NEWSLETTER - Redwood Empire Bonsai Society

NEWSLETTER - Redwood Empire Bonsai Society

Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
REBS
NEWSLETTER
Volume 31, Issue 6
June 2014
Opening Message
Second, about a month after the
picnic is our annual show August
We are starting to get to that time 23rd & 24th), where we show
of the year where there is a lot
the bonsai community why this
of activity for the club members
club is the best in the States. Bob
outside of our regular monthly
Shimon and Wayne Culp have
meetings. First, next month will
both written articles concerning
be the annual REBS picnic (July
the show. They can be found on
27th) . This is a time to get to
pages 5 & 7.
know your fellow members in
Please read the articles and see
a casual setting at a BBQ. Lone
how you can start helping to
Pines is an absolutely beautiful
make our show and picnic both
location to have it. Bob Shimon
has written out all the details that huge successes. The more people
who help and participate, the
can be found on page 7.
better the events.
Hello Fellow Bonsai Enthusiasts,
REBS President Jay McDonald
Inside this issue:
President’s Message�������������1
Announcements, Calendar,
& Upcoming Events������ 2 & 3
Steven Price Demo�������� 4 & 5
Show Auction Help���������������5
Show and Tell��������������������������6
REBS Show & Picnic Info������7
Tree Care Guide�������������� 8 & 9
Directory�����������������������������������9
CZ
1
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
Announcements and Upcoming Bonsai Events
July 13
Sebastopol, California
Enmanji Buddhist Temple | 60th Chicken Teriyaki & Bazaar : 2014 commemorates the 80th Anniversary of Enmanji Temple in Sebastopol and celebrating this milestone, Enmanji will host two weekend events beginning with
the 60th Annual Teriyaki Barbecue and Bazaar on Sunday July 13th, 10am - 5pm. (1200 Gravenstein Hwy. South
and Elphick Road).
The community is invited to enjoy a barbecued teriyaki chicken lunch (hot or cold), and other Japanese delicacies
including the crowd-favorite imagawayaki a sweeten bean filled pastry resembling a small stuffed pancake, sushi,
kushi yaki and locally made desserts.
Cultural activities will fill out the rest of the event featuring an impressive bonsai display from the Redwood
Empire Bonsai Society, extensive outdoor plant sale with garden specialists to answer your botanical questions
on care and maintenance, master Ikebana flower arranging demonstration and sale, Buddhist dharma talks and
Temple tour, games for the kids, handicrafts, raffle drawing, bingo, cultural arts displays, martial arts demonstrations and two Sonoma County Taiko performances during the event.
Proceeds from the Teriyaki Bazaar will support the local Enmanji Buddhist Temple and community activities. The
huge Teriyaki chicken plate features half chicken, steamed white rice, homemade potato salad, tea and fortune
cookie is all for $12.
2
Volume 31 · Issue 6
What is the name
of your tree?
It happens at almost every REBS meeting,
the question is asked, "What kind of tree
is that?" The answers can vary from the
easy, "It's a Juniper", to the difficult "It's a
Acer palmatum" (Japanese maple).
Thanks to the internet, you no longer
have to dig out your books or magazines
to find an answer. I found two easy to
navigate websites, they both offer a large
range of information.
1) Plant Finder by Sunset
You can search two different ways with
this site. First by any name you might
know, like "Maple". Or, by the attributes
your tree has. Once found, Sunset has information about your tree. You can even
use the same search function to find a
tree that is perfect for your climate, water
restrictions, amount of sunlight, etc.
plantfinder.sunset.com/plant-home.jsp
2) USDA (Oh no Big Gov't.)
You can search for your tree (or any plant)
either by name or description. You also
get to choose how much information you
want displayed. For each plant you can
have the following information displayed
Subkingdom, Superdivision, Division,
Subdivision, Class, Subclass, Order, Family, and Genus. Once you find your tree,
click on one of the classification division
names, and the site will list every plant
that has the same classification. Example,
under Japanese Maple there are 47 species and 48 taxa with the same Genus.
When you see a green "P", click on it for a
plants profile.
plants.usda.gov/classification.html
Calendar Of Events
July 2014
13th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop,Sunday. (6.3)
14th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop, Monday. (6.1)
15th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop, Tuesday. (6.2)
17th Intermediate I Workshop, Thursday, Santa Rosa Senior
Center, 704 Bennett Valley Rd., Room 17, Santa Rosa, with
Richard Hoskins and Ivan Lukrich.
