May 14th – Ann Erb, Preparing Trees For Show
There are a number of things to do in order to show a tree (remove the 11 pounds of copper wire holding up your apex for one thing) and our Club’s show coordinator, Ann Erb, will explain them in detail at the May meeting, including choosing the right pot, stand and accent plant, preparing your top soil and adding moss, and removing the inch or so of white salty crud from your pots. Ann, who has been coordinating our show for years, also does the California Bonsai Society’s shows and helps with Bonsai-A-Thon. If you have a tree you’d like to show, but are not sure if it’s ready, please bring it to the meeting and Ann will evaluate it. Meet and greet begins at 7 p.m., the meeting at 7:30. See you all there!
The Big Show! May 19-20
Trinity Lutheran Church: Be There!
909 La Cumbre Road at the corner of Foothill Road. Please note the times: Saturday 11 am to 4 pm, and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. (We do not have to move everything or start later on Sunday this year because of church services. WooHoo!)
Show trees must be dropped off at Trinity Lutheran by 9 am on Saturday and picked up Sunday at 4 pm.
ALL sale items must have a sticker attached with your initials and a number on them that corresponds with the Sale Form you are also receiving with this newsletter (see below). Club Members receive 70% of sales.
President’s Message: It’s Show Time!
This is show month! The dates are May 18-19, once again in Fellowship Hall at Trinity Lutheran Church, State and La Cumbre in Santa Barbara. Please return your entry form to Ann Erb as soon as possible, but at least a week before the show. And once again we’ll have our informal and unfussy Trees-in-Training exhibit – no entry form needed, just bring a tree in in any state of training in and we’ll make a label for it and put it on the display table. Bring your sale items, too, anything bonsai related is fine. And, as always, we need volunteers to help set up and tear down the show. Plan to meet at the storage area about 2:30 on Friday afternoon to lug all our stuff to the church and get it set up and ready to go for Saturday morning when we’ll bring our trees and sale items in. The good news is that the church will not be having their service in Fellowship Hall this year, so we won’t have to do the “Bonsai Shuffle” on Saturday after show closes. Show hours will be 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday. Volunteers, please plan to show up around 8:30 on Saturday morning to finish setting up, bring your trees in by 9:00 AM, and on Sunday helpers are needed at about 9:00 AM and again at 4:00 PM to tear the show down and lug all our stuff back to the storage area. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it because the club always puts on a first-rate show. See you there!
~ Joe
No Saturday Workshop This Month
Because of our Annual Bonsai Show, there won’t be a Saturday workshop this month. We usually have an open workshop in June, with members helping members. Our Fall Workshops begin in July. We skip August and have our summer potluck instead. Then we will have workshops in September, October and November. Workshop leaders will be announced in a later edition of the newsletter.
Upcoming Bonsai Events:
June 1-2, 2019 San Mateo, California
Sei Boku Bonsai Kai: 36th Annual Show at the San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way (next to Beresford Park). Show hours are 10 AM – 4 PM both days with demonstration from 1 – 3 PM. Demo tree will be raffled. Large club member plant sale, vendors, door prizes and our always popular raffles. Admission is free. Dr. Bonsai will be available to offer styling and care tips. For more information contact Marsha Mekisich at eclectic.gardener@yahoo.com.
June 1-2, 2019 Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas Bonsai Society: Annual bonsai show, “Bonsai in the Desert” at the West Charleston Library, 6301 West Charleston Boulevard. Show hours are 10 AM – 4 PM. Headliner is Todd Schlafer of First Branch Bonsai. He will be conducting a lecture at 11 AM followed by a demonstration at 1 PM.
On Sunday, June 2, 2019 Todd Schlafer of First Branch Bonsai will be holding workshops by pre-registration only. For more information please contact Ira Sisson (206) 852-6510 or irasisson@hotmail.com
Last Month
Joe Olson, Great Trees In Nature Slide Show
Last month, Club President, Joe Olson, took us on an around-the-world tree tour. The closest National Champion tree was just a few feet away in the middle of the Goleta Valley Community Center. The Australian Willow is 49 feet tall, with a trunk circumference of 82 inches and a crown spread of 64 feet. Ironically, it spends most of it’s time surrounded by wedding parties and quinceañera celebrations, probably even held the occasional piñata. Glendora claims to have the National Champion Moreton Bay Fig tree, though Santa Barbara’s has a bigger crown. Joe showed us a 440 year-old Champion Lodgepole Pine, 400-700 year-old Olive trees in Agrigento, Sicily, surrounded by ancient Greek temples, a Montezuma Cypress in Oaxaca, Mexico with the fattest trunk (46 feet in diameter) of any tree in the world, and a 3,647 year-old Patagonian Cypress among many other incredible trees. Another highlight of the evening was trying to figure out our new coffee maker. Tree folk are not all that technical!
Member’s Trees
Wally Kunimoto
17 years ago, I got it as a cutting during our Tuesday night meeting. Surprisingly it rooted. The nice nebari was created over several years by cutting the roots beneath the trunk during transplanting nearly every year. Member Susanne Barrymore gave me the tip. Re: as long as the plant was healthy.
