August 2011 Newsletter - ColumbusBonsai.org · Bryophyta family; while Hornwort and liverwort are...

August 2011 Newsletter President

Zack Clayton

Tree Curator

Dan Binder

Director Emeritus

José Cueto

1st Vice President

Ken Schultz

2nd Vice President

Denny Sackett

1 year Director

Tom Holcomb

2 year Director

Jack Smith

3 year Directors

Ben William

Past President Mark Passerello

Treasurer

Richard Gurevitz

Secretary

Sandy Schoenfeld

Librarian

John Young

Web Master

Ed McCracken

Newsletter Editor

Richard Uhrick

―A Pinch of this….‖

...Tick, Tock ….

Term of the month: BRYOPHYTE

THE SHOW IS NEAR

It’s almost here! Just a couple of weeks remain until our

annual show once again and for the last time at the

Columbus Maennerchor. Once again we have perhaps

more trees ready for display than we can count, and

awards will be given for people’s choice. We also have a

member’s choice category this year, so members make

sure you are there to cast your votes on Saturday, so the

plaque can be displayed on Sunday (see pg. 6 for more

information).

Bonsai=Perseverance

Rich Uhrick

Columbus Bonsai Society PO Box 1981 Columbus OH 43216-1981 1

[email protected] www.ColumbusBonsai.org Columbus Bonsai is a proud member of the American Bonsai Society and Bonsai Clubs International.

Bryophyte: Mosses (see pg. 4-5)

Program Info 2

President’s Message

3

Demystifying Moss

4

Show Info 7

July Meeting 8

Librarian 10

Calendar of Events

11

Inside this issue:

Join us at the Maennerchor on

August 20-21 for our annual show.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ColumbusBonsai.org

2 COLUMBUS BONSAI SOCIETY AUGUST 2011

This Month’s Program— Annual Show

UPCOMING PROGRAMS:

.

SEPTEMBER: PICNIC AND

MEMBER SALE

OCTOBER: MAINTENANCE

WORK ON PINES—

NEEDLING, PRUNING, AND

WIRING.

NOVEMBER: STANDS, AND

DISPLAYS

DECEMBER: HOLIDAY

DINNER

DISCLAIMER

The Columbus Bonsai Society Newsletter, is

the intellectual property of the Columbus

Bonsai Society. All Rights Reserved. No part of

this publication may be reproduced in any form,

or by any means —electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise —

without permission in writing from the Editor.

Rich Uhrick, Editor

[email protected]

The Columbus Bonsai Society

receives meeting space and other

support and assistance from Franklin

Park Conservatory and Oakland

Nurseries

The CBS 2011 Artists and Their Demos

Jeff Carr: Staselwood Bonsai, Newark, Ohio – Jeff's

bonsai interest began in Savanna, Ga. twelve years

ago. He has studied bonsai under a number of artists

including Craig Coussins.

―Don’t rush a collected tree: the road to

recovery is long….‖ TBA

Ken Huth: Ken's World of Bonsai, North Canton,

Ohio – Ken has been a regular at the Columbus Bonsai

shows as well as MABA and other events for over 15

years. He has brought erodium to the Ohio bonsai

market. He has collected trees in the Dakota's with

Andy Smith.

Demonstration of styling on a large Elm

12:30 pm Sunday

John Brannon: The Nursery at Onion Creek, Albany

Ohio— Seaside Cliff with Junipers

12:30 pm Saturday

Tom Holcomb: Tom and Pat Kiefer offer handmade

high-fired pots, bonsai art, trees etc. under the name

ARTISTREES. Tom has been a long time CBS club

member.

―Yes, Virginia Bonsai are real trees.‖ : How

Botany helps us achieve our design goals.

2:30 pm Saturday

COLUMBUS BONSAI SOCIETY AUGUST 2011 3

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT….

Random Thotz - now from the President

A hh, the push for the show. I have dewired a juniper shohin that I will

be showing and I have wired a juniper cascade that I will be

showing. Why? The shohin has been wired for three years and it is

time to give it a rest and see if the shape has taken. The cascade had

some major styling done and wire is training it where I want it to be. Neat wire

is okay to show, in spite of some old wives tales you may have heard. And

some shows expect the tree to be wired out to the tips. Kokufu ten is certainly a show that accepts wire and

if that show will take wire, they all should.

