The Midway News - Midway Bonsaiand Shohin trees. At the BRAT day on the 29th September 2019 which was the top ten competition and were hosted by Suikerbos Bonsai Kai I won the top

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Midway Bonsai SocietyMidway Bonsai Society

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The Midway News

September 2019

Inside this issue:1. Chairman’s report2. Club News 3. Birthdays4. September’s meeting5. Chairman’s Letter AGM6. ABC5 programme7. Editor’s Letter

This is a close-up shot of Oom Hennie’s Wisteria. Magnificent!

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The Midway News

September 2019

Chairman’s Report for the September 2019 meeting

This was my first meeting as Chairman and I must admit without having Aunty Ina the meeting did not go as smoothly as it normally does. We are certainly missing you already.

Vyani and Gareth were welcomed to the committee and roles are busy being discussed.

Oom Hennie did a fantastic demo on mame and showed us his prized burtt-davyi. He spoke about propagation of figs and showed what a cutting looks like after a year, after 2 years, 3 and 4 years. He also did a quiz to see if we listening and Desiree scored a free tree on the first question.

1. Chairman's Report

Midway Bonsai Society

The next meeting will be at Richard’s house where we will talking about working on nursery stock. He has olives that need work and after his talk will split us into groups to work on these. This is a great way to learn how to create bonsai from actual nursery stock or even collected material.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Thivern Chairman

AboveThis Japanese Maple belongs to Vyani and Thivern. They are trying to bring the branches down.

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2. Club news

The next club meeting is on the 19th of October 2019. We will meet at our usual place at 12h00. Then we will leave for Richard home from there. His place is just around the corner. He has some Olives we can work on in teams. It’s going to be lots of fun.

On 24 to 27 October it is ABC5. It will be at the Safari Garden Centre in Pretoria. There will be a lot of International Demonstrators. The early bird registration fee ended on 31 July . It will be an event not to be missed.

3. Birthdays

We have two birthdays before our next meeting, Stanley Peterson 23 September Nick Mienie 5 October.

Midway Bonsai Society September 2019

Happy Birthday may you have a wonderful year.

Above: Denise posted this Crab Apple. Just look at the fruit on it. Very nice.

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4. September meeting

~“Be like a tree.Stay grounded.Connect with your roots.Turn over a new leaf.Bend before you break.Enjoy your unique natural beauty.Keep growing.”-Joanne Raptis

Above: We had quite a good turn out to the meeting. Below are a few of the people that came to listen to Oom Hennie talk about his little trees.

To the left: Oom Hennie inspecting the show table

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To the left: Oom Hennie really knows his Mames. These little things are a passion of his.

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Below: These three trees are Mames that have been developed over one year, two years and three years. All from cuttings. A little bit of skill and patience goes along way.


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Below: This Wild olive and Spekboom belongs to me. These trees have been in development for about two years. After this meeting I wired the branches and gave it a light trim.

To the left: This is what the Wild Olive looked like on 30 January 2016. I took this photo to ask for advice, and shortly after decided to train it in a slanting style I still have it in the same pot and will keep developing it in this pot. Eventually it will get a nice new pot to complement it.

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Below: We all know that this awesome little Root-over-rock tree belongs to Oom Hennie. Perfection.

To the left: This awesome little cascade belongs to Mack. Just look at those tiny flowers.

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Below: Just look at this little fat Mame and accent plant. Very nice. If you pay attention to OomHennie, you can also do this.

To the right: The pretty flowers are always a hit. The Cotoneaster and Fig above belongs to Oom Hennie.

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Above: This is a little something Jonathan was working on. Very nice movement.

Below: Vyani, Thivern, Mack and Oom Hennie having a chat while working on trees.

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Below: This is a tiny little mame tree that belongs to Oom Hennie. Don’t let the awesome taper and well developed branches fool you, this is a small tree.

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To the left: The good-old Coke bottle greenhouse is a great method to grow those cutting into beautiful

Mames.

To the right: Another little Burtt-Davvi fig. They tend to be the most popular due to the fat bottom that naturally develop.

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Below: Tiny trees require tiny pots. Oom Hennie has a very precious collection and these are dear to him. The Matchbox in the middle is or scale.

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Below: If you ever have the opportunity to hear Oom Hennie talk about his Mame collection and how to make your own, you would be a fool to miss it. Thank you Oom Hennie for a very good presentation.

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Below: Spring growth by Gareth

To the left: Spring growth by Justin

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Below: Spring growth by Justin

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Below: Spring growth by Richard

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Below: Spring growth by Pieter Bosch. All from my garden

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Below: Spring growth by Dorian. You all know this one. Now you can see it in all of it’s glory.

