The Bonsai News of Houston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society Inc.

Volume 49 Number 3 March 2018

Shawn Nguyen visited Ben Oki and his bonsai garden (Photo from Shawn’s camera)

The next meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society will be at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion in Hermann Park, 1500 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77004. Refreshments at 7 PM, meeting starts at 7:30 PM.

March 7 HBS Monthly Meeting: Side Veneer Grafting with Alex Leong and Scott Barboza

Upcoming Events

March 3 Cedar Elm Workshop at Timeless Trees, 9AM -1PM. Cost $25 includes hand-out and wire. These collected Texas native trees are available from $25-$50 each. Focus on repotting, styling and wiring. You are welcome to bring your own soil and pots, or purchase them at the studio.

March 10 Saturday Study Group at Maas Nursery, 5511 Todville Road, Seabrook, Texas 77586 - 9AM – 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.

March 17 Juniper 101 with Prostrada Junipers at Timeless Trees, 9AM-1PM, Cost: $40 includes a Prostrada Juniper, soil and wire. Focus on initial styling, pruning, wiring and partial repotting. Everyone will go home with a styled tree.

March 23-24 LCBS Annual Exhibit and SWLA Garden Expo at Burton Coliseum, 7001 Gulf Hwy., Lake Charles, LA 70607, from 9AM -5PM. Set up on Thursday March 22 at 7:30AM-5:30PM. Preview Party & Gumbo from 6-8 PM.

March 24 Bonsai Basics #2: Styling and Wiring, 9AM -1PM. Focus on Styling basics, pruning and wiring. Cost: $60 includes a Ficus or boxwood, wire cutters, hand-out and wire. Everyone will go home with a styled tree.

IN THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Events

Side Veneer Grafting with Alex Leong &

Scott Barboza

Showcase of the Month

Ben Oki’s masterpieces

March Bonsai Care

John Miller

President’s Letter

2018 HBS Club Dig

Return to Earth for Revival

Farewell to a Great American Master

Ben Oki

Personal Note from John Miller

Ben Oki’s bonsai

March Bonsai Care Regardless of where you live in Texas, there are probably three things calling for your immediate attention. Repotting is still being needed; new growth is running rampant and needs to be controlled. And you must keep any tree to be exhibited at the Spring shows well groomed. Throw on top of that an aphid invasion or some scale and you should be plenty busy.

After growth starts, some species can take a couple degrees of frost but unless you know what your particular tree can take, you should keep it from freezing. Remember, newly growing roots are more tender. In our area, keep the new foliage out of the strong winds, although they need some breeze to help harden the new foliage as well as prevent insects and fungal diseases.

By this time most of you have finished repotting the early breaking species. Late starting species like the yaupons and most oaks might still be candidates for repotting this year.

In order to develop the ramification and fine twigs, you want to prune the new growth as its develops. Waiting until the shoots are three or four inches or longer results in coarse twigs with long internodes. These will have to be cut off as new ones developed, if you want a good bonsai.

Essentially there are two kinds of growing habits: Those with leaves growing alternately on the twigs, e.g. elms, oak, and hawthorn, and those with opposite growing leaves, e.g. maple.

The alternate growing leaves start out with small leaves and each succeeding leaf will be larger and the internodes longer. Also each leaf will have a latent bud in each leaf axial. If you let the shoot grow to 4 or 5 new leaves and cut it back to 2 or 3, you get smaller leaves and twice as many growing tips on each branch, and each twig will be a finer too. Keep this up and you will soon have nice branch development on your bonsai. In determining whether to cut to two or three leaves, note the direction that you wish the end of the branch to take and cut to the leaf which has the bud on that side of the branch. Note: If last year’s twig has been let grow long it should be cut back to the first 2-3 buds and start over.

Tweezers are a necessity in refinement working on maples. The opposite growing leaves clasp the new growing tip and will be extending from the old bud, but on a lengthening stem. If the new tip has taken off as soon as the leaves separate, the result is smaller leaves and shorter stems. Then two new tips will pop from the new leaf axials and you will repeat the tip plucking. Tweezers work much best for this job. I will sometimes separate the new pair of leaves from the new tip with tweezers, but be careful not to bruise them.