18thIntermediate II Workshop, Friday, Frank Bardella’s Bonsai
Studio, with Frank Bardella and Gene Lynch.
27thREBS Annual Picnic and BBQ, Sunday, Lone Pine
Nursery, 6450 Lone Pine Rd, Sebastopol.
***No General Meeting***
Calendar Of Events
August 2014
10th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop,Sunday. (6.3)
11th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop, Monday. (6.1)
12th Kathy Shaner Advanced Workshop, Tuesday. (6.2)
21st Intermediate I Workshop, Thursday, Santa Rosa Senior
Center, 704 Bennett Valley Rd., Room 17, Santa Rosa, with
Richard Hoskins and Ivan Lukrich.
22nd Intermediate II Workshop, Friday, Frank Bardella’s Bonsai
Studio, with Frank Bardella and Gene Lynch.
23rd & 24th REBS 31st Free Annual Bonsai Show
For Information Call Bob Shimon (707) 884-4126
email: shimon@mcn.org .
26thBoard Meeting prior to meeting @ 6:30
26thREBS General Meeting and Demonstration, 4th
Tuesday, 7:30-10:00 p.m., Luther Burbank Art & Garden
Center, 2050 Yulupa Avenue · Santa Rosa · CA · 95405.
***Kathy Shaner will do the demo***
3
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
27th May 2014
The June demonstration was
conducted by Steve Price, whose
family owns Lone Pine Gardens
in Sebastopol. Steve had brought
in a Dwarf European Olive tree.
Steve started off the evening by
discussing the characteristics
of Olive trees. He likes to use
Olive trees as bonsai's because
they adapt very well to living in
a container, their small leaves,
attractive trunks, they can get an
aged look quickly, and some of
the varieties will produce fruit.
He also added that Olive bonsai
trees do not like long periods
of cold . He has had little to no
problems with disease or insects
with his bonsai Olive trees, because Olive trees are very disease-resistant. Olive trees do not
need to be defoliated since they
are an evergreen tree, they will
lose their leaves naturally. There
is a school of thought that Olive
trees should be repotted during
the months of May and June.
Demo tree
The demonstration tree was
grown from a cutting taken
about 15 years ago. It was dug
up about three years ago and
put into a pot. The tree had received one or two root prunings
a year since. The trunk was very
hearty and the roots were grow4
—Story and photos by Chris Zanella
Soup Bonsai
ing out in a nice radius pattern.
Steve shared his plans for the
tree, which was to make it into
an informal upright and shorten
it a bit. He also planned to leave
some areas open that could be
carved to be made into Jin.
John was a wealth of information.
Before starting on the tree,
Steve introduced REBS member
John Roehl, who would help
answer any questions while
Steve worked on the tree. John
started off by talking about the
type of Olive trees they like to
use in Europe for bonsai, which
are named olea europaea sylvestris a.k.a. European olive.
Some of the characteristics of
the European Olive are that the
leaves are naturally up to a third
of the size of other Olive trees
and are a dark green. He went
on to discuss about how hearty
Olive trees are when it comes to
watering or the lack of watering.
John had gone on vacation once
for three weeks and came home
to find that his Olive tree had not
been watered the whole time.
The tree look wilted and looked
like it was going to die. He watered it immediately and not only
did it come back but it is now in
someone's bonsai collection here
in Santa Rosa.
After a couple minutes of trimming back the tree, Steve let everybody know that he was going
to start by opening up the base
of the tree. The base of the trunk
of the tree was very well covered
by branches, giving the tree
almost a bush like look to it. He
started to thin out the branches
in such a way to leave some
nubs that would later be turned
Steve's Jin work in progress.
into Jin. He did this slowly, always keeping an eye out to see
which branches he would like
to keep. He pointed out an area
at the base of the trunk that he
wanted to leave a couple of the
branches. He left them long and
didn't trim them so they would
thicken themselves before being
trimmed, but also help add girth
and taper to the trunk as they
grew.
After thinning the branches
around the base, Steve started to
make Jin out of the nubs that he
left behind. He did this by removing the bark on the branches
with a pair of pliers, both cutting
and rubbing the bark completely
off. You need to be careful because it is very easy to scar Olive
trees and they do not heal very
well. He also carved and shaped
the top to have the appearance
that a large branch had naturally
broken off.
Continued on p.5
Volume 31 · Issue 6
Steven Price Demo & Show Auction Info
Next he explained he was going to shorten the remaining
branches and the overall height
of the tree. John answered the
question of how the branches
should be styled with they could
be allowed to grow straight up,
like they do in nature, or straight
out horizontally. Steve added
that when fruit starts to appear
on the branches, the branches
will start to curve down, creating a very nice uniform canopy
around the tree.
