Santa
Anita Bonsai Society August 2020 meeting is cancelled
Santa Anita
Bonsai Society Members,
The county
has not yet approved the reopening of meeting rooms at the Arboretum, so our
August meeting has been cancelled. I hope
all of you have been able to stay safe and healthy during this long period of
ups and downs with covid-19.
The heat of
summer is here, and watching our trees during the heat is important. Watering in the morning before heat builds up
allows our trees more time to use the moisture before evaporation. When the temperatures exceed 100 degrees, a
second, lighter application of water in the late afternoon can help trees
recover from the excessive heat. You can
always do a basic moisture check by sticking your finger into the soil about an
inch. If it is dry, you should probably
water. Watch for wilting leaves that are
otherwise healthy. Your trees will tell
you when they need water.
The third installment of Peter Macasieb’s twisted Itoigawa demonstration should be up on our website soon, so be sure to check it out. It is a great lesson and worth trying out.
While you are
on the computer, Google “bonsai” and you will find lots of bonsai related info
and videos. You can search “Tom Lau” and
find his bonsai videos that are well done.
There is much to watch to help keep our enjoyment of bonsai
satisfied. The GSBF magazine “Golden
Statements” is available at www.gsbfbonsai.org/Articles.asp?ID=291.
Santa Anita Bonsai Society July 2020 meeting is cancelled
Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,
Hello to all of you. I continue to miss seeing you all in person and sharing the art of bonsai. I had hoped that a July club meeting might be possible, but the decision to cancel has been made.
The July meeting was scheduled to be held at the home of Peter and Marissa Macasieb. I spoke with Peter, and we agreed it was still too soon to be able to guarantee a safe space for our members to meet. We always enjoy getting together at Peter’s, but the backyard space would not allow for safe distancing and food would be an issue.
Meeting at the Arboretum was a possibility with the cancellation of concerts, however, they have not decided yet to allow it. So, unfortunately, a decision to cancel our meeting was necessary. I hope you have had a chance to view our May Virtual Show. It is still available for viewing on our website. For those of you who did not get the email link to part 1 of Peter’s twisted Itoigawa demonstration, you can see it by going to our website, www.sabonsai.org. Part 2 of Peter’s demo will be posted for viewing within days. Thanks again to everyone who entered trees for our Virtual Show, and thanks to Peter for the demonstration.
Santa Anita Bonsai Society June 2020 meeting is cancelled
Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,
Greetings to all of you once again. It has been hard to communicate with the Santa Anita Bonsai Society members in writing only. I miss our opportunities to meet in person and hope we can get back to regular meetings soon. Unfortunately, our June 13 meeting has been cancelled. I have asked the Arboretum to remember our club if the facility becomes available in July, and I will keep you posted.
We will obviously have to make adjustments for future meetings, but we will do whatever is necessary to keep our members safe and well.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Virtual Show. I appreciate the time you spent to set up for your photos and then send them to Robert. Thanks also to Robert Sencer for arranging all the photos and producing the show on the website. We had a beautiful variety of trees, so I hope everyone has been able to view the show. It will remain available for viewing for the immediate future at www.sabonsai.com.
Recently we arranged for a recording of Peter Macasieb doing a tree demonstration at his home. The recording was done by member Matt Mahaffey. Matt edited the demo tape into specific segments for easy viewing. I will notify everyone when the demo is posted and available to see. Thanks to Peter, Matt, Sung, Robert and Gabriel for the work done to provide this demonstration for our members.
We have a unique dual demonstration planned for the March 14 meeting at the Arboretum. Jason Saito and Jaime Chavarria will be talking about and demonstrating the differences and similarities between two distinct styles of landscape plantings; a rock planting (ishitsuki) , and a Chinese landscape (penjing). They will discuss the skills and techniques used to create naturalistic landscape plantings. Both pieces will be in the raffle for members. Jason and Jaime are students of saikei and bonsai master Frank Goya. Jason has been studying bonsai for about 9 years and is primarily focused on landscape planting and ceramics. Besides master Goya, Jason has studied with Al Nelson, Mel Ikeda, and John Wang.
Jaime started studying bonsai in 1991. He worked in a gas station near the Yamaguchi Nursery and met many bonsai masters while picking up their cars for oil changes from the nursery. Sam Nakano gave him his first tree, which he still has, and a few lessons. Jaime joined an all Japanese bonsai club, Bay Cities, as the first non-Japanese member and learned a lot. Later he joined Marina Bonsai Club and met Frank Goya, who he still studies with.
Don’t miss a chance to see this dual demonstration and maybe win a great landscape piece.
Meeting Time And Place: March 14, 2020 at 7pm LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room
President’s Corner
Members voted at the February meeting and selected “conifers” as our 2020 show theme. This choice provides us with many tree options including pine, juniper, cypress, and spruce, to name a few. Now is the time to pick a tree or two and prepare them for the May show. You can always enter multiple trees and also trees other than theme trees. The important part is sharing our work with the public who pass through Ayres Hall and always enjoy the show.