In addition to my obsession with copper, I cleaned the pots, weeded them and got rid of the surface crust

that accumulates over the summer. Oh, and I sent my registrations in to Rich. You have remembered to do

that, right?

In addition to what I will be showing, I have also got a couple of boxwoods that I will be bringing to

work on each day. I have 11 of them that got potted this year and they still need some work to find a

shape. If you have a tree that you need advice on bring it in. there are lots of members who will be there to

give you their thoughts on what you should do. You are likely to hear something you like out of all of us.

The important thing is you go home with new ideas or a new style if you take action there at the show. And

one thing about that is the new people wandering through will stop and ask you about what you are

doing. YOU get to be the expert that may spark someone's interest in bonsai from watching in the stands to

playing on the court.

Mike Thornhill has sponsored an award to go to the tree most popular with the club members. You get

to take this home and keep it after the show. It will be yours. We will also have the peoples choice ribbon

selected by all the viewers of the show. So there is the possibility of two awards this year.

In other news, the chop I did on my root over rock ficus has popped a dozen or so shoots on the stub I

left above the cascade portion. My gamble paid off and I will get to see if I like a tree with two apex points,

one over the rock and one at the end of the cascade. My other ficus is popping out all over also after a near

defoliation and trim. After the June meeting I doubled up the fertilizer and put them in full sun and left

them there after the haircut. all the cuttings from the meeting and most of the ones from my trees have

rooted and are putting out new growth.

It has been hot, and usually that means a slowdown for the trees. But, with all the rain we've been having,

mine are growing still. My junipers have been putting out hotheads all over and life is as it should

be. Pinching, pruning, and wiring.

See you on the 20th.

Zack


DEMYSTIFYING MOSS

A t our July meeting there was a brief

discussion about moss around your

bonsai tree for the show. John

Young mentioned looking for moss

that grows in the sun. I said there were over 225 kinds

of moss native to Ohio. In checking this factoid, I found

out that there are actually 405 species of moss native to

Ohio according to the Ohio Moss and Lichen

Organization. (http://www.ohiomosslichen.org) I

decided that I needed to know more, which frequently is

the basis for articles I have written about different

―Trees of the Month.‖

First, is it mosses are or moss is, or moss are??

Oh well, I am not going to sweat that too much. Moss

are non-vascular plants, unlike trees, shrubs and flowers,

they don’t use xylem and phloem to transport the sugars

they produce from their chlorophyll up and down from

their leaves to their roots. Mosses and Lichens are

simpler plants.

Mosses belong to the genus Bryophytes

composed of three groups of plants, which include

Hornworts and Liverworts. Mosses belong to the

Bryophyta family; while Hornwort and liverwort are

each their own divisions. Bryophyta are non-vascular

plants with dominant gametophytes (those little

antennas. The antenna or fruiting bodies on moss are

parasitic sporophytes that rise above the moss, or

―maternal gametophyte.‖ The spores are offered for sale

in envelopes; I’ve seen them at Oakland. On the

internet, ―Kyoto moss spores are available for $4.75.

Save your money – read on. When moss spores

germinate they develop into thin threads called

Protonema that resemble filamentous algae. These

eventually develop into a mat of moss.

If you have kept bonsai for some time, or taken

a walk in the woods, you have seen Liverworts and

Hornworts too. These tend to grow on wood or stone

while mosses seem to prefer shady damp soils.

Polytrichum ohioense and Pottia truncata are among

the ten most common mosses found in Ohio. So the

kind growing around you bonsai may be one of them.

People who study mosses use magnifying glasses and

microscopes to determine leaf shape and whether the

edge of the leaf is smooth or serrate (toothed) to

determine which moss is which. Even individual cell

shape can make a difference in the variety of moss.

Anomodum rostratus, often found along the

Scioto River growing on limestone is another of Ohio’s

top 10. It has a distinctive bright yellowish green color.

Climacium americanum can take over a lawn area if it

is shady and wet enough. It has a zipper like structure.