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5. Chairmans Letter AGM August 2019

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Midway Bonsai Society - Chairman’s Letter for 2018/2019 AGM

We had our AGM on the 15th August 2018, Pieter Bosch became a committee member again. My two years as chairman have come and gone and I am taking a year sabbatical from the committee. Thivern Pillay will be our new chairman and Pieter Bosch is our new Vice Chairman for the next two years. Thank you, all the committee members. To Ina Schutte a special thank you Ina for all your hard work for MBS we really appreciate it. Johann Espach our minister of finance, thank you for handling our finances without club capturing.

Mack did a wiring demonstration at the September meeting an I believe it was a enjoyed very much by the ladies. I did not attend the meeting because I was doing a demonstration at Shibui on how I create my Mameand Shohin trees. At the BRAT day on the 29th September 2019 which was the top ten competition and were hosted by Suikerbos Bonsai Kai I won the top 5 again for trees up to 300 mm with a root over rock Ficus Burtt Davyiand came third with my Cotoneaster Cascade for trees over 300mm. It was a very interesting meeting and the dems were well prepared.

MBS was represented by myself, Jonathan and Denise Cain at the SABA convention on the 21st and 22nd November 2018 in Bloemfontein. We had a wonderful time there. We had our yearend function last Sunday of November at our venue and from my observations I think everybody enjoyed the day with good food and company. At the January meeting, we had a show and tell again which was much enjoyed by all the members

At the February meeting, Dorian Fourie did a demonstration on how he uses rocks for saikai and to enhance his trees which was very informative and well prepared. At the March meeting, Troy did a demo on refining one of his Junipers Thank Troy everybody enjoyed it very much.

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We had our new talent competition at the June Meeting Troy won the competition and will represented MBS at the BRAT day on the 29th June 2019 at Keith Kirsten’s nursery. Stefann Pretorius from Suikerbos bonsai did a follow up dem for us on the Procumbence Nana that he did the first dem on at our April 2018 meeting. The members that did not attend the meeting really lost out on a lot of information.

On the 29th June 2019 we hosted the BRAT day at Keith Kirsten’s nursey It was a very successful day, and we got a lot of compliments from a lot of the attendees on a well organised day. Troy came third in the new talent competition. Quite a few of our members trees won in the different style’s competition on the day.

I organised a dig for the club members on the farm of Georg and Hannes Fritz. We had 13 people attending the outing and everybody enjoyed it very much, Stefann and Hannes showed the diggers how to cut the branches and roots back and how to plant and care for their new trees. Desiree told me that it was actually a teambuilding exercise which I whole heartedly agree with. To the people that did not join us you missed out on a great day and a lot of information.

As usual the workshops before our meetings are well attended and enjoyed by everybody. We are getting new members regularly and we have 40 members on record. Thank you once again to Jonathan and Denise for our venue and for our own braai master Denise for the Boerries and Prego’s she does so well. Last but not the least thank you to all the members that makes MBS a great club See you all at the next meeting

Groetnis. Oom Hennie

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6. ABC5 Programme

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7. Editor’s letter

The rain should be just around the corner. All the new growth is keeping be busy. The flowers are breath-taking, especially on the fragrant species like my Yesterday-today and tomorrow in the garden. It actually takes my breath away and gives my the most terrible hay fever. I would never be able to get rid of it though, it is just too beautiful.

The trees I dug on the Fritz farm is doing very well, only one small one my kids dug seem to not have made it. This coming Bonsai Meeting we will be going to Richards home. He is a stone throw away from our usual meeting location. We will be having some fun over there so bring your tools and wire. We will still be meeting at the usual place, but closer to the time we will be sharing more detail.

I lost a few small fig trees during Spring. Maybe I was too aggressive on them, or moved them out of the house too late. Live and learn. The important once survived, I will focus in them. A large growing tray is crucial for the small trees. It is the only way to guarantee that they stay moist. With so little soil they tend to dry out very quickly. River or Silica sand in a tray will save the lives of many of your small trees.


I hope you have enjoyed this months issue of the Midway News.If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly.

If you want to show off a few of your trees in the Newsletter, please send some picture to me. I would love to place a few in the Newsletter.

Pieter Bosch

To the left: Growth in my dry garden. I grew all these from cuttings, and the only water they get is when it rains.

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The Midway News - Midway Bonsaiand Shohin trees. At the BRAT day on the 29th September 2019 which was the top ten competition and were hosted by Suikerbos Bonsai Kai I won the top