We are in the middle of repotting season. Most trees don’t need repotting every year, but the timing can vary. Some say every three or four years, but trees will often tell us when it is time. If water stands on top of the soil and doesn’t drain steadily, it is time for root pruning and new soil. If a tree isn’t quite as healthy looking as it has been over time, repotting may bring back its vitality. If the roots are pushing a tree out of its pot, it is definitely time for a repot. A healthy tree that drains readily should be fine for another season. Keep track of repotting dates, and let the trees tell you when it is time to repot.
~Dave
February 2020 Meeting Highlights
Louis Camerota joined us in February to share his second lesson on the care of azalea bonsai. This year Lou talked about repotting. He said, as a general rule, to start repotting narrow-leaf azalea varieties in February and larger leaf varieties in March. Lou recommended repotting every three years, but to let the tree tell you when (sounds familiar!).
He said the tree branches are a mirror image of the root system, so if there is no new growth, it is time to repot. If growth is only on branch tips, repot. Finally, if water doesn’t drain or drains slowly, repot.
When repotting, Lou suggested removing about 50% of the roots from the bottom of the root ball and to cut flat across the bottom. He advised not to hollow out the bottom as we do with other tree types. Lou said using a metal root rake can easily damage azalea roots and to use a bamboo chopstick to gently comb out roots.
Lou uses Kanuma soil exclusively for his azaleas and recommends it above any other soil mixture. He said the acid level of Kanuma is just right for azaleas. He also talked about water ph levels and said 5.5 to 6.2 is ideal. He uses “ph down” to lower high ph levels. Lou said he uses a 5-5-5 organic fertilizer in tea bags placed on top of the soil. Lou brought several young azaleas for our raffle, so members had a chance to win a well cared for azalea to develop as Lou continues sharing his azalea secrets in the future. Thanks Lou for another great lesson.
Thank You To our February Raffle Table Donors (And to all who so generously purchase tickets)
Jerry Banuelos, Joe Cervantes, Edgar Fukutaki Family, Y.S. Farn, Peter Macasieb
Welcome New Members
Matt Mahaffey Andrew Nguyen
Members Corner
It is with much sadness that we share the passing of long time bonsai enthusiast and SABS member Joe Cervantes on Feb 11, 2020. Joe will be always remembered by many of us.
Jan – March is SABS membership renewal time. Thanks to all for your participation and support. It has been exciting to see how SABS’s membership is growing. Our membership dues are vital to SABS. Your dues enable us to maintain our relationship with the Arboretum, offer monthly meetings, and amazing demonstrators. Our Annual Show every May is filled with our member tree displays and a members sales table with a huge variety of stock, rocks, pots, ceramics, supplies and much more. Past members who have not yet renewed are encouraged to do so at this time. If you joined SABS during Oct-Dec 2019 then your membership is current until Dec 2020.
The SABS Newsletter is one of the “perks” of belonging to our club. When your membership is not renewed annually by the end of March 2020 the membership lapses and you are no longer eligible to receive this newsletter directly via email and/or US Mail. The newsletter will always be available on our website www.sabonsai.org
If you have a knack for writing or an event/ story to share please contact Lorraine at LMiles6455@gmail.com before the 20th of any month to be included in the newsletter.
Upcoming Events
March 21-22 California Bonsai Society annual show at the Huntington Botanical Center 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, three demonstrations each day at 1:00pm, reception Saturday at 6:00pm.
Come Join Us
Next Meeting Date: March 14, 2020 Time: 7pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave Arcadia, CA 91007
2020 Monthly Meeting Dates
Mar 14 — Jason Saito & Jaime Chavarria April 11 — Al Rivera May 9 — Tom Vuong
Refreshment Schedule
Mar — Marge (drinks) D. Melitz, J. Pelling. P. Macasieb, L. Miles April — Marge (drinks), J. Pelling, E. Jee May — J. Pelling, E. Jee
2020 Refreshment Sign ups will be available the March meeting
The February 8 meeting at the Arboretum will feature long-time member Louis Camerota. As you recall, Lou is an expert at raising and training Satsuki azalea bonsai. Lou’s beautiful azaleas have been awarded “Best of Show” in our club shows. Last year Lou talked about the first of several stages in the preparation of azaleas. He talked about the critical use of leaf removal to stimulate new growth, and he also shared his ideas on fertilizing and watering. This time he will talk about repotting, and Lou is bringing several small azaleas for the raffle table. Lou started working with bonsai in 1990. He learned about training Satsuki azaleas originally from Dwight Goins, a former student of Khan Komai. He also studied with Marty Hagbery and currently studies with David Nguy. Join us in February to continue learning about the development of azaleas.
