Remember to mark your
calendar and join us at the Spring Show next
year.
Shawn Nguyen
Calendar of Events
2017
MAY 27 - JUN 5 2017: 46th Kanuma Satsuki Festival. Details at 2086-1 Moro Kanuma-shi Tochigi 322-0026 Japan.
JUN 7 HBS Monthly Meeting - Developing Broadleaf Bonsai with Scott Barboza
JUN 9 –11 Tropical Bonsai School Reunion with Pedro Morales, at Timeless Trees, open to students who have taken at least one of the Tropical Bonsai Schools session. $85 per person/per day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - full 8AM- 5PM day, with a quick break for lunch.
You are welcome to attend 1 day, or 2 or all 3. Maximum 10 students per day, so make reservation early.
JUN 10 Saturday Study Group at Maas Nursery. Free, refreshments.
JUN 17 Shohin Society of Texas meeting at Persimmon Hill Bonsai, 12001 Red Hawk Cove, Austin, TX featuring Shohin Bunjin. Look for suitable material such as Junipers, Chinese elm, Yaupon holly. Bring some suitable pots for pot advices. For details, contact Steven Hendricks at [email protected] or 817-239-7210.
JUN 23-25 US National Shohin Exhibition at North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, NC (30 miles north of Charlotte.) Featuring Suthin Sukosolvisit, Kathy Shaner, John Romano, Sean Smith, Michael Lebonik, Marc Arpag, Michael Ryan Bell, and Bill Valavanis. Registration and information through International Bonsai, 1070 Martin Road, West Henrietta, NY 14586, 585-334-2595, e-mail: WNV@internationalbonsai.
JUN 24 Day of Bonsai /LABS 2017 hosted by Lake
Charles Bonsai Society, featuring Michael Ryan Bell and Adam Lavigne in Lake Charles, Louisiana. JUL 5 HBS Monthly Meeting - PROGRAM: Bonsai & BBQ - Bonsai, Texas Style
JUL 8 Saturday Study Group at Timeless Trees. Free, refreshments. AUG 2 HBS Monthly Meeting - Visiting artist Suthin Sukosolvisit’s demo
AUG 5 Saturday Study Group at Quality Feed & Garden. Free, refreshments.
Make sure you go to Timeless Trees’ website and add your name to the mailing list for weekly Current Events. Never miss another class, workshop with the masters, a pot or bonsai shipment, especially Special Event sales.
Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help you with bonsai selection, bonsai care, pots and supplies. He will also personally have free classes for HBS every 3-month to help you start with your first bonsai. Check the Calendar of Events for dates. 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.
With the growing season well on its way, JRN II is now stocked with colorful flowers, citrus trees, innumerable house or landscape plants, and rare tropical bonsai of all sizes for beginners and the most serious bonsai lovers.
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
Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. P. O. Box 540727, Houston, Texas 77254-0727
www.houstonbonsai.com
HBS Board Members
President Pete Parker [email protected]
1st Vice President Scott Barboza [email protected] in charge of Education 2nd Vice President Hoe Chuah [email protected] Secretary Barbara Adams [email protected] Publicity Ken Cousino [email protected]
Treasurer Eldon Branham [email protected]
in charge of Membership Webmaster Anthony Cutola [email protected]
Member at Large - O Nandita D’ Souza [email protected]
Member at Large - O Vern Maddox [email protected]
Member at Large - O Clyde Holt [email protected]
Member at Large – E Sharon Barker [email protected] Member at Large - E Ray González [email protected] Member at Large – E Brian Gurrola [email protected]
Delegates Past President Hurley Johnson [email protected]
LSBF Delegate Terry Dubois [email protected]
LSBF Alternate Pete Parker [email protected]
BCI Ambassador
TTSBE Representative Alan Raymond [email protected]
Refreshments
Website/email Gary Teeter [email protected]
Newsletter editor Shawn Nguyen [email protected]
The Bonsai News of Houston is a monthly publication of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. Copyright © 2011. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the editor or a member of the Board of Directors. Exceptions exist, however, for certain not-for-profit and non-profit bonsai organizations or associated bonsai and bonsai nursery newsletters, including without limitation the American Bonsai Society. HBS participates fully with reciprocation of contents and material between other LSBF member organizations and others. Authors who submit articles for this newsletter thereby give permission to such organizations to reprint, unless they expressly state otherwise.
Space for advertising in The Bonsai News of Houston can be requested by contacting the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board. The rates for a business-card-size ad (approximately 3 1/2" x 2") are $6 per month, $30 for 6 months and $50 per year (12 issues). A full-page ad is $25 per month. Rates are subject to change without notice. 3½" x 2" classified ads are run free of charge for one month once per 12-month period for non-commercial members. For special requests or questions related to The Bonsai News of Houston, contact the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board.
