President’s Message

Nov 1

Mike Pistello — November Program

We are privileged have Bonsai Mike Pistello share his bonsai knowledge with us in November. Mike has chosen to demonstrate the way he develops shohin size bonsai from juniper cuttings. For the past eight years Mike has been using colander-type containers to help develop small juniper cuttings into beautiful, contour-trunked shohin bonsai. He has many trees in different stages of development, which will enable us to see the progression as well as the technique he uses in order to enhances the trunk movement. This is a wiring technique that must take place in the early stages of the trees development. It allows Mike to make the crazy turns and twists that eventually form the final tree of the future.

So be with us this first Thursday of November, and have a chance to take home one of Mike's demo trees that our club will raffle off to some lucky winner.

Our third Thursday meeting will be the usual opportunity for everyone to bring in their trees for assistance and suggestions. This is a great opportunity to get expert help which will insure your bonsai collection will grow with greater confidence.

December is Just Around the Corner

And Yes! Our Christmas Party will be here before you know it, so plan ahead now for great eats and the open auction we all love.

October Recap

I would like to thank Steve Iwaki for sharing his bonsai skills and the history of his experiences over many years. It was his father’s love of bonsai that finally took root in Steve, the next generation. We all come to bonsai in many different ways, but staying with it, and maturing to become a skilled bonsai practitioner is what many of us strive towards. Steve took on a older Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’ for our demonstration this past Thursday’s meeting. As expected, Steve restyled it using heavy copper wire to make it a semi upright tree with more character and direction. At the end of the program we raffled off the tree to a lucky winner to take home. We had a short discussion about how our club’s show took place this year. It was obvious how excited everyone really was about it, and the success truly cast a glow over our meeting that evening. Many fine comments were made, and I’d like to once again thank everyone who took part in making it one of the finest Midori shows I've ever experienced.