Meeting Time And Place:
Feb 8, 2020 at 7pm
LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room
6pm Board Meeting Prior to General Meeting
President’s Corner
I want to start by apologizing to everyone for the confusion involved at our January meeting. We successfully held our annual potluck holiday celebration, but those attending had to endure a terrible parking situation. Also, I know many of our members arrived in the middle of the parking chaos and returned home. Again, my apologies to all.
I did not learn about the Arboretum’s extension of their “Moonlight Forest” show until the afternoon of the meeting date. Our room was still scheduled and available, so we had our meeting. Thanks to all who managed to get in with food and extras, including our demonstrator. Ed Clark, and to our board members who helped navigate the logistics. The Arboretum has apologized to me for the lack of timely notification, and we will work together to avoid any repeat of last month.
Don’t forget that February also includes the annual Bonsai-A-Thon at the Huntington Botanical Center. There will be many venders, demonstrations, an exhibit, raffle , and auction. See “Upcoming Events” for details.
~Dave
January 2020 Meeting Highlights
The January meeting was our club’s annual potluck holiday celebration to welcome the new year. The food was plentiful and good, and the raffle table had an abundance of bonsai pots and related items. Our guests were Ed and Linda Clark who traveled from Lindsay, CA to be with us. Ed was a commercial grower of trees for the nursery market in the Central Valley before retiring. He now grows bonsai material on his property.
Ed brought Japanese maple whips, 1-2 years old for his demo. He quickly planted a maple forest with the trees while talking about the propagation and care of the young trees. He planted the trees randomly with the intention they be moved around later into a traditional configuration, once the trees developed more differences in their sizes. Ed made examples of maple forests and put both in the raffle.
He also explained that the young tree trunks would fuse together into one trunk if wrapped together tightly. He displayed several pictures of the potential for a single tree if developed from the fusing process. Ed demonstrated the process of wrapping a clump of maples together. He wired individual trunks in the group to position them for the future outline of a single tree. He put several of these maple clumps in four inch liners in the raffle along with the forests.
Everyone enjoyed Ed’s presentation, and many took part in another opportunity. Ed brought a large number of additional four inch liner maple clumps that he made available to the members for a very reasonable price, and members purchased almost all of them.
Thank you to Ed and Linda for being with us at the potluck. It was a wonderful evening for socializing, food and bonsai.
Members Corner
Barbara Wright has been a member of Santa Anita Bonsai Society for many, many years. Some of you may remember her. Each year as she renews her membership, she sends a generous donation and updates us on life in Middleboro, KY. This year she sent along a photo. This is Barbara with her Ginkgo tree which she styled with Melba Tucker while in California. When moving it this past Nov 2019 to be displayed at her home church the top was broken. She now is looking forward to using it as “a start” for her next Ginkgo. Thank you Barbara for sharing and being such a true bonsai enthusiast and longstanding SABS supporter.
This is just a gentle reminder that it’s now time to renew your 2020 membership for SABS. Our membership dues are vital to SABS remaining financially viable. The dues for each year are due in January. Past members who have not yet renewed are encouraged to do so at this time. If you joined SABS during Oct-Dec 2019 then your membership is current until Dec 2020. It has been exciting to see how SABS’s membership has grown during the past year. Thanks for your participation and support. The SABS Newsletter is one of the “perks” of belonging to our club. When your membership is not renewed annually by the end of March 2020 the membership lapses and you are no longer eligible to receive this newsletter directly via email and/or US Mail. The newsletter will always be available on our website www.sabonsai.org
March 21-22 Annual California Bonsai Society Show at the Huntington Botanical Center more details next month
Come Join Us
Next Meeting Date: February 8, 2020 Time: 7pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007
Board Meeting Feb 8 prior to General Mtg 6pm
2020 Monthly Meeting Dates
Feb 8 —- Louis Camerota Mar 14 — Jason Saito & Jaime Chavarria April 11 — Al Rivera
Refreshment Schedule
Feb — Marge (drinks) , J. Anthony, D. Deephouse, F. Yee Mar — Marge (drinks) D. Malitz, J. Pelling. P. Macasieb April — Marge (drinks), J. Pelling, E. Jee
2020 Refreshment Sign ups will be available the Feb meeting
Santa Anita Bonsai Society Holiday Potluck, Demo and Raffle January 11, 2020
For Food: Club will provide main dish and drinks. Bring your favorite side, salad or dessert to share
The Raffle: Bring an item for the table
The January 11 meeting is our annual holiday potluck dinner and raffle. As we did last year, we will also have a demonstration. In order to accommodate the dinner and demo, we will start at 6:00pm. The club will provide the main dish and beverages. Everyone attending should bring their favorite side dish, salad or dessert. We still have many donated pots from last year, and this meetings raffle table will feature a large number of them.