As the weather warms up, the insects will surely make their appearance. Use the foliar spray (1 tablespoon each of fish emulsion, liquid kelp, molasses, and 5% apple cider vinegar per gallon of water, as often as necessary to control aphid, mites, caterpillars, etc. Spring usually means

wet weather, hence weather for fungal problems such as blackspot. I usually only get it on hollies and elms. You can use a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide or baking soda spray for fungal problems. Do not mix baking soda with the foliar spray or any acid though.

Fertilizing is necessary once the trees start to grow. Too many exhibited trees do not have a dark green foliage. Since we are using soilless mixes for the most part, we need a different technique than the usual for other potted plants. Like liquid organic fertilizers, water soluble chemical fertilizers should be used at half strength and twice often, since they wash out with the next watering. It’s best to use solid organic fertilizers.

Fertilizer cakes on the surface is the best way. They break down slowly and a small amount is carried into the root zone each time you water. Pelletized organic material can be spread on the surface also but they tend to crumble and create an undesirable surface. Be sure that the material you use has a balanced formula and not high in nitrogen.

John Miller

John Miller, who writes a monthly column for the Bonsai Society of Dallas and Fort Worth Bonsai Society, has agreed to share his column with us. We need to make adjustments for our warmer and damper climate, with earlier springs, longer summers, late fall and erratic winters.

Abundant narcissus flowers on the eve of the 2018 New Year of the Dog will bless us with a great year.

President’s Letter

Early spring is one of my favorite times of the bonsai year. Those days when you walk out to your bonsai benches and see that buds are beginning to open is certainly one of the most hopeful and promising times for me. Right now, it seems like everything is budding, junipers, elms, maples, boxwoods…. Every-thing, except black pines.

Anyway, this is also a time for some caution and quick action. Fungi are very active this time of year and love to attack that new growth. In the past, I have had particular problems with black spot on Chinese elms and anthracnose on Trident maples. The only path to successfully battling these diseases has been from diligence in applying fungicides just as the buds open on each plant using both systemic and contact fungicides to protect those new leaves as they emerge.

Special thanks go out to Chris Rinaudo for organizing our club dig this year. Several cars full of members made the trip to MBP Bonsai in Pflugerville to dig Trident maples. It was a very scenic drive and a congenial dig since all of the trees are close together.

I began moving back into the ground floor of our house this past week. Being back in has put me in a mood to reflect on some of the things and people for which I am thankful. One of those people is Shawn Nguyen who does such a superb job of putting together our newsletter each month. We have one of the best bonsai newsletters around and it is entirely due to her tireless efforts.

The LSBF convention, “Blooming Bonsai”, is rapidly approaching. As is our custom, it will feature three headline artists, Boon Manakitivipart, Rodney Clemons, and Mike Lane, and will have a juried exhibit, raffles and several meetings of the “pub committee”. The LSBF Talent Contest will feature last year’s

champions, Clyde, Vern and Hurley, and they defend their title. Make your plans now to ensure that you can get the workshops that you would like. The convention is from April 19 through April 22 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Longview. You can find registration materials through the LSBF website at http://lonestarbonsai.org .

Pete Parker

at Mike Hansen’s MBP Studio and Nursery

On February 17th, HBS went to MBP Studio in Pflugerville, near Austin, for our annual club dig, to harvest Trident Maples grown by Mike Hansen in the field. Some of those huge maples have been growing freely in the ground for a few decades, so their nebari can be very large.

Seven club members attended and some of them brought a few more family and friends to help out.

HBS collected 9 trees in all. Here are some of them. Mike Hansen is the gentleman in the red sweater, on the left.

Trees are priced at $25 per base caliper inch.

It was great to visit with Ken Credeur, a former HBS club member. He is now living in Austin. He met us at MBP field and also harvested a tree.

Everyone worked hard to dig their own tree, but also helped each other out. And in the end, everyone came home with a wonderful tree of their own.

All in all, it was a great day, and I can't wait to see where we’ll go next year!

Chris Rinaudo

After the New Year Celebration

While the bonsai enthusiasts in Texas organize club digs to bring home aged bonsai specimen, on the other side of the Earth, a reverse phenomenon is happening. Over the years, I kept no secret about my passion for bonsai. My dozens of close friends, who are now retired and traveling to all corners of the world, often send me bonsai news and bonsai photos. Here is one fascinating article I just received this morning, directly from Viet Nam.