Steve was asked about how he
fertilizes, especially since Lone
Pine Gardens has so many different types of plants, that there
is no way that each plant has its
own special fertilizer. He responded that they use a 20-2020 liquid fertilizer and for five to
seven months of the year they
use a 14-14-14 fertilizer. You can
feed your Olive trees through the
spring and fall, and if you want to
start feeding early in winter you
should use a liquid fertilizer.
After deciding which branches
to keep, Steve started looking for branches of similar size.
Steve will start the wiring on one
branch, bring it around the trunk,
and then wire up to the end
of another branch. Steve used
3gauge copper wire because it
was the appropriate size for the
branches he had left. He was very
careful because the branches are
very brittle and will break off in
your hands very easily.
Steve shared his thought process
in the picking of what would be
the front of the tree. With such a
large Nebari, he picked the side
that he felt was most even and
complemented the rest of the
tree. He believes that the tree
June 2014
should go away from you and
come back at you. Which he felt
the tree was doing in the front
that he picked.
After finishing working on the
tree Steve explained the effects
on the tree from the work that
he had performed, which included growing a larger girth at
the base of the tree by leaving
the lower branches on, thinning
out the branches will allow the
sunlight to get in, which in turn
will allow the branches and the
tree to grow very healthfully.
The tree should be moved into a
larger ceramic training pot and
the roots should be loosened up
but not overly pruned. Its final
pot should be a round or lotus
shaped pot according to John.
Steve would like to see the tree
put into a shallow or oval pot
that was gray.
The finished tree.
Auction Help
Check the attic—check the
garage—for silent auction and
raffle donations to our fundraiser
at our annual show coming up
August 24 and 25.
If you have something you can
contribute, i.e., trees, stands,
pots, bonsai equipment, etc., it
will be greatly appreciated. And
your donation does not have to
be bonsai related—our raffle/
auction items need to appeal to
the general public as well—wine,
coffee, gift certificates, and garden art are great. Slightly used
items are welcome, but please
make sure items are clean, useable, and something you would
want to win yourself. And cash
works, too! Cash donations will
be used to purchase items from
our show vendors.
Please bring donations to the
club picnic on July 27, the show
setup on Friday or the show on
Saturday or in the morning on
Sunday. Your donations brought
to the monthly meeting will entitle you to one extra door prize
ticket.
Thanks to all for your anticipated
support once again of our show’s
auction and raffle.
Suzanne Waxman won the demo tree
Wayne Culp, Auction Chair
707-874-1809
doublecllamas@comcast.net
5
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
May Show & Tell
Art Kopecky- Azalea
"Blue Moon"
Art Kopecky- Azalea
Keith Kerr - Azalea
Art Kopecky- Azalea
Art Kopecky prepping his trees for show
and tell.
Art Kopecky's plants for sale.
Jim Gremel - Shimpaku
Bob Shimon - Sierra Juniper
Steven Price - Olive
6
June 2014
Volume 31 · Issue 6
REBS Bonsai Show & Picnic (PLEASE READ) by Bob Shimon
Show Details
Its that time of the year again to start preparing for our 31st annual show which will be held on August
23 & 24. At our last board meeting we discussed encouraging members to show their trees at our show. One
of the most common comment that I hear from members is that their trees aren't good enough to show. We
are a club of beginners, intermediate , and advanced students, and our show should reflect this. If we have
only the best trees in the show, then the public has a false sense of who we are and probably will feel too intimidated to want to join the club.
If you plan on showing, it is not too early to start preparing your trees. Time your pruning so that the
tree looks its best for the show, make sure that it is in the appropriate pot (size and color), soil is weed free
and toping covers the soil, moss if you have it. You will also need a stand or slab on which to display your tree.
If you are not in one of the workshops then bring your tree to a meeting and get some help or advice prior to
the show.
If you wish to sell any of your trees or other bonsai related items, we will once again have the member's
sale room. The club takes a 25% commission of the selling price unless you choose to donate 100% to the
club. Sale items can be brought in Friday during set up or during the show.
Your contributions to the bonsai cafe are needed and appreciated. Items such as baked goods, melons,
fruit, etc are needed. We also need members to contribute to the raffle and silent auction. Besides bonsai
related items, bottles of wine and gift certificates to various business work well.