Ed Clark is coming from Lindsay, California to develop a small maple forest bonsai for us. The demo forest will be in the raffle. In addition, Ed is bringing 18-20 maple clumps in 4” containers that interested club members can purchase for $12 each. The trees can be used to make your own forest or remain as a clump.
Ed owns the Round Valley Nursery in Lindsay where he propagates Japanese maples, shohin Shimpaku , black pine, and other bonsai material. Before retiring about nine years ago, Ed was a commercial grower of Japanese maples and magnolias for the largest bare-root nursery in the Central Valley area. Ed became interested in bonsai at an early age and returned to it after retirement. He started studying bonsai with the Fresno bonsai club and later with John Naka, Ray Theme, Ted Matson, and David Nguy. He now uses his nursery for the development of bonsai material.
Join us for good food, socializing, a fun demo, and a big raffle table
5:30p Board Meeting Prior to Potluck
Meeting Time And Place: January 11, 2020 at 6pm LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room
President’s Corner
We have a full year of demonstrations already scheduled for 2020. Our plans include a special guest from northern California, Jonas Dupuis, for the October meeting. Check out his blog at Bonsai Tonight. Jonas has recently finished a book on bonsai. In order to host Jonas in October, we had to move our regular meeting date from Oct. 10 to Oct. 17, the third Saturday. We hope that by having notice well in advance members will be able to schedule the change and come to see Jonas.
As president, I want to thank our club officers and board members for their commitment to the club. Without them, we would not be able to operate as a club for our great members. These volunteers include; Gabriel Gonzalez as program chairman, Judy and Steve Anthony as our treasurers, Marge Blasingame as our secretary and show chair, Lorraine Miles our newsletter editor, Robert Sencer our webmaster, Jim Pelling as the raffle chairman, and our members-at-large, Ray Blasingame, Mike Kelly, Peter Macasieb and Dick Ryerson. Thank you all for your time and dedication to the Santa Anita Bonsai Society.
~Dave
November 2019 Meeting Highlights
Tak Shimazu entertained us with his bonsai artistry at the November meeting. He brought a beautiful Itoigawa juniper to work on.
The meeting was held at Longo Toyota in El Monte because of an event conflict at the Arboretum. We had a large room that accommodated us very well. It proved to be a good location for potential future use, and the price was right; free!
The juniper Tak brought for his demo was grown from a cutting and had good proportions and branching. He wired the tree to conform to the bunjin style. Peter Macasieb stepped up and narrated Tak’s work , so Tak could work quickly to finish the tree. There was a lot of foliage cut from the tree, and members were encouraged to collect the cuttings to plant for future Itoigawa stock.
Tak cut to make shari (dead wood) on the trunk before the meeting to save time and worked masterfully to transform the material during the meeting. His completed bunjin juniper was an excellent example of Tak’s vision and skill at developing bonsai. It was a real pleasure watching him work.
Jaime Chavarria was the very lucky raffle winner of Tak’s tree. Jaime will be part of a demo for us later this year.
Thank You To our November Raffle Table Donors
Jerry Banuelos, Joe Cervantes, Edgar Fukutaki Family, Gabriel Gonzalez, Gary Lai, Dave Miles, Victor Shelton, Wendy Tsai
And to all who so generously purchase tickets
Members Corner
This is just a gentle reminder that it’s now time to renew your 2020 membership for SABS. Our membership dues are vital to SABS remaining financially viable. The dues for each year are due in January. Past members who have not yet renewed are encouraged to do so at this time. If you joined SABS during Oct-Dec 2019 then your membership is current until Dec 2020. It has been exciting to see how SABS’s membership has grown during the past year. Thanks for your participation and support.
The SABS Newsletter is one of the “perks” of belonging to our club. When your membership is not renewed annually by the end of March 2020 the membership lapses and you are no longer eligible to receive this newsletter directly via email and/or US Mail. The newsletter will always be available on our website www.sabonsai.org
Upcoming Events
January 18-19 Baikoen Bonsai Kenkyukai 56th Annual “Winter Silhouettes “ Exhibition LA Arboretum, 10a-4:30pm, Sat. night reception at 6:30 pm with entertainment, food, raffle and auction
Jan 31-Feb 2 17th Biennial Shobin Seminar Santa Nella, CA. wwwCalshohin.org
February 22-23 Annual GSBF Bonsai-A-Thon Huntington Botanical Garden1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino 7:30am – 5pm, vendors, demonstrations, exhibit, raffle, auction
Come Join Us
Next Meeting
Date: January 11, 2020 Time: 6pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007
Board Meeting Jan 11 Prior to Potluck 5:30p
2019 Monthly Meeting Dates
Jan 11 —- Holiday Potluck & Raffle, Demo by Ed Clark
Feb 8 —- Louis Camerota
Mar 14 —- Jason Saito & Jaime Chavarria
Refreshment Schedule
Jan 2020 — Annual Potluck Dinner Club will provide main dish and drinks. Bring a favorite dish: a side, salad or dessert to share
2020 Refreshment Sign ups will be available at this Jan meeting
Because of a scheduled night event at the Arboretum, our November 9 will be held at Longo Toyota in El Monte at 7:00pm. (See the directions below) Takashi “Tak” Shimazu will be our guest demonstrator in November. Tak is another of our well known local bonsai masters, so join us to see a future bonsai masterpiece take shape.
