May 2022 Bonsai Newsletter

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Following our very successful April meeting, a workshop, we are planning more meetings like it for the remainder of 2022 (see Program Schedule, page 2). Members are invited to bring trees to work on. Club advisor Ken Fuentes will be available for anyone wanting help. We are holding a few slots open for possible demonstrations de-pending on the Covid situation.

In a new practice, we will begin each monthly meeting with a 5- to 10-minute talk on various bonsai topics. We will start the program at our May meeting with Ken Martin discussing fertilizers, so bring your questions on fertilizers to the meeting. Ken will be asking for contributions from the floor, so please come prepared to talk about any nutrition secrets or hints have you picked up while working with your trees.

Members have emailed me suggested topics, which include:

• Air layering
• Pot selection
• Watering as a function of soil type, composition
• When to repot
• Preparing trees for show (what to do about moss)
• Bonsai styles—classical styles such as formal upright, bunjin, etc.
• Bonsai, Penjing, and Saikei—the history, the differences
• History of Bonsai in the USA, California, other parts of the world
• Wiring trunks and branches
• Selecting a tree to purchase:

Select for developing bonsai skills, types of trees that are easy to work on and maintain

Selecting for showing in 2 years or 4 – 8 years

So, what interests you? Please let me know which topics you favor. We have six months from June through November, so we will select six topics.

Upcoming Bonsai Exhibitions

We are happy to report that following the Covid-induced hiatus in club shows for the past two years, many clubs are having exhibitions this spring. See page 8 for a list. Most of the shows include an exhibition and demonstrations. A few of them include sales by members and/or vendors, so check out the details for the shows if you are interested.

Please remember that our own Cone-jo Valley Bonsai Society exhibition will be October 7 and 8. Note that unlike prior years, this will be a Friday – Saturday event. So put it on your calendar and start grooming your show trees now. (This does depend on the Covid situation in the community at that time, of course.) See you Thursday May 19th.