This interview and these photos were taken from bonsai growers in the village of Nhật Tân (New Japan), near Hà

Nội, north Viet Nam. The bonsai in question are the highly

prized flowering peach, pear, cherry and apricot, the must have decoration for the New Year celebration. They produce abundant blossoms but no real fruit. For simplicity, I’ll call all those from this prunus genus… peach trees.

Potted peach bonsai are brought back to the field.

Peach bonsai line up on the full moon of January. To do what? I asked. The reply was: To jump back in the ground! At first, the idea is totally incomprehensible to me, until I saw this photo.

How did the peach trees sold by these growers to consumers throughout Viet Nam find their way back home? Like cut flowers, once their beauty has faded, they have little value to the customers who don’t intend to keep them as bonsai. Shrewd growers send their workers out looking for them and buy them back at a fraction of the price paid just weeks ago. Recycling old trees makes more economic sense to growers than starting new plants that won’t be ready for market for many long years.

Just a month before the New Year, these promising peach trees are dug up from the field and transferred to bonsai pots.

Once they’re bloomed out, most are retired to the back -yard, but a lucky few are repatriated by the original growers for the revival process. Back in their freshly tilled favorite growing medium, they are pruned back, fertilized heavily, even grafted with better flowering varieties, to ensure the chance to show off their crowning glory next New Year. Please note that flowering peach, pear, cherry and apricots only live in the northern highlands, where the climate is much cooler than the South of Viet Nam, where their New Year counterpart, the yellow Mai flowering apricot thrives.

The peach growers in Nhật Tân village reported that less

than 10% of those thousand to million-dollar bonsai were purchased right out by the ultra-rich. The rest were rented for a month or two, and returned.

Can you believe bonsai can be rented? The first time I’ve heard of the bonsai for rent practice was at a bonsai nursery, near Dallas. This couple imports very large ficus bonsai, some 8 -10 ft. tall, in giant bonsai pots. They actually lease those trees out to Asian businesses to decorate the lobby of their office buildings. Those bonsai are cared for on a daily basis by the nursery employees. Every so often, they return to the nursery for a major haircut or repotting.

Back in the rich soil for a few months of ICU treatment.

The second service I learned of is bonsai-sitting service when I interviewed a few masters from California. A lot of their bonsai masterpieces were purchased by wealthy patrons but remain in the masters’ year-round care, for the exception of several occasions every year, when they travel to the owners’ residences for show by trucks, jet planes or helicopters.

The growers in Viet Nam provide the similar bonsai-sitting service but after over a decade of doing so, they realized that the cost of highly trained expert maintenance did not bring in enough revenue to offset the losses of the high-priced bonsai they have to replace.

Branches are cut off to be sold at market as cut flowers.

Putting bonsai back in the field for convalescence, only to put them through the grinder within less than a year? That’s borderline cruelty! one might say. How are these flowering peaches expected to survive the shock of being dug up, have their root ball reduced then confined in small containers, endure the worst conditions of neglect indoors that may result in death, then returned to the ground within a month or two?

No doubt the practice of renting out potted peach trees around the New Year and reviving them afterwards in the ground is very high risk. Yet a lot of growers’ resort to such drastic practice to generate profit for their farms. How can they do that?

The answer is quite a surprise: Just because they can! Although there is so little time for the trees with reduced roots to put out new feeders, they have numerous unfair advantages: Viet Nam does not have true winter, hence no freezing temperatures, no dormancy, so definitely no down time. Deciduous trees grow year-round, so within 5 to 6 months, their good health is not only reestablished but its development also accelerated. Since the process is the reverse of an annual repotting, the roots are free to spread out in the open ground without any concrete boundary, especially with an extra boost from the Earth’s magnetic field and the symbiotic fungi, mycorrhizae of oil soil.

At the end of the lunar year, while the growers feverishly pot their peach trees, a lot of out of work farmers during the off-season rush to the highest plateaus and mountain peaks to harvest peach, pear and apricot yamadori. The branches that they cut off and force flower buds are sold at the flower markets to those with modest budget. The thick trunks, if presentable as potted trees, are put in large pots and sold to end users. After the holiday, those that were not sold in time for celebration, are then wholesaled to growers for very little money. Although big old trunks save growers many years of cultivation, but some collected material will never make good looking bonsai.