Tak was born in Kumamoto, Japan and emigrated to the U.S. in 1968, residing in Orange County. He ran Tak’s Gardening Service for 40 years before retiring. He got started in bonsai as a hobby being tutored by his brother. From there he has studied with John Naka and Harry Hirao. Today he is a well known bonsai artist specializing in Japanese black pine and juniper bonsai. Tak is an expert at grafting Itoigawa Shimpaku on San Jose and prostrata juniper.
Tak has led workshops at GSBF conventions for many years and has taught a number of students. He belongs to several bonsai clubs including Nampu Kai and California Bonsai Society. We look forward to seeing Tak do his magic in November.
Meeting Time and Place: Nov 9, 2019 at 7pm Longo Toyota Meeting Room, El Monte, CA
Directions to Longo Toyota: 3534 Peck Road, El Monte, CA 91731 take the Peck Road exit off the 10 fwy. just west of the 605 fwy., you will see the signage for Longo Toyota which is next to the 10 fwy. When you drive into the main lot facing the showroom, look for the round blue “AAA” sign on the building just left of the main showroom, enter the door below the sign and take the stairs down to the meeting room.
President’s Corner
We just received a generous donation of bonsai pots from long-time club member Joe Cervantes. Joe and his wife Martha are downsizing and will not have space for his pots. I picked up a total of 120 pots with the help of Marty Hagbery; thank you Marty. Most of the pots are Japanese made and will appear on our raffle table for many months ahead.
The holiday time of year is upon us. Fall colors are showing and leaves are beginning to cover the ground and our pots. It is time to clean up the leaves and debris on our benches and prepare for winter. Most of our trees will be fine with the winter cooling, but those of us with ficus trees and other tropicals need to watch the temperatures. Tropical trees will need to be sheltered when the temperatures drop below about 40 degrees or they may be burned by the cold. The design of our trees is more evident in the winter months when the leaves have fallen. You can refine your tree with pruning and wiring, but be careful of brittle branches during this season.
We can cut back on watering during the winter months, but watch out for warm Santa Ana winds that can dry out roots very quickly. Many people also cut back on fertilizing now or continue with fertilizer low in nitrogen. Enjoy watching your trees throughout this season.
~Dave
October 2019 Meeting Highlights
Mel Ikeda joined us at the October meeting with a very healthy juniper for his demonstration. Mel is known for his juniper raft style bonsai, and his material was prewired for that purpose. He also brought a premade wooden planting box to tie the raft into. Raft style basically depicts a fallen tree with the upward facing branches growing into a group or forest style appearance. With the branches wired, Mel was able to lay the juniper on its side and position the branches up with similar movement.
Mike Kelly assisted Mel by holding the juniper in place while Mel drilled holes in the bottom of the box to facilitate tying the trunk and branches into its raft configuration. The root ball was kept intact to keep the tree alive. Mel scraped the bark from the underside of the trunk and branches where they would be covered by soil. He applied root hormone powder to the scraped areas to promote a new root mass.
Mel said the original root ball could be kept indefinitely if used as a moss-covered hill behind the tree. However, once the new root mass has developed under the raft, the original root ball can be removed, taking care to maintain enough roots to sustain the tree.
Mel finished off the planting with a muck mixture and rocks to contain the new soil. The finished raft style could now be kept as a slab planting or later planted into a shallow pot with more soil.
Members Corner
This November meeting will be our last meeting of 2019. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and look forward to you joining us again in January 2020 at our Annual Potluck meeting back at the LAC arboretum
The newsletter is always available on our website www.sabonsai.org
Visitors are always welcome at our meetings….come check out SABS anytime
If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine prior to the 20th of any month at LMiles6455@gmail.com
Thank You to our Oct Meeting Raffle Donors
Ray Banuelos, Ray Blasingame, Y.S. Farn, Edgar Fukutaki, Marty Hagbery, Dave Miles, Victor Shelton, Frank Yee
Welcome New Member
Susan Cook
Upcoming Events
Oct. 24-27 GSBF Convention 42 Riverside Convention Center see website for details, www.gsbfbonsai.org
Nov. 16 Demo at Kofu Kai meeting by visiting bonsai artist Todd Schlafer who will style a California juniper at the Anaheim United Methodist Church 1000 S. State College Blvd., Anaheim, CA
Come Join Us
Next Meeting
Date: Nov 9, 2019 Time: 7pm Location: Longo Toyota Downstairs Meeting Room 3534 Peck Road, El Monte, CA 91731
2019-20 Monthly Meeting Dates & Demonstrators
Nov 9 — Tak Shimazu, meeting at Longo Toyota in El Monte
Dec – No meeting – Happy Holidays
Jan 11, 2020 – Save the date Annual Potluck & Demo by: Ed Clark
Refreshment Schedule
Nov – Bob Alderette, Linda & Gabriel Gonzalez, Victor Shelton, Eunice Jee
Dec – No meeting– Happy Holidays
Jan 2020 – Potluck: Club will provide main dish and drinks. Please bring your favorite side dish, salad or dessert to share.
