Columbus Bonsai Society - Article

Exciting changes for 2008 Show Schedule!

admin — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:02:46 -0500

Please be sure to visit our Events section to see the exciting changes we have in store for this year's shows.

We have changed our annual show to an informal 1-day display to give everyone time to get excited for our main event, now in October.

For more details (including dates, times, guest artists, registration details, and vendors) please see click on the EVENTS link to the left.

Monthly General Care Guides for Central Ohio

wendyf — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:30:15 -0400

Coming Soon!

2008 Meeting Schedule

admin — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:04:05 -0500

Unless otherwise noted, The Columbus Bonsai Society meets the third Sunday of every month at 2:00 PM ET. at the Franklin Park Conservatory. The public is welcome to these meetings.

Board meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM ET in the Franklin Park Conservatory library. Board meetings are open to members.

Tree of the Month - January 2007: Cotoneaster

admin — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:27:42 -0500

- By Ken Schultz

Usually I follow the common name with a scientific – or vice versa. But this is it, both. It’s Cot-o-nee-as-ter, not Cotton Easter, which I’ve frequently heard over the years. There are a wide selection of Cotoneaster varieties. Unfortunately, pre-bonsai varieties tend not be hardy to this zone, and when planted in a pot some of the locally available landscape materials object to root pruning. This must be why I’ve avoided Cotoneaster as the tree of the month subject for so long.

Cotoneater are usually trained as nifty little “apple trees”; their white flowers and red fruit are size proportionate, and their natural branching is arched toward the ground make them an ideal scale model. Unfortunately, they also get fire blight just like apples. However, when fire-blight strikes a shohin or mame’ bonsai is likely to die before the fire blight can be removed.

Sap Sucking Scale!

cbs_admin — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 06:13:53 -0400

Sap Sucking Scale!

Do you see “honeydew” on your plant’s leaves? (Honeydew is partially digested sap; it looks like little sticky droplets) Are leaves turning yellow, and your plant seems to have stopped growing? If you peer closely at the tops or the undersides of the leaves, do you see small roundish brown bumps on them, randomly scattered, but mostly along the petiole. If you look closely on the twigs and stems near the tips of the branches some of what you thought were bumps of bark, may also be SCALE!! Outdoors ants may also be present as they find the honeydew tasty. Scale insects pierce the leaves and stems and suck the sap from plants causing them to lose vigor color and in severe cases lead to extensive leaf yellowing, premature leaf drop, branch dieback and death of the plant.

Tree of the Month - October 2006: Acer ginnala, Amur Maple

cbs_admin — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:35:24 -0400

Acer ginnala, Amur Maple

When I complained about Trident Maples being too sensitive to trust when our winters get really cold; Jose’ said to me, “You should try Amur Maple, they’re really excellent trees. And they have bright red foliage in the fall.” So when I saw bundles of saplings offered in a Gurney Nurseries catalogue, I split a bungle with Zack. Those of you who have been with the club awhile, may recall the clump planting that Jose’ did a few years ago. I will try to remember to bring it with me on October 15 when I bring in one of the Acer Ginnalas that I purchased at Cross Creek Nursery for the demo on that date.

Fertilizer Balls

cbs_admin — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:08:52 -0400

Fertilizer Balls

How do I make fertilizer cakes?

Bruce Baker answers:

I've made hundreds of pounds of fertilizer cakes---known more commonly in the bonsai
world as "poo poo balls". In fact, I now go through a couple hundred pounds of it per year. There
are recipes for these in several books, including John Naka's, but I can give you a couple of
pointers that will make it easier for you.

To start with you will need the following ingredients:
4 parts cottonseed meal,
2 part blood meal,
1 part bone meal,
some form of liquid fertilizer,
trace elements if your liquid doesn't have them.

Tree of the Month - August 2006: Podocarpus macrophyllus

cbs_admin — Tue, 1 Aug 2006 09:21:31 -0400

by Ken Schultz

This is the tree stock selected for our August 20 meeting workshop. I have picked up the twelve trees ordered. I understand that Tom Holcomb will offer Serrisa or Ficus if you missed signing up and wish to participate.

Podocarpus are native to china and Japan. There they are known as “Buddhist Pine. “ Here they are sold as “China yew” or “Southern Yew” due to their resemblance to taxus. The Maki variety has shorter needles, about ½”. You may see other varieties in your bonsai books with longer needles. Supposedly the shorter needled variety is a bit hardier. My references say they are zones 9-11, which means tropical.

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500

n/a

Tree of the Month - July 2006: Fuchsia Fuchsia sp.

admin — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 10:32:46 -0400

Fuchsia Fuchsia sp. by Ken Schultz

In the past I thought of Fuchsia as a non- hardy plant that we usually bought in late spring in a hanging basket and hung in the shade. Then I saw a Fuchsia used in Su Chin Ee’s book, Creating Bonsai Landscapes. In her book she calls them Deng Hua, or Lantern Flowers; I had always called them Fuchsia. I was aware that they could be trained like Rosemary since they develop a woody stem in a similar fashion. About ten years ago I had purchased one to try to bonsai, but did not have any luck keeping it going under lights over the winter. But now, inspired by Su Chin Ee’s book I became “possessed in securing suitable stock to try again.