Growers who purchase them take on a lot of risk of losing their investment because only 50-60% of those collected yamadori or those dug up – then - returned to the field (after living for a few months in pots and neglect), will recuperate. Most of those purchased for the occasional display don’t receive proper care while kept indoors, lacking water and sunlight. Growers pay very little for unsightly yamadori, unless they are very rare or prized varieties. Most unattractive trees are kept for scion harvest for grafting. Varieties with exceptional colors or more abundant flowers may stilll command high prices.

Mild climate however may result in extra pressure for growers: Timing the flowers. Flower buds need to form in time to start blooming on New Year’s Eve. Not before that critically auspicious moment, not after. The growers must estimate when to defoliate all the trees so their energy is forced to produce flower buds. This process is usually carried out in a rush, so several days out of every year, the entire family and staff must work around the clock. The year’s climate plays a critical role in those calculations.

More desirable varieties are grafted on thick rootstock.

When the peach trees are returned to the ground, their branches are shortened and grafted with more desirable varieties in strategic locations, according to the style of each tree. Common stocks grafted with superior varieties,

just like California junipers grafted with Shimpaku foliage, often command 10 to 20 times their original price.

It is my hope that the grafting on common rootstock strategy to increase the prices of big bonsai will become the growers’ preferred way to bring in more revenue. They will no longer need to subject these poor beauties to extreme stress every year, although after more time to reflect on this seemingly brutal practice, I realize that it’s far from cruelty. These bonsai are getting vigilant attention, meticulous care and the best of both worlds: They have the advantage of growing freely in fertile soil, but also gain a rejuvenating boost from new roots every year. Could this method turn out to be the most practical and successful bonsai culture of the future?

Shawn Nguyen

2018 LONE STAR BONSAI FEDERATION ANNUAL CONVENTION

Blooming

Bonsai hosted by the Longview Bonsai Society on

April 20-22, 2018. at Hilton Garden Inn, Longview, Texas

Featured artists: “Bonsai Boon” Manakitivipart

Rodney Clemons Mike Lane

Register at lonestarbonsai.org/2018-convention/

The Convention Room Rate of $99 includes a coupon for a half-price hot breakfast each morning. You can view the

amenities and make reservations on their website: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com or by calling the hotel directly at (903) 212-3000 and mentioning the Lone Star

Bonsai Federation convention. For convention details contact Convention Chair, Shannon Gilliland, msgilliland@sbcglobal.net or 903-235-2340.

Farewell to a Great American Master

Ben Oki It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing

of a great American Bonsai Master, Ben Oki, at the

age of 91, on February 24, 2018.

The Ben Oki I’ve come to know speaks softly and

cares deeply for everyone he meets. He is the ideal

father figure the bonsai lover in me has always

wished for.

Some of us at HBS had the chance to meet Ben in

Lake Charles club meeting, the last stop of his annual

Florida tour. That’s also where I met this gentle and

kind master, for the first time. Having lost a brother

in the Hiroshima bombing, he does not allow

circumstances he cannot control to fill his heart with

anger or to prevent him from enjoying the countless

blessings in his life.

Sensei Ben Oki taking the time to explain his techniques

while styling each workshop tree (Photo: Alan Walker)

As shared by Alan Walker, the long time editor of

Lake Charles bonsai club, after decades of teaching

the art of bonsai to all Bonsai Societies of Florida,

January 13, 2014 was Ben’s final tour. Due to the

fast progressing Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Ben

spent his last three years in a nursing home.

Much appreciation to Alan Walker for inviting HBS

to Ben’s workshop and also for sharing with HBS

Ben’s bio compiled for January 2014 edition of the

LCBS' Bonsai News:

Ben admired the beautiful juniper and suggested the many

possibilities in foliage reduction (Photo: Shawn Nguyen)

When Ben Oki first saw a bonsai tree as a curious

youngster of six, he asked his father what bonsai was.

“It’s something people do when they retire,” his

father explained. Luckily for the world of

horticulture, Oki didn’t wait that long to start.

Japanese-American Ben Oki was born in

Sacramento, California, in 1927. At age six, he

moved to Japan, where he learned Japanese

landscape and stone techniques.

In 1950, Ben returned to the United States after

graduating from Matsu Moto Business School, and

has managed his entrepreneurship in landscape

gardening ever since.

Ben is admired and in high demand worldwide as a

Japanese Garden designer, especially for his use of

stones in his compositions. Ben's design work

includes the garden of screen star Cybil Shepard in

Memphis, TN, and others in the Pacific Islands and

South America. Ben is a curator of the Bonsai

Collections at the Huntington Library and Botanical

Gardens in San Marino, California.