The October 12 meeting will be held at the Arboretum at 7:00pm, our usual place and time. Our guest demonstrator will be Mel Ikeda. What a pleasure to have him back to share his extensive expertise in bonsai styling.
Mel grew up in bonsai, learning from his father at the family’s Ikeda Bonsai Nursery. He also studied with John Naka, Harry Hirao, and Khan Komai. He belongs to many bonsai clubs including California Bonsai Society, and Nampu Kai. Mel has been very active with the Golden State Bonsai Federation and their annual Bonsai-A-Thon, where he regularly conducts a demonstration.
Mel will work on a raft style bonsai for our meeting. It is a style we don’t get to see very often, so it will undoubtedly inspire members to give raft style a try.
See you there.
Meeting Time and Place: October 12, 2019 at 7pm LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room
President’s Corner
We officially passed through the last days of summer. I am thankful we didn’t have the waves of extreme heat we experienced last year. None of my trees suffered heat damage, so I hope everyone had a similar experience.
The weather forecasts seem to indicate we are entering the Fall season at last. Now is a great time for collecting seeds to start new trees. You can start trees from seed and potentially have a nice shohin size tree in five or six years. At my age that seems manageable, plus I never get tired of seeing new tree shoots pop through the soil, just as I enjoy seeing new buds emerge from cuttings!
October brings the GSBF Convention, to be held in Riverside this year, Oct. 23-28. There are fees for attending and either observing or participating in workshops, seminars, and critiques. However, there is no cost to viewing the bonsai exhibit or shopping in the vender area. There will be trees in every price category and everything else related to bonsai. The convention provides a complete bonsai extravaganza for beginners and experts alike. See the website for more details, www.gsbfbonsai.org.
~Dave
Sept 2019 Meeting Highlights
Our September meeting was hosted by David and June Nguy at their home in Chino. Again, due to a Saturday night concert conflict at the Arboretum, we had the pleasure of walking through David and June’s bonsai collection. It is always such a treat for us to see all the beautiful trees and be in awe of the effort and talent it took to create such a collection. We are very appreciative of the hospitality and support shown by David and June.
Prior to David beginning his demonstration, we had our potluck dinner. Thanks go to June, Michelle, Marissa, Wendy, Lorraine and others for preparing and setting up all the food for our dinner. We had a wonderful feast.
David Nguy provided a demonstration using a prostrata juniper. The material was a double-trunk tree, so David styled it in the traditional mother/daughter or husband/wife form. He explained the apex and direction of the taller trunk would determine the direction of the shorter trunk. The directions would match to maintain harmony and scale with the taller side overseeing the shorter.
David talked about the importance of having the apex subtly leaning forward with the branch tips turned slightly forward to welcome the viewer. He cleaned out the old, inside foliage to both provide space for wiring and stimulate new growth. David said we should not immediately cut new growth to maintain the tree shape, but let it grow for strength, then cut back to shape.
David & June
David’s demonstration resulted in a beautiful design that followed his styling plan. No matter your experience level in bonsai, it is always amazing to see how a master transforms a bushy piece of tree stock into a presentable bonsai. Jim Pelling was the lucky raffle winner who took home the finished tree.
Thanks again to both David and June for providing such a wonderful evening. They both give a great deal of themselves to the art of bonsai, and this was further exemplified by David when he donated his demo fee back to the club. Thank you!
Members Corner
The newsletter is always available on our website www.sabonsai.org
If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine prior to the 20th of any month at LMiles6455@gmail.com
Visitors are always welcome at our meetings….come check out SABS anytime
A special “thank you” to Steve & Judy Anthony for finding our Nov meeting offsite location at Longo Toyota in El Monte
Thank You to our many Sept Meeting Raffle Donors for your generosity
Upcoming Events
Oct 19-20 Bonsai Stock sale at the home of Jim Barrett 480 Oxford Dr., Arcadia, 9a-4p each day, 20% discount
Oct. 24-27 GSBF Convention 42 Riverside Convention Center see website for details, www.gsbfbonsai.org
Come Join Us
Next Meeting
Date: October 12, 2019 Time: 7pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave. Arcadia, CA 91007
2019 Monthly Meeting Dates & Demonstrators
Oct 12 — Mel Ikeda
Nov 9 — Tak Shimazu, meeting at Longo Toyota in El Monte
Dec No meeting– Happy Holidays
Jan 11, 2020 Save the date Annual Potluck & Demo
Refreshment Schedule
Oct Marge Blasingame, Walt & Octavia Chin, Dave & Lorraine Miles, Frank Yee
Nov Bob Alderette, Linda & Gabriel Gonzalez, Victor Shelton
The September 14 meeting will be held at the home of David and June Nguy in Chino. We will start at 6:00pm again to take advantage of the daylight, and we will also have a potluck dinner. Directions to David and June’s home will follow in the newsletter.