While most homeowners do not want moss in

their lawns, we bonsai growers like its scale like lawn

appearance around our specimen bonsai trees. The

easiest way to get moss for your trees is to collect it.

Collect moss that you like the looks of and transplant it.

As John Young said, ―Look for moss that grows in the

sun like your trees.‖ I have collected moss from

sidewalk cracks and around parking lot bumpers; it

seems to like the dirt that collects in the cracks. If you

simply lay the moss on the soil and it starts to look dead,

mist it, its only dormant. You will find that squirrels

and chipmunks will dislodge moss laid on the soil as

might watering.

The answer is soaking the moss when you get it

home to get rid of soil that might contain rocks and put

it in a blender or food processor. There were a number

of formulas on the internet to create a ―moss cocktail‖ to

improve your success. I do admit chopping up the moss

or at least soaking it first results in a smoother looking

surface. Since most mosses like an acidic environment,

you can fertilize it with a touch of sulfur dissolved in

water (pH 5.0-5.5).

Growing moss indoors can be more challenging

(Continued on page 5)

From Wikipedia.com


DEMYSTIFYING MOSS ….CONTINUED

as moss likes it cool and our trees like more light than moss does. The trick here is to look for moss around tropical

plants offered in greenhouses. If you buy spores, cover the pot with plastic to keep the humidity high until it

germinates. Set the pot in water to keep the soil moist. I use a nursery tray to transition collected clumps of moss

until I need them. With spores, mist the top to keep from washing them away.

People, to keep peace in the house buy a blender or food processor at a yard sale or Thrift store. When you

wash your moss put it in the blender with manure tea, buttermilk, fish emulsion, yogurt and or beer. ―My bonsai

buddy,‖ offered three recipes that are blender friendly. Here’s one that sounded the most promising to me:

2 Cups of Collected washed moss

1-quart buttermilk

1 Tablespoon of corn syrup

1 cup of beer

Blend until smooth, adding more moss or beer to get it to the right consistence to ―paint it on.‖

Ken Schultz

Images from ohiomosslichen.org


At our July meeting Mark and I covered the elements of getting your trees ready to show. This article can

serve as a quick checklist. Hope to see a tree from every member at our show.

Cleaning it up:

Weed free soil surface.

Clean the pot – you may need to use vinegar to remove lime deposits.

Bug free – spay if you need to, preferably a week before the show.

Setting the stage:

You may wish to oil (olive or WD-40) your matte pots, not too much please.

Check the silhouette. Trim growth outside the lines.

Wire – as little as possible to make your tree look right. As neat as possible and newer, not old reused or

shiny.

Stands or mats to set our tree on. Match the style of your tree to its stand.

Accent plants – if possible the pot of the accent plant should compliment or match the tree it goes with

and be of an appropriate size, not too big and not too small.

If you moss make it look smooth.

Register now!!

Try to confirm the scientific name spelling and common name of your tree, it will help us

Bring your tree to the show Friday night between 5 and 7PM, or 8-8:30 Saturday morning.

Send your information to [email protected].

Tips for Prepping your Show Trees

Member’s Choice --Best in Show Award New to the show, this year will be an award for best tree in show as selected by club members. The

award will be a freestanding engraved plaque with this year’s show logo and the phrase ―Columbus Bosai

Society - Member’s Choice - Best In show‖ along with the winner’s name.

The thinking behind this award is to provide source of peer recognition and feedback for club mem-

bers who invest years in the training of their trees. The cultivation of healthy miniature trees in the confines

of a bonsai pot is quite the accomplishment by itself and worthy of recognition. With this award, club mem-

bers will have an opportunity to recognize the horticultural and artistic vision of their fellow club members.

If all goes as planned, this will become an annual award at the show and it will become the source of good-

natured completion designed to improve the quality of everyone’s trees.

The presentation of the award at the close of the show on Saturday is to provide time on Sunday for

some much-deserved public recognition. All members are encouraged to attend the show on Saturday to

cast their ballots and let their voice be heard. Voting is open to all current club members with ballots being

available at the club table.

Member’s

Choice

Best in Show Image may not represent actual plaque.

Shown for demonstration purposes only.

38TH ANNUAL BONSAI SHOW AUGUST 20-21, 2011

Columbus Maennerchor Club and Rathskeller

966 S. High Street

Columbus, OH 43206

HOURS:

8/20/11 10AM –5PM

8/21/11 10AM –3PM

Go to www.columbusbonsai.org

for more information

ArtisTrees

Ken’s World of Bonsai

Staselwood Bonsai

Nursery at Onion Creek

Last Year’s People’s Choice Winner



JULY AT OAKLAND NURSERY

First, we discussed flowering tropicals led by Mark Passerrello….


BUT THEN CAME THE REPOTTING

OF THE SCHEFFELERA WITH BEN

WILLIAM

As it was in the beginning….

Just a tad root bound…. So Ben sets to work with his trusty chopsticks...

Back in its pot and ready to continue growing

in good health.


From the Circulation Desk of the C.B.S. Library

In an effort to make the C.B.S. library more available to all of our members (since the library cabinet

is being stored at Oakland Nursery and since we aren't meeting there every month), I will do my best to

fill any requests that you may have to borrow any of the items that we currently have in our collection.

I have a complete list of all of the books, magazines and videos that we have in our library; so, no later

than the Friday before our monthly meeting, either send me an e-mail at [email protected] or

give me a call at 614-267-4168 and let me know what items you would like to borrow from our library.

I will let you know if we have that particular item in our library or, if it has already been checked

out by another one of our members, when it should be available for you to borrow. However, if you are

interested in a particular article or topic in one of our bonsai magazines, I will need to know the specific

issue you would like to borrow, since I don't have a master index for all of the magazines that we have.

And to be as fair as possible to all of our members, you may check out only two books, magazines, CD's

or videos at one time for a two month period.

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions about these new procedures. After all, it

is your library, too!

John Young, Librarian

(614) 267-4168

[email protected]

Renewal Memberships may be paid for more than one year at a time.

The library will be

open in September.


Bonsai Here and Beyond the Outer belt

Unless otherwise noted, The Columbus Bonsai Society meets the third Sunday of every month at

1:45 pm . Board Meetings are the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm. The board meetings are

open to members.

19-21 AUG 2011 MIDWEST BONSAI SHOW—CHICAGO, IL

20-21 AUG 2011 ANNUAL SHOW —MAENNERCHOR

17-18 SEP 2011 PICNIC AND MEMBER SALE—OAKLAND

16 OCT 2011 BUD PRUNING, NEEDLING, AND WIRING PINES—FPC

20 NOV 2011 DORMANCY AND STANDS: SELECTION OR CREATION—OAKLAND

11 DEC 2011 HOLIDAY DINNER—LEE GARDENS

26-29 JUL 2012 MABA ―BUCKEYE BONSAI, A FAMILY AFFAIR‖—CINCINNATI

FPC= FRANKLIN PARK CONSERVATORY

OAKLAND= OAKLAND NURSERY, COLUMBUS

Care Notes from the Columbus Bonsai Society Website

August - Late Summer - 84/62

Continue pruning, but watch for buds and think about next year's growth.

Use lime-sulfur on jin and deadwood in summer. The heat and sun helps it absorb into the wood, and the sunlight

bleaches it quickly.

Most deciduous and pines have a semi-dormant period in the extreme heat of summer. Be cautious of watering.

August-September is the ideal time for repotting tropical trees.

You may start lowering the Nitrogen content of your fertilizer to slow foliar growth in preparation for fall and

winter.

Columbus Bonsai Society

PO Box 1981

Columbus, OH 43216-1981

Questions to:

[email protected]

HTTP://Columbusbonsai.org

Regular Club meetings on

3rd Sunday of the month

Meetings Start at 1:45 pm

All are welcome to attend

CBS Board meets

1st Tuesday of the month

at 6:30 pm

ANNUAL SHOW—

MAENNERCHOR

mailto:[email protected]

http://columbusbonsai.org/

August 2011 Newsletter - ColumbusBonsai.org · Bryophyta family; while Hornwort and liverwort are...

Documents

Transcript of August 2011 Newsletter - ColumbusBonsai.org · Bryophyta family; while Hornwort and liverwort are...