Ben studied bonsai under world master John Naka,

and has assisted him with demonstrations and

meetings. Ben has become one of the internationally

known bonsai masters, and takes a key role at

conventions by conducting workshops,

demonstrations, and critique sessions.

Ben has been growing and teaching bonsai since

1958, specializing in California Juniper. He shares

his hands-on experience and expertise in his article,

Collecting California Junipers, published in a British

magazine. He is well known for his rugged, freeform

style, fine detail work, fast wiring, and skillful tree-

splitting techniques.

The Satsuki Society in Los Angeles has awarded Ben

"Best in Show" in their bonsai competition for four

consecutive years. In 1989, Los Angeles Consul

General of Japan Seki Hiromoto honored Ben with a

prestigious recognition of his RYU NO MAI

"Dancing Dragon", a collected California Juniper. In

1991, the tree became a part of the North American

Collection at the National Bonsai and Penjing

Museum, United States National Arboretum in

Washington, DC. Ben's 35-year old huckleberry is

displayed as a part of the Pacific Rim Bonsai

Collection of the Weyerhaeuser in Tacoma,

Washington.

In Indiana, Cheryl and Charles Owens honored Ben

with both the Ben Oki International Design Award

and the Ben Oki National Design Award—the awards

for excellence in bonsai design quality—sponsored

by Bonsai Clubs International (BCI) and the

American Bonsai Society, respectively.

Since 1984, Ben has been leading "Ben Oki's Japan

Bonsai Tour" to visit gardens, nurseries, and pottery

shops. Ben escorted the "Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibit

and an Extended Tour of Japan" at the first BCI

World Bonsai Convention tour in 1989.

In 2001, Ben Oki received the Ryokuhaku-Juyukosho

(Green and White Achievement Award) from the

Agricultural Society of Japan, and in 2003 he

received the GSBF Circle of Sensei Award.

Ben is a former vice president of the California

Bonsai Society, and program chairman of the Satsuki

Society. Ben is also an active member of other bonsai

organizations, including the American Bonsai

Society, the BCI, the Nam pu Kai, and the Southern

California Chapter of the Japanese Satsuki Society.

For the philosopher, bonsai is often said to symbolize

the harmony between man and nature. But its

primary appeal, Oki believes, is more literal than

symbolic. “It’s relaxing,” he explains, with

characteristic simplicity. “It’s enjoyable to view.”

And judging from the passion he devotes to this

lifelong pursuit, there are few more satisfying forms

of creative expression.

Perhaps the reason why the appeal of bonsai keeps

growing is that it can’t be experienced in a hurry. It

may well be the perfect antidote for the fast pace of

modern life. Bonsai teaches us patience, it requires

nurturing, and it asks for a commitment that often

lasts a lifetime. For Ben Oki, that commitment

extends to teaching…and to learning. And he is in no

hurry to finish.

“People call me master, but I’m still a

beginner,” he says. “Every day with bonsai is

the beginning of the day”.

On March 2013, I hit the bonsai jackpot when Ben

Oki called and invited me to visit his collection at his

home, as well as the GSBF exhibit at the Huntington

Park. I happened to be in California for a whole week

of training for my work.

Please go back to the HBS newsletter April 2013

issue to read more about Ben and also about my visit

to Ben’s home, trees and the precious Satsuki azalea

he gifted to me. I reluctantly accepted that 23-year

old Japanese bonsai that he has grown from seed, in

fear that that tender species won’t make it through

our Texas 2-year drought and heat. That poor thing

suffered the week inside a hotel room, while I was in

class. It had an uneventful flight home on the Red

Eye but was shocked by the dry heat in my backyard.

Dr. Hoe suggested that I take cuttings from the

precious specimen, just in case it get killed by the

heat. Before I had the chance to do so, the leaves

already dropped.

Besides the azalea, Ben also handed me a few

viewing stones and a lot of other bonsai curios, but I

had to refuse. They all are too valuable gifts from his

circle of friends, especially from the Iron Men of

Naka.

On the day I met Ben at the GSBF show, he took the

time to walk me through the outdoor exhibit and the

Huntington gardens he designed. Our paths never

crossed again but I continue to follow Ben’s teaching

in the American bonsai community through the

Internet and the GSBF activities.