David Nguy will be our demonstrator, so we can look forward to another great learning experience. As before, come early so you have time to view David and June’s vast collection of bonsai…and turtles!
We are very lucky to have a bonsai master like David so accessible to our club. He is well known throughout the world of bonsai for his work with junipers, especially California junipers. Black pines are also his specialty, and you will see many examples in his collection. David has traveled all over the country doing demonstrations and being a headliner at many conventions. He will be hosting a workshop at this year’s GSBF convention in Riverside in October.
Join us for a great potluck dinner and a full night of bonsai.
In September, the summer growth of our trees should be slowing down. If you kept up with pruning, you can probably take a break as we start moving into Fall weather.
You can take new cuttings, but they should be limited to hardwood specimens or tropical varieties. I took some cuttings from my gmelina tree in late August, and they look healthy so far. The gmelina is a tropical tree with small leaves, and it works well as shohin material.
The club just received two more pot donations. There are 29 bonsai pots from the family of Milton Huckaby. Another dozen or so pots came to us from a lady in La Canada. I know the pots came from a Japanese nursery owner, but I don’t have the details yet. I will share that information when I have it. These pots add to what we still have left from the collection of Edgar Fukutaki. I am grateful to the families of bonsai enthusiasts who take the time to pass on their loved ones bonsai items for continued use. It is a nice legacy.
~Dave
Aug 2019 Meeting Highlights
Our August meeting was very unique, and members learned a great deal about bonsai pots. Nathan Simmons was our guest and is known not only for his collection of bonsai trees but also for his large collection of bonsai pots.
Nathan was collecting and styling bonsai trees when he met Bruce Hisayasu, a long-time SABS member. Through Bruce, Nathan developed a strong interest in bonsai pots and began collecting them. Eventually, his interest in large bonsai trees led him to start selling his small pots. He enjoyed selling bonsai pots and learned what people were interested in and bought more to sell. Nathan has become a well known vendor of pots at major bonsai events. Unlike our bonsai trees, Nathan jokingly said pots don’t die and don’t need to be fed or watered.
Nathan enjoys helping people select the right pots for their trees. He won’t put a conifer in a glazed pot, but he will use or recommend a glazed pot whenever possible. He believes glazed pots can perfectly compliment a tree as long as the glaze doesn’t visually overpower the tree.
He talked about oiling the surface of pots to prevent water stains from developing. He has tried many different oils, but prefers mineral oil because it is light and doesn’t get sticky.
Nathan brought a large selection of his pots for display and talked about the different styles and colors. He wants people to have the right pot for their trees and guarantees that if the pot/tree match doesn’t work, he will take the pot back and find the right one. Nathan got everyone’s attention when he put several pots on our raffle table. One was awarded to Dick Ryerson in the badge drawing, and the others went to lucky ticket holders.
Thank You to our many Aug Meeting Raffle Donors for your generosity
And to Nathan for his pot donations and review of our table items– the Yamaki pots were hidden treasures for several lucky raffle winners
Members Corner
The newsletter is always available on our website www.sabonsai.org
If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine prior to the 20th of any month at LMiles6455@gmail.com
Visitors are always welcome at our meetings….come check out SABS anytime A special “ thank you” to Steve & Judy Anthony for finding our Nov meeting offsite location at Longo Toyota in El Monte. Please note the September 14 meeting time change to 6pm to allow for maximum lighting during the evening
Sept 28-29 San Diego Bonsai Club 53rd Annual Show Casa del Prado Rm #101, Balboa Park 10a-5p daily, bonsai trees and related items on sale (Please note date change)
Sept 14 — David Nguy (Potluck dinner meeting at the home of David & June Nguy) Oct 12 — Mel Ikeda Nov 9 — Tak Shimazu, meeting at Longo Toyota in El Monte
Refreshment Schedule
Sept – Potluck: The Club will provide the main dish and drinks. Please bring a favorite dish, a side, salad or dessert Oct – Walt & Octavia Chin, Dave & Lorraine Miles Nov – Linda & Gabriel Gonzalez Victor Shelton, Bob Alderette
More sign up opportunities will be available at upcoming meetings
The August 10 meeting at the Arboretum will feature Nathan Simmons. It will be Nathan’s first visit to our club and he will be displaying and talking about bonsai pots. Many of you know Nathan and have seen him at bonsai events selling beautiful pots. Come and hear about his favorite potters and learn about tree/pot combinations.
