Santa Anita Bonsai Society
A community dedicated to the study and appreciation of the ancient art of Bonsai.

Bonsai Notebook

Our October 13 meeting will feature Ken Fuentes as our demonstrator. Ken will be demonstrating the many techniques that can be used to grow and style ficus salacaria, better known as narrow-leaf ficus. He will be sharing a technique called “bending”, an alternative to wiring. Ken is a founding member of the Conejo Valley Bonsai Society. He has been active in bonsai for 42 years. Originally from Miami, Florida, he was a member of the Bonsai Club of Miami. He has worked with many bonsai experts including John Naka, Ben Oki, and Warren Hill. Ken’s recommendations for ficus bonsai can be used with most ficus variations. Feel free to bring in any problem ficus trees you have for an evaluation in addition to his demonstration.

Demo tree for Oct meeting

Meeting Time and Place: Oct 13, 2018 at 7pm LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room 6:00pm: Board Meeting prior to general meeting

President’s Corner

Thanks once again to Peter and Marissa Macasieb, we will have our November meeting at their home to make up for the Arboretum program conflict in Nov. It will be a regular meeting beginning at 6pm with scheduled refreshments and no potluck. In addition to our club meeting, October includes the Golden State Bonsai Federation Convention 41, Oct. 24-28 in Sacramento. The convention features headliners Suthin Sukosolvisit and Bjorn Bjorholm as well as many other great bonsai artists. Our own Peter Macasieb will be leading workshops on Flowering Quince and twisted trunk Black Pine. Check the GSBF website for information, www.gsbfconvention.org The new Fall season is the time to collect seeds to start new trees. Look for seeds and seed balls around trees in parks and forests. I look for oak trees with a style and shape I like and collect the acorns under it. Seeds will bear the characteristics of the tree they are from. Once seedlings have developed, you can gently wire them into a shape of your choice. This will create movement early for a great future shohin or, if you are young enough, a larger tree. There is nothing quite like watching a new seedling pop through the soil, yearning to be a new tree. ~Dave

September Meeting Highlights

We had a great turnout at the home of David and June Nguy in Sept. It was enjoyable walking through their beautiful bonsai garden and hearing David’s commentary about his trees, all before the meeting started. David worked on a San Jose juniper for his demonstration. He started by talking about our recent heat waves and the foliage damage that resulted. He recommended letting damaged trees recover from the heat before doing any fertilizing. Feeding could further stress a tree already weak from damage. He talked about using nursery stock for bonsai and said it is difficult to find stock with a good root base, because the roots are not trained for bonsai. David said you often need to start with good trunk movement and begin root training for a future tree. David involved the audience in determining the front of the demo tree, and then started cleaning off inside foliage to make room for wire. He also cut out foliage growing downward. He emphasized not pinching off growth tips because they store energy. David recommended letting branch tips grow and later cutting back inside to control branch length. David was assisted by Jason Chan and Lou Camerota who wired branches while David continued his commentary on the tree. His true artistry came through when the wiring was completed. David bent and positioned branches to match his vision for the tree, and he cut out unnecessary branches. The final product was a beautiful looking tree David said was just the beginning of the tree’s development as a bonsai. Thanks again to both David and June for their hospitality and providing a wonderful evening of bonsai. We also celebrated David’s birthday Liz Do was the raffle winner of the demo tree. June graciously donated a pot to go with the tree for later planting. Thank You to our September Meeting Raffle Donors Jerry Banuelos, Gabriel Gonzalez, Dave Miles, David & June Nguy, Ken Teh, Wendy Tsai Many Thanks to David & June Nguy for hosting our Sept meeting

Come Join Us

Next Meeting Date: Oct 13, 2018 Meeting Time: 7pm Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room 301 N. Baldwin Ave Arcadia, Ca 91007 Oct Board Meeting 6pm Prior to general meeting 2018 Monthly Meeting Dates Oct 13 — Ken Fuentes Nov 10 — Dennis Makashima Dec — no meeting Jan 2019 — Annual Potluck 2018 Refreshment Schedule Oct — D. Ryerson, J. Peters, L&G Gonzalez Nov — W & O Chin, P. Macasieb, W. Tsai

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