Oki san,

Thank you for the enormous role you play in

starting American Bonsai with your sensei John

Naka for us to enjoy today. We will always be

grateful for the generosity in time and knowledge

you share. May you find serenity, joy and beauty

all around you on your next journey.

Shawn Nguyen

Calendar of Events

2018

MAR 3 Cedar Elm Workshop at Timeless Trees, 9AM -1PM. Cost $25 includes hand-out and wire. These collected Texas native trees are available from $25-$50 each. Focus on repotting, styling and wiring. You are welcome to bring your own soil and pots, or purchase them at the studio.

MAR 7 HBS Monthly Meeting: Side Veneer Grafting with Alex Leong and Scott Barboza

MAR 10 Saturday Study Group at Maas Nursery, 5511 Todville Road, Seabrook, Texas 77586 - 9AM – 12 Noon. Free, refreshments provided.

MAR 17 Juniper 101 with Prostrada Junipers, 9AM -1 PM. $40 includes a Prostrada Juniper, soil and wire. Focus: initial styling, pruning, wiring and partial repot. Everyone goes home with a styled tree.

MAR 24, Bonsai Basics #2: Styling and Wiring, 9AM -1 PM. Focus: styling basics, pruning and wiring. $60 includes a Ficus or boxwood, wire cutters, hand-out and wire. Everyone goes home with a styled tree.

MAR 23-24 LCBS Annual Exhibit and SWLA Garden Expo at Burton Coliseum, 7001 Gulf Hwy., Lake Charles, LA 70607, from 9AM -5PM. Set up on Thursday March 22 at 7:30AM - 5:30PM. Preview Party & Gumbo from 6-8 PM.

APR 7 Shohin Club - Convention Display Setup and Texas Natives Talk with Terry Ward and Steven Hendricks at Persimmon Hill Bonsai Studio in Austin. Contact Steven Hendricks at 817-239-7210

APR 11 HBS Monthly Meeting: HBS Annual Auction at 7PM, at Hermann Park. This is the main source of revenue for the club to bring in artists and masters for lecture-demos as well as provide foods and drinks for our meetings. Please donate generously and bid generously.

APR 14 -15 HBS Spring Bonsai Show in the Japanese Garden at Hermann Park, in conjunction with the 25th Japan Fest. Volunteers are needed for both days. Please meet with Hoe Chuah to sign up. APR 14 April Saturday Study Group will be held from 10AM – 1PM, at the Spring Bonsai show.

APR 19-22 LSBF 2018 Annual Convention & Exhibit at the Hilton Garden Inn at 905 East Hawkins Parkway, Longview, TX 75605 featuring Boon Manakitivipart,

Rodney Clemons, and Mike Lane. Focus will be on Flowering Bonsai and Group Plantings. Judged exhibit, workshops, demos, vendors, etc. The Convention Room Rate of $99 includes a coupon for a half-price hot breakfast each morning. You can view the amenities and make reservations on their website: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com or by calling the hotel directly at (903) 212-3000 and mentioning the Lone Star Bonsai Federation convention. For convention details contact Convention Chair, Shannon Gilliland, msgilliland@sbcglobal.net or 903-235-2340 or visit http://www.lonestarbonsai.org/2018-convention/.

APR 19-22 The American Bonsai Society and the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis present: Gateway to Bonsai 2018 at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, IL. Headliners are Bjorn Bjornholm, Marc Noelanders, and Matt Reel. There will be a juried bonsai exhibit with awards and prize money of $1,000 for Best in Show. Workshops, seminars, critiques, and vendors along with an ikebana display and workshop. Easy access from St Louis airport to the Convention Center with ample parking. Details at https://www.facebook.com/events/196348750839850/.

APR 23-29 Malaysia-BCI International Friendship Tour & Exhibition hosted by Bonsai & Stone Academy at Summit USJ, Persiaran Kewajipan, USJ 1, 47600 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. For details contact I.S. Ing at isng1818@gmail.com or ’+6019-3372539.

