March 2005 Newsletter

Volume 25 Issue 3

Officers:
President: Dan Bonnett
Vice President: Justin Lovelace
Secretary: Lisa Martin
Treasurer: Mike Blake		 Board Members:
Bill Watkins (3 years)
C. K. Carlson (2 years)
George Gray (1 year)
Norm Summers(1 year)
Steve Sanders (Affiliate 1 year)
Next Meeting:
Monday, April 4, 2005
7:00pm at the Tulsa Garden Center,
2435 S. Peoria Ave.

Program: TBA



March Meeting Notes

  • The club has a new member Steve Hash, and Debbie Goddard was on a return visit.
  • We want to thank Tom, Andre, and Mike for helping with the Garden Fare.
  • Andre is now the official news letter editor. Marcus is planning to restyle the website and get the photo gallery up to date. Mike is still webmaster, posting the newsletter to the website. We thank Marcus, Mike, and Andre for taking on these jobs.
  • The workshop received favorable comment. Attendees liked Dana’s hands-on style of working. Pat Coen liked the change and the new perspective a new instructor brings. Mike Flanagan agreed that the workshop was a good one, and productive. Also at the workshop Dan, Mike, and Marcus worked on sorting out the 10 boxes of pots that Chuck Cockman ordered from Bonsai Monk for the club. The pots will be for sale at the shows along with the junipers and azaleas that were styled at the March meeting.
  • The show masters for the April show will be Brent Phillippe and Ken Cole.
  • We had a small raffle and a few starter trees that were given to members that wanted them.
  • Then Bonsai by Committee commenced with helpful instructions from Mike Flanagan. The members styled the junipers for the spring show and the azaleas should be ready for the fall show.



Show and tell:

  • Frank Kroeker brought some bald cypress, and one that had been hollowed out. Frank has other trees similar to the ones he brought that can be purchased for the upcoming workshop on tree sculpting at his place. The workshop date to be announced later.
  • Frank Kohn brought a 2-3 years old narrow leaf ficus that had experienced leaf drop. He wondered if anyone else has had this happen and possible causes.
  • Bill Watkins brought his trident maple from the workshop. Mike Blake brought the Korean hornbeam and black pine that he worked with, and Marcus Bush brought his black pine.
  • Pat Coen brought three impressive stones from Asia each in a different color; red, black, and yellow.
  • Charles Sitter brought some azaleas; he called the variety "Conversation Piece." He also brought a desert rose and explained its cultivation as a bonsai.
  • Mike Flanagan had a sand plum that was coming into bloom.
  • Ken Cole brought the Chinese elm, which he calls “Little Norm.” that Norm had put in a past raffle.


A Word from the Editor

In my attempt to clarify and add interest, I will be making some format and content changes. If you have any comments or submissions please contact me at mailto:%20abchenault@yahoo.com or in person at the meetings. 		Bonsai Workshop

Dana Quattlebaum presented an interesting and productive workshop Saturday, March 5. Dana was articulate and conveyed his instructions and information clearly. Being a neophyte, the only other workshop I have attended was with Roy Nagatoshi last October. The differences between the two revealed just how many ways there are to jin a tree. Roy had an aesthetic focus and was able to take a nursery shrub and turn it into a recognizable bonsai form in a few minutes. Dana applied horticulture and physics to his trees, reminding us that the fourth dimension of time needs to be considered in our work. The horticultural knowledge he possesses plays a key role in his strategies; he calculates future growth behaviors, and bets on them happening. Each species required very different development strategies, as I am finding out on my own. Making a glib assessment of the two master’s work styles one could say Roy was product and Dana was process. Both methods are valid in their pursuit.

As always, I learn a little bit more about tools and tool use. Dana promoted the use of straight edge cutters for clean edges, particularly for azaleas, and root cutters to remove lots of tissue quickly. Simple white school glue was the solution to seal fresh cuts; regular Elmer’s has too many additives that produce scar tissue. He appreciates a sharp knife blade since a clean cut makes for faster healing time. One crossover technique was flexing and massaging limbs, particularly brittle limbs, as a preliminary to wiring. I say crossover because Ikebana floral arrangement employs the same technique for nudging branches into position.

Dana brought some choice specimens with him for our members to work with. Some needed very little work, only a simple wiring, to produce a venerable specimen. Members ordered black pine, Korean hornbeam and azalea among others, but what I found most striking was the Chinese quince. I was so smitten with it that I ferreted out some cuttings in the hope that several years from now I may be able to do similar work. Dana concentrated on cultural matters. He emphasized sacrifice branches and took the long view in styling, rather than trying to achieve something that looked immediately more finished. This view was both a comfort and alarm. I hesitate to start training my Japanese red pine. I cannot decide how to style the thing and now I wonder if I even have enough years of life left to execute its training. However, as Dana emphasized, bonsai is an illusion and in some cases produced with Min-Wax wood hardener, Elmer's white glue, and stainless steel screws to combine more than one material (ex. Phoenix grafts). But that is what an expert does best isn’t it? They make it all seem so obvious, simple, and possible.

Upcoming Events:

April 4th 2005
Regular Meeting, Monday at 7:00p.m at Tulsa Garden Center
April 23rd & April 24th, 2005
Spring Bonsai Show and Sale at Tulsa Garden Center
Saturday 10:00a.m to 4p.m
Sunday 11:am to 4p.m

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