newsletter - Mornington Peninsula Bonsai Society
Transcription
newsletter - Mornington Peninsula Bonsai Society
M o r n i n g t o n Pe n i n s u l a B o n s a i S o c . 8 Parer St. Mt. Martha 3934 Sec. Alan; 5974 4257 Pres. Adrian; 5986 7731 Newsletter Editor Elaine; 5986 7252 NEWSLETTER September/ October 2013 Email: [email protected] Seasonal Notes; To me, as a bonsai enthusiast, Spring is the most exciting part of the year. It is wonderful to see the lovely new growth, and in some cases, the flowers form. But of course, this does mean a regular regime of pruning, in order to keep the required shape of your tree. Fertilizing is also important, and do try and mix these as much as possible, in order to give your trees the well balanced nourishment they need. Move trees so as to get as much sun as possible on their branches, until the really hot weather arrives. Most conifers can be repotted this time of the year, if necessary. Everything else is of course maintaining the health of the tree, checking for bugs and fungi, and of course, checking the watering. It is very easy in the Spring to get caught out as far as the watering is concerned. We think that because we had a short shower, that is enough to help our trees, but we forget that we have also had fairly strong winds, and these can dry them out very quickly. Dear Members, We have had a very interesting & productive couple of months, with visits to our club from Barry Cairns, a member of the Waverley Bonsai Group, and our dear friend Don De Luca. These were two entirely different topics, and two different styles of presentation, but I am sure we learnt so much from both of them. And then of course we had the Native Bonsai Display, at the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, by the members of the Bonsai Federation of Australia. I wish to congratulate President Adrian and all his team of willing helpers, and all those who displayed trees in the Gardens. The display was magnificent. Barry, fortunately, forwarded a summary of his notes on the care of Satsuki Azaleas as bonsais, these are on page 2, and inside are photos of Barry’s demo & talk, Don De Luca ‘s demo, and the display at Cranbourne Botanical Gardens. UPCOMING BONSAI EXHIBITIONS Bendigo Bonsai Club; Spring Exhibition, Saturday 21st September, 9am-4am at Rotary Hall, Gateway Park, High St. Kangaroo Flat. Admission $3, children free. Bonsai Soc. of Victoria; Exhibition, weekend of 5th & 6th October at Box Hill Town Hall, Whitehorse Rd. Box Hill. Geelong Bonsai Club; Exhibition, 9th & 10th November, Masonic Hall, regal St. Belmont, 9am to 5pm. Coming attractions: Saturday October 5th; All day workshop, Moorooduc Hall. Wednesday October 16th; