Bonsai Notebook
Next SABS Meeting:
April 8, 2023
7pm
LA Arboretum— Ayres Hall
301 N. Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA 91007
Enter thru the Ayres Gate in the East parking lot
The April 8 meeting will be in Ayres Hall at the Arboretum at 7:00pm.
Our program for the evening will be done by club member Peter Macasieb. We have planned an interactive meeting that will involve Peter demonstrating and club members participating in the tree work. Peter will be showing us how to do air-layering to propagate a new tree, and members will have the opportunity to perform air-layering on the demonstration material.
When the air-layering of different branches is complete, the material will be maintained by Peter until a follow-up meeting at Peter’s home, likely in July. At that meeting, members will again participate in the removal and potting of the newly rooted air layers.
This should be a fun learning experience with everyone learning how to make use of this simple way ro propagate new bonsai trees. The multi-meeting format is new for us, and we already plan to use it again next year in a different way.
Join us in April for this fun and useful meeting format.
President’s Corner
In lieu of our annual show and member sales table this year because of construction, our club will host a fund-raising Bonsai Auction at our May 13 meeting. The Auction will be similar to our Annual sale in that 80% of the auction price of an item will go to the owner and 20% will go to the club as our fund raiser to help maintain our club and its ability to provide programs.
The auction will be open to all bonsai clubs who would like to participate in both buying and selling.
More information will follow in this newsletter (see Members Corner). Start thinking about bonsai items you would like to put up for sale. The auction will allow for reserves to be placed on items at the owners discretion.
Our current rain cycle has made for a very unique year so far. I have had my yard sprinkler system turned off for over a month. My bonsai watering needs have been very sporadic. I have used small blocks to slightly tip some of my pots to help with complete draining. I hope all your trees are loving all the rain water as much as mine. They don’t miss the tap water.
I have heard concerns from some of our members that not all of their deciduous trees have leafed out. I am not a plant expert, but my deciduous trees all seem to have their own cycle on when their Spring leaves will come in, some obviously sooner than others. Be patient and enjoy watching as each deciduous tree comes back to life with new leaves.
~Dave
Members Corner
Welcome New Members:
Miguel Torres
Ken Teh
Lisa Wang & John Scotti
And many thanks to all who have renewed for 2023
Our membership drive for 2023 continues….
Annual dues are $20 for Individuals and $25 for family memberships.
Dues may be paid by cash or check. If you are unable to attend a meeting and would like to join SABS please contact Lorraine at [email protected] to receive a mail-in membership form
2023 current members will be voting to approve the new SABS By-Laws at the April 8 meeting.
Copies are available upon request from Lorraine at [email protected] prior to April 7
AUCTION *** AUCTION *** AUCTION
You Are Invited
Join your club for a special evening of camaraderie, nibbles, and bonsai –
Santa Anita Bonsai Society is having an auction.
On May 13, 2023, SABS Club is hosting a bonsai auction. You are invited to bring trees, pots, stands, and any other bonsai (or plant) related item you want to pass on.
The deal –
SABS is providing drinks and some snacks, and an auctioneer.
We are asking you to bring something tasty to share and the items you want to sell.
You (the seller) keep 80% of the sale amount, and SABS gets 20%.
Doors open at 6 pm.
This is SABS annual fundraiser, as we are not able to have our annual show this year.
It would be very helpful if you would RSVP.
Click here https://forms.gle/RBopaxMgT7ZZuTHq9 to let us know you are coming, and if you plan on selling – so we have enough tables!
If this link doesn’t open please cut & paste into your browser.
If it still doesn’t open then please contact Bryan at [email protected]
or leave an email message at [email protected]
If you have questions or want to volunteer to help make this fun evening happen, please contact Bryan Nicholson at either 213.709.4171, or [email protected].
Mark your calendars now and start saving your pennies! We look forward to seeing you on May 13
We would like to extend a special “thank you” to all of you who donated so generously to the raffle table
Robert Alderette
Jerry Banuelos
Jim & Helen Barrett
Manuel Dizon
Peter Macasieb
Dave Miles
Bryan Nicholson
Marren Padrones
Tak Shimazu
Ken Teh
And to all who so generously purchased raffle tickets
March 2023 Meeting Highlights
We had a great turnout for the March meeting to watch Tak Shimazu do his magic with a Japanese black pine.
Also, our one-time use of the Oak Room went well and included fresh coffee and tasty cookies from the Peacock Café.
Tak worked on a pine tree the club had purchased at the Bonsai-A-Thon for the demo.
He talked about some of the branches being too elongated for good proportion in the design. The remedy was to cut back to smaller buds on a branch, where possible, to bring the foliage closer to the trunk and make for a more tapered design from bottom to top. Some potential buds needed more time to develop before cutting branches back.
Tak wired and positioned branches into a pleasing informal upright style.
He left a couple of options for the final apex that depended on the future growth of the top.
The final design was a wonderful beginning for the future development of the tree.
Jim Pelling was the enthusiastic raffle winner of Tak’s tree.
In addition to this demonstration black pine, Tak donated a mame elm tree to our raffle. Anthony Giandomencio was the lucky raffle winner of the beautiful little tree.
Thanks to Becky V for her awesome photography
2023 Monthly Meeting Dates
April 8
Location LA Arboretum — Ayres Hall
Demo: Peter Macasieb
May 13
Location: LA Arboretum—Ayres Hall
SABS Auction
June 10
Location: LA Arboretum —Ayres Hall
Demo: TBA
Refreshment Schedule
April 8— J. Anthony, D. Deephouse, P. Macasieb, M.Dizon
May 13— J. Anthony, F. Saya, V. Shelton, D&D Mauzy-Melitz
Sign ups for 2023 will be available at the April 8 meeting