Most important is for you to volunteer, whether helping to set up and take down the show, selling
raffle tickets, putting in a shift at the bonsai cafe or the welcome table in the lobby, watering trees, etc. The
profits from the show help subsides our monthly meetings throughout the year as well as covering other expenses. We never take in enough at any meeting to cover the cost of rent and the demonstrator.
After Show Dinner
As you probably know, we have had a dinner after our show closes on Saturday. In the past we had it catered
at the hall, til increased rent drove us out and have gone to a restaurant the last couple of years. The hall is
now run by a private concessionaire who do catering in addition to renting out the hall. I have had several
conversations with them, and we have come up with a menu costing $25, which includes meal, tax, and tip.
The menu is as follows:
*Dinner Salad
*Choice of orange soy pork loin with roasted red potatoes and green beans with tomatoes
OR
balsamic glazed salmon with brown rice pilaf and a seasonal vegetable medley
*focaccia bread
*Apple cobbler, tea or coffee
*Additional beverages may be purchased
If you wish to sign up for the dinner, this can be done at our June meeting, our club picnic in July at Lone Pine
Gardens, or contact me at 707-884-4126/shimon@mcn.org
After dinner, Frank and Barbara Bardella have again graciously offered to host an after dinner get together at
their home in Sabastopol for dessert, beverages, conversation, and hopefully music from some of our
talented members.
PICNIC TIME
Our annual club picnic will once again be held at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol on Sunday, July 27 starting
at noon. Bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. Of course, no chips or Costco veggie plates. Everything
else will be provided by the club, including chicken, beverages, plates, napkins, etc. You may want to bring a
lawn or camp chair along with you.
7
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
Tree Care
June 2014
Japanese Weeping
Willow Care
General Background:
Lighting:
The fast growing weeping willow
is native to China and cultivated in
Japan, but now grows all over the
world to heights of 70 feet, thriving
near rivers and streams. The Weeping
Willow gets its name from the way the
branches droop downward from the
crown of the tree. Very hearty and
easy to grow, the Japanese Weeping
Willow promises to be a beautiful
showpiece for any bonsai lover from
beginner to master.
Carefully consider where to locate
your weeping willow bonsai outdoors.
Due to the fact that its roots are
contained, you don’t have to worry
about its natural tendency to clog up
water pipes or sewers, but you must
take into account that it desires full
sun, and can only tolerate mild shade.
The exceedingly rare 'Rokakudai'
Weeping Willow is a graceful bonsai
that features lush, wispy, green foliage
and slender curving branches atop
a substantial trunk. The Japanese
Weeping Willow sheds its leaves
during winter months allowing its
gracefully rounded and drooping
branches to be fully appreciated.
Pruning / Training:
Pruning this bonsai each season
will promote lots of healthy growth
the following year. Remember
that weeping willow wood is not
particularly strong and is not suited
to wiring; a free flowing form is the
nature of the willow, and it presents
best in this fashion.
Temperature:
8
Fertilizing:
Avoid fertilizing this tree often
because a weeping willow doesn’t
enjoy much fertilizer; do so sparingly
every other month during the growing
season with an organic fertilizer added
to the soil around the tree, avoiding
the trunk and leaves to prevent
burning
Trees Features:
This is an outdoor, deciduous bonsai,
and will do best if allowed a dormant
period. During the growing months,
you should only bring it indoors
for short periods in order to keep it
healthy. Keep an eye on your bonsai
tree to ensure that it is well protected
from extreme temps throughout
the winter. A cold frame or shed will
go a long way to provide adequate
protection as long as the roots have
been insulated well. In the late fall,
the leaves will fall off your weeping
willow, the trunk will turn brown and
the tree will go dormant. Don't panic
if your tree looks dead during the
cold winter months. While it may look
bad above ground, under the soil the
roots will continue to grow, and in
the spring, your tree will flourish once
more.
plant to decline. Take care to not allow
your Weeping willow an extended
waiting period in standing water. This
can be achieved with the use of a
humidity try filled with stones which
will offer healthy levels of moisture for
the roots without risking the health of
your tree.
Insects / Pests:
Watering:
In areas that experience extreme heat,
the weeping willow bonsai must be
placed in a well-shaded area and must
be provided with adequate water
during extended dry spells. Trees that
have received too much or too little
water will have droopy leaves. A tree
with the right amount of water will
have crisp, healthy looking leaves.