Ben’s sketch of the demo tree

A personal note from Mr. John Miller

to the editors of Texas clubs

At my age, it is not a too far-fetched possibility that this month may be the last article that I write. Events have occurred in the past few months, so there is a pressing need for me to move. That change of address depends primarily on my wife’s and my own health and medical issues, which could be instantaneous. Many years ago, I started writing the Bonsai Care column for our newsletter editor when she asked me to do so. Over the following years, editors of other Texas clubs joined in and asked to use it. After a long time, all things human must come to an end. At this time, I would like all bonsai club members to think about working with your editor and writing this Bonsai Care column. It would be better if the article in your newsletter is written by someone who knows your local conditions well. It’s really not that difficult. As of now, I do not foresee any immediate change happening yet, so I will continue as in the past for as long as I can, although I would be tickled pink to see you drop me from your newsletter. I have no desire to be immortal! John Miller

Make sure you go to Timeless Trees’ website and subscribe to weekly Current Events to stay in the know. You can find the best gifts: trees, pots, all sorts of bonsai supplies, tools and books for your bonsai lovers or yourself.

Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help you with bonsai trees, basic tools, pots and soils like Akadama, Lava, Pumice, Kanuma, and “Ken’s Bonsai Soil in 10 lb. & 50 lb. bags. Free Study classes for HBS every 3-months Ask for 10% HBS discount.

Come stock up on bonsai soils, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and other supplies. The plant doctor is always on duty, so bring your unhappy or unhealthy bonsai for a free check-up. Don’t forget to ask for a 10% HBS discount.

Spring is here and thousands of flowering azaleas, camellias and quinces are blooming at JRN II. They do well as indoor bonsai. Arrangements of citrus trees, orchids and flowers can be ordered for the New Year and all other occasions.

Visit artist Andrew Sankowski at the Mossrock Studio & Fine Art Gallery for the finest gifts and most uniquely beautiful bonsai pots in every shape, form and color. Personalized pots or gifts can be commissioned year round. Weekly pottery classes are also available.

Andrew Sankowski 26002 Oak Ridge Drive Direct (281) 684-4411

The Woodlands, TX 77380 Fax (281) 363-9032

andy@mossrockstudio.com

For high quality daizas for viewing stones, Suiseki, bonsai stands and Shoji screens in any shape, form, style, wood, dimensions and colors, please visit artist Jerry Braswell. Send him your designs and specifications for custom wood work. For more info: www.artofthedaiza.wordpress.com

Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. P. O. Box 540727, Houston, Texas 77254-0727

www.houstonbonsai.com

HBS Board Members

President Pete Parker peteparkerbonsai@yahoo.com

1st Vice President Scott Barboza markyscott@me.com in charge of Education 2nd Vice President Hoe Chuah hoe.chuah@gmaill.com Secretary Maria Grissom maria.l.grissom@uth.tmc.edu Publicity Ken Cousino krcousino@yahoo.com

Treasurer Eldon Branham elmo4635@aol.com

in charge of Membership Webmaster Anthony Cutola acutola@gmail.com

Member at Large - O Gale Childers f5gale@macconnect.com

Member at Large - O James Kelly kurstyn.castillo@gmail.com

Member at Large - O Ryan Vollert rmvnucks@gmail.com

Member at Large – E Sharon Barker barkersharonr48@gmail.com Member at Large - E Ray González raygonzalez47@yahoo.com Member at Large – E Brian Gurrola bgurrola@gurrolareprographics.com

Delegates Past President Hurley Johnson hurley@all-tex.net

LSBF Delegate Terry Dubois tdubois1@comcast.net

LSBF Alternate Pete Parker peteparkerbonsai@yahoo.com

BCI Ambassador

TTSBE Representative Alan Raymond amraymond@suddenlink.net

Refreshments

Website/email Gary Teeter houstonbonsai@gmail.com

Newsletter editor Shawn Nguyen hbs.news@yahoo.com

The Bonsai News of Houston is a monthly publication of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. Copyright © 2011. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the editor or a member of the Board of Directors. Exceptions exist, however, for certain not-for-profit and non-profit bonsai organizations or associated bonsai and bonsai nursery newsletters, including without limitation the American Bonsai Society. HBS participates fully with reciprocation of contents and material between other LSBF member organizations and others. Authors who submit articles for this newsletter thereby give permission to such organizations to reprint, unless they expressly state otherwise.

Space for advertising in The Bonsai News of Houston can be requested by contacting the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board. The rates for a business-card-size ad (approximately 3 1/2" x 2") are $10 per month, and $75 per year (12 issues). A full-page ad is $40 per month. Rates are subject to change without notice. 3½" x 2" classified ads are run free of charge for one month once per 12-month period for non-commercial members. For special requests or questions related to The Bonsai News of Houston, contact the newsletter editor or a member of the HBS Board.