Nathan has been a bonsai artist for 10 years, and Roy Nagatoshi was his first teacher. He has also studied with Ted Matson, Tak Shimazu, Mauro Stemberger, Ryan Neil, and Will Baddeley. His current sensei is John Wang. Nathan prefers large bonsai and has about 100 trees in pots. He has an additional 300 trees growing in the ground.
Over the years, Nathan has developed a passion for Japanese bonsai pots. He owns several hundred pots of all sizes and enjoys collecting, appreciating, and selling them. He is a bonsai pot vendor at most big bonsai events, like the Bonsai-A-Thon.
If you have a tree and would like help with a pot choice, bring your tree to the meeting, and Nathan will offer advice for the best choice.
Meeting Time and Place: August 10, 2019 at 7pm LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room
President’s Corner
The real summer heat is upon us. Last year we had some excessively high heat. It came on so fast, many of our trees couldn’t adjust quickly enough and sustained burned foliage.
Watering is obviously critical. Try and water early in the morning so water can soak in well before the heat evaporates it. The soil in smaller pots will naturally dry out quicker and will probably need additional watering on the 100 degree-plus days. Misting foliage can help slow the evaporative process and, hopefully, prevent foliage from burning. Cloud Cover is a product you can also spray onto foliage to slow evaporation. It is available at most nurseries… Just follow the instructions.
The warm summers bring on new tip growth on plants, and can result in a lot of over-growth.in our finely shaped trees. Keep up with trimming, especially with junipers, so the sun can get into the middle of trees and promote growth near the trunk.
~Dave
July 2019 Meeting Highlights
We had a great turnout for our July meeting at Peter Macasieb’s home. Thanks go to both Peter and Marissa for their hospitality again this year. We also very much appreciate all of the members who contributed to the food table and helped Marissa throughout this evening.
Good food was abundant, and the desserts were outstanding. Peter’s outdoor fan system and patio cover kept us comfortable. His tree collection has continued to grow, so there were many amazed and envious observers admiring Peter’s trees.
Peter’s demo tree for the raffle was a small California juniper. He said he specifically collected more smaller junipers than large sizes so he could develop them into shohin. The tree had a fat trunk Peter had previously carved into a beautiful style to save time. He used audience participation to decide which branches to remove.
He kept the branches he needed for styling his image of the tree and wired every branch. In the end, the new shohin looked great, and everyone wanted to take it home.
Peter’s work resulted in a lot of enthusiastic raffle ticket buyers.The raffle table was overflowing with pots, trees and related items, so we had a lot of happy members with each ticket drawn. Gonzalo Rodriquez took home the fabulous shohin at the end of the evening.
Members Corner
We need your help…. to find an offsite location for our November 9, 2019 meeting. The Arboretum is hosting the Moonlight Forest so we will be unable to meet in our usual Arboretum Room. November is typically cold and may be rainy so we need to find an indoor location in the Arcadia/ Pasadena area. The room needs to be large enough to handle our demonstration and raffle activities & being able to bring food in for our refreshment table would be a bonus. If you know of a site and person/ organization please give Dave and Lorraine the site and contact information, or leave a message on Dave’s cell 909 519 5391 and we will follow up. Thanks.
The newsletter is always available on our website www.sabonsai.org. If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine prior to the 20th of any month at LMiles6455@gmail.com.
Visitors are always welcome at our meetings….come check out SABS anytime.
A very special “thank you “ to Marissa and Peter Macasieb for hosting our July Meeting
Upcoming Events
Aug 29-Sept 1 Kofu Bonsai Kai Annual Show at the Bowers Museum 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana
Sept 21-22 San Diego Bonsai Club 53rd Annual Show Casa del Prado Rm #101, Balboa Park 10a-5p daily, bonsai trees and related items on sale
Oct. 24-27 GSBF Convention 42 Riverside Convention Center, see website for details, www.gsbfbonsai.org
Come Join Us
Next Meeting Date: August 10, 2019 Time: 7pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007
6pm Board Meeting prior to general meeting
2019 Monthly Meeting Dates
Aug 10 — Nathan Simmons
Sept 14 — David Nguy (Potluck dinner meeting at the home of David & June Nguy)
Oct 12 — Mel Ikeda
Refreshment Schedule
Aug – Gabriel & Linda Gonzalez, Victor Shelton, Eunice Jee, Marge Blasingame
Sept – Potluck, bring a favorite dish, a side, salad or dessert
Oct – Walt & Octavia Chin, Peter & Marissa Macasieb
More sign up opportunities will be available at upcoming meetings
