newsletter - Mornington Peninsula Bonsai Society

M o r n i n g t o n Pe n i n s u l a B o n s a i S o c .
8 Parer St. Mt. Martha 3934 Sec. Alan; 5974 4257
Pres. Adrian; 5986 7731 Newsletter Editor Elaine; 5986 7252
NEWSLETTER
September/
October
2013
Email: georgemancell3@bigpond.com
Seasonal Notes;
To me, as a bonsai enthusiast, Spring is the most
exciting part of the year.
It is wonderful to see the
lovely new growth, and in
some cases, the flowers
form.
But of course, this does
mean a regular regime of
pruning, in order to keep
the required shape of
your tree.
Fertilizing is also important, and do try and mix
these as much as possible, in order to give your
trees the well balanced
nourishment they need.
Move trees so as to get as
much sun as possible on
their branches, until the
really hot weather arrives.
Most conifers can be repotted this time of the
year, if necessary.
Everything else is of
course maintaining the
health of the tree, checking for bugs and fungi,
and of course, checking
the watering.
It is very easy in the
Spring to get caught out
as far as the watering is
concerned. We think that
because we had a short
shower, that is enough to
help our trees, but we forget that we have also had
fairly strong winds, and
these can dry them out
very quickly.
Dear Members,
We have had a very interesting & productive couple of months, with visits
to our club from Barry
Cairns, a member of the
Waverley Bonsai Group,
and our dear friend Don
De Luca.
These were two entirely
different topics, and two
different styles of presentation, but I am sure we
learnt so much from both
of them.
And then of course we
had the Native Bonsai
Display, at the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, by the members of the Bonsai Federation of Australia. I wish to congratulate President Adrian and all his team of willing helpers, and
all those who displayed trees in the Gardens. The display was magnificent.
Barry, fortunately, forwarded a summary of his notes on the care of Satsuki Azaleas as bonsais, these are on page 2, and inside are photos of Barry’s demo &
talk, Don De Luca ‘s demo, and the display at Cranbourne Botanical Gardens.
UPCOMING BONSAI EXHIBITIONS
Bendigo Bonsai Club; Spring Exhibition,
Saturday 21st September, 9am-4am at Rotary Hall, Gateway Park, High St. Kangaroo Flat. Admission $3, children free.
Bonsai Soc. of Victoria; Exhibition, weekend of 5th & 6th October at Box Hill Town
Hall, Whitehorse Rd. Box Hill.
Geelong Bonsai Club; Exhibition, 9th & 10th November, Masonic Hall, regal St.
Belmont, 9am to 5pm.
Coming attractions:
Saturday October 5th; All day workshop, Moorooduc Hall.
Wednesday October 16th; talk & demonstration, Bruce Burleigh.
Wednesday November 20th; AGM and break-up. We are usually required to bring
a plate. There will be more details later
Page 2
Rhododendron Indicum, by
Barry Cairns
Flower removal

Flowering takes a lot of the plant’s energy so—
Styles:

At about 80% flowering, flower removal is recomMost of the azalea bonsai are seen as informal upmended if you want a show of flowers next searights—however it can be any style.
son.
Soil Mixes:
When azaleas are in flower, bring them inside to enjoy.
Don’t wet/water the flowers, as this may cause petal
Free draining.
blight.

50% diatomite with 50% pine bark

100% Kunama— some use a mix of Kunama & Diseases:
Petal blight, azalea lace bug—(Confidor) root rot –use a
pine park
fungicide.

Ph, 4.5 - 5
SATSUKI AZALEAS
Other additives—Trace elements—5% shredded
sphagnum moss, very small amount of charcoal,
blood and bone.
Fertilisers: Use a variety of suitable fertilisers.
Seasol ( year round), this is not really a fertiliser.
Azalea & camellia fertilisers liquid and./or dry.
Aquasol—- Charlie Carp—Thrive—Seamungus—
Prostagen (most tomato food is low nitrogen)
Foliar feeding/spraying.
Colour of the flower.
Some varieties have multiple colours on one plant.
Red is only dominant over white.
Purple/red is dominant over red and white.
Purple is dominant over all other colours.
Leaf size.
Leaf size is directly related to the flower size.
Ie.— Large flowers= large leaves.
The leaves of spring shoots are larger & thinner than
on summer shoots.
Leaves on lower branches are larger than on higher Above: Barry working on an azalea at our July meeting.
Below; The finished tree.
branches.
Fertilization has an influence on the size of the leaves.
Leaf shapes.
There are about six leaf shapes, ranging from long
and thin to egg shape.
Growth Pattern

Basically a shrub

Strong growth from the base—opposite from
black pines, which are stronger at the apex.

The top of the plant is weak & must always leave
more leaves/growth on the apex.

One of the good things about azaleas is that they
can sprout from just about anywhere.

Show plant that was not pruned after flowering.
Pruning

Best time is after flowering

2 x 2 x 2 method

Wire—Azaleas are very brittle, so care must be
taken so not to break branches.

Page 3
VISIT BY DON DE LUCA:
Once again we had a wonderful demonstration, and a workshop with Don. People who were meeting Don for
the first time, were not only amazed at his knowledge, but also by his great ability to impart his knowledge.
Our members felt they learnt a lot.
Don wired and shaped a desert ash, which started life as a field grown tree, and was about 15 foot high when
harvested.
It is very interesting to note, that the audience sat
there for nearly two hours, watching Don wire the tree
and were not bored. This is mainly because of Don’s
ability to keep up a quite, humorous at times, patter,
and at the same time answer whatever questions we
were throwing at him.
We also had some display trees that were of interest,
particularly a jade, that Alan had cascaded, and this
was from a stump of a jade, that Don had given him
last year.
This is the cascade, pictured below.
These are a couple of our display trees, a lovely white flowering
quince, and a “kirin” azalea.
BONSAI NATIVE DISPLAY:
Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, September 7th & 8th
Page 4
Congratulations to all involved in the display of native bonsai, the weekend of the 7th & 8th September. Firstly,
the staff of the Gardens who co-operated so beautifully with the Bonsai Federation of Australia, and made it as
easy as possible to set up the display, and secondly, the Bonsai Federation for co-ordinating it so beautifully.
It was hugely successful, and extremely interesting, as I am sure many of the general public were not aware
that you can bonsai native trees.
Below are some photos taken of the display, and I apologise for the quality of the photos. It was rather dark in
the Hall, and the photos are not as clear as I would have liked.