Weeping willows are slightly drought
tolerant, though you should never
allow it to completely dry out as it
does best in moist, cool conditions; its
native habitat is usually near ponds,
streams, and lakes where cool, moist
conditions are the rule rather than the
exception. That being said, it is also
possible to over water your willow,
causing the roots to rot, and the
Common pests to weeping willows
are caterpillars, scales, and aphids. To
deal with aphids, a simple mixture
of 1 tsp dish soap to 1 quart warm
water sprayed over the entire plant
until desired runoff is achieved is very
effective at removing this pest. Be
sure to rinse the solution well with
tepid water and repeat as needed.
Scale can be removed manually
with a sharp knife or dabbed with
a swab or ball of cotton dipped in
isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Do not
use other alcohols, such as ethanol
or methanol, because they penetrate
the plant tissues rapidly and will
cause considerable damage to soft
tissues! After treatment, be sure to
remove all scales by hand, large and
small; allow the plant to dry and reexamine it for residual scale bodies.
Repeat the alcohol wipe to remove all
Continued on p. 9
Volume 31 · Issue 6
Tree Care (cont.)
traces of the insects paying particular
attention to the midrib, other veins,
and leaf edge areas. Keep in mind
that scale eggs are hidden under the
waxy covering of the dead female, so
if these are not thoroughly removed,
the remaining eggs will hatch and
continue the infestation cycle. Be
sure to repeat treatment every 1-2
weeks until scale has been completely
eradicated. Please be aware that a
potentially rare problem that can
occur with alcohol treatment is
chilling of the plant tissues that can
occur with the rapid evaporation of
alcohol. This chilling is can cause
over-cooling of the plant tissues,
creating zones of dead cells that
may become necrotic from bacteria
or fungi. On warm or breezy days
consider wiping any residual alcohol
with a tissue instead of permitting it
to evaporate off the plant.
Propagation:
Willows root readily from soft cuttings
place in loose moist soil. They are
prolific rooters, and it should take
little time to establish a good root
system from a cutting.
Repotting:
Avoid repotting your weeping
willow during heat waves. The cooler
conditions of early spring are the best
time to repot your willow with fresh
soil. You will want to do this every
year or so because the root systems
are quite abundant when given
proper conditions in which to thrive.
When planting your weeping willow
place it in loose rich well draining soil
and pat well to prevent air pockets
that could cause the roots to dry out
Additional Comments:
To ensure proper cell growth of
your beautiful Japanese Weeping
Willow, it is important to keep the
delicate leaves free from dust which
can impede proper photosynthesis
needed for the trees health and
wellbeing. Proper care will ensure
decades of enjoyment with your
willow.
http://care.bonsaioutlet.com/
June 2014
Directory 2013
Jay McDonald
President
(Open)
Vice President
Carl Levinson
Secretary
Paul Wycoff
Treasurer
Wayne Culp
Board Member
Jim Gallagher
Board Member
Ivan Lukrich
Board Member
Ned Lycett
Board Member
Gene Lynch
Board Member
Bob Shimon
Board Member
Chris Zanella
Board Member
Art Kopecky
Past President
Kathy Shaner
Sensei/Accredited
Bonsai Master
Sally Kieckhefer
Membership Chair
James Whitfield and
Peter Naughton
Magazine & Video
Chris Zanella
Book Librarian
Celestia Amberstone
Webmaster
Chris Zanella
Newsletter Editor
415-847-8909
707-637-8893
levinsonch@yahoo.com
707-537-7019
ptwycoffjr@aol.com
707 · 874 · 1809
doublecllamas@comcast.net
707 · 331 · 0153
707 · 527 · 0795
lukrich@sonic.net
707 · 887 · 2004
nlycett@comcast.net
707 · 763 · 7504
erllynch@aol.com
707 · 884 · 4126
shimon@mcn.org
themrcz@hotmail.com
707 · 829 · 5670
artsankopecky@msn.com
408 · 772· 1020
707-743-1545
sallyk@wildblue.net
707 · 539 · 4253
jawhit6@yahoo.com
themrcz@hotmail.com
707 · 527 · 6292
rebsweb@earthlink.com
themrcz@hotmail.com
9
Official REBS Newsletter is published monthly.
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
REBS was founded in 1981 for bonsai enthusiasts. Our club meets every
fourth Tuesday of the month (except in July and December). The monthly
meeting and demonstration are held at the Luther Burbank Art and Garden
Center, 2050 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa, 95405. Meetings are open to the
public. Please refer to our calendar of events for specific time, date and
guest demonstrator.
Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center,
Santa Rosa, California
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
PO Box 2872
Santa Rosa CA 95405-2872
We’re on the web:
www.rebsbonsai.org
Address Correction Requested
Please Forward