President’s Message
SUCCESSFUL SHOW
What a pleasure it was to attend this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival with great attendance by the local Cupertino community. Our bonsai displays showed great diversity and refinement of the type of trees we take pride in and enjoy talking about to the general public.
I want to personally thank the club members who shared in the program or made an effort to stop by and say “Hi” for supporting our club. Jack Callen was even was there for a few minutes to give everything a once-over and make his presence known despite having had a very serious health issue!
I took a few pictures of the displays and the individual trees that will be included in this month’s newsletter. I had a great time, and can't wait for next year’s Cherry Blossom Festival!
Our Cherry Blossom Show featured many trees and a great turn out A big thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible.
SILENT AUCTION
For the month of June, our first Thursday meeting will once again feature our club's Silent Auction program, where club members bring in their unwanted excess bonsai trees, pots, and any other bonsai related materials they want to sell and pass on. This is an excellent opportunity for newer club members to purchase needed materials and trees to add to their collection.
Those of you who have materials to sell will need to download and print the Silent Auction Form. A form will be needed for each item sold, or you can group items together with a single price. Include the dollar amount at which you want to start the open bidding—adjustments can be made if the item is not sold after the first round. Gerry Fields will be in charge of the meeting procedures and will keep all members moving through the bidding process and sequence of events as the evening goes on. Once all items have had an opportunity to be sold, club members will need to form a line and pay for their successful bids. Those of you who sold items that evening will be reimbursed later for the purchase price minus the fee the club takes for each item sold, usually 10-20 percent. If you want the club to receive 100% of the sale price, please note that on the silent auction form.
This event provides needed funds for the club to pay for demonstrations by guest speakers and materials expended by the club each month as well as paying for our meeting place. So please, bring your check book and cash for this very fun event!
ROAD TRIP
On July 16th our club will be doing a road trip together in search of adding important pre-bonsai trees to everyone’s collection. Calaveras Nursery will be our destination for the morning. Our club has many new club members who are learning important basic bonsai information, but are in need of trees to apply their newly taught skills.
Nursery Tour
Saturday July 16, 2022
Calaveras Nursery
This trip will be accompanied by senior club members who will assist new members looking for good bonsai material with a good future. However, everyone in the club is invited since this nursery has excellent material both for the advanced and entry level. The morning will include the nursery tree purchases after which anyone interested will have the opportunity to share lunch together in the local town of Sunol.
This club sees the need for those who take an interest in bonsai to expand their bonsai tree collection in order to have trees to work on when our third Thursday club workshops come around. More details will follow with next month’s newsletter.
Images from our previous workshop, including Juan Cruz’s Beginner’s workshops.
FOCUS ON HEALTHY TREES
On a side note, over the years I have seen many club members disappointed that their trees are not growing or as healthy as what others are experiencing. This can be discouraging even to the point of quitting. Well, what are others doing who have great beautiful trees?
It's true, some people just have a green thumb, but usually it gets down to the regular basic care and maintenance that our trees need and demand. How much attention do you pay to your trees? Are your trees in need of sunlight, or do they need protection from the intense summer heat we can experience? Have you scheduled a regular fertilization program? Both organic and inorganic products are now widely available.
Unknown to many of us, fungus is a major problem and easily missed. Changing up my spraying program with different fungicides throughout the growing season has produced great results, and my trees are happier for it. Take the time when watering your trees to pay close attention to how they are responding. Foliage color is a good indication of how healthy they are. Watch out for insects taking over, monitor the trees’ vigor and be sure they are they getting the regular water they need for optimum growth! Yes, 85% of the water you are giving the tree goes toward air conditioning for the plant during the summer heat. Keep in mind that we are usually the cause of our trees’ demise, although they are also vulnerable to Mother Nature’s unpredictable circumstances.
Stay positive, but don't become complacent, be proactive, utilizing what you can learn and put into action. Your trees will love you for it! And you will be proud of the display tree you enter into our next show in October.
I would like to thank Juan Cruz for stepping up to the plate with his third Thursday training group for newer members. Thanks also to the others who helped out with his wiring program last time. It's always a joy to see people learning about bonsai at our meetings!
Have a great month doing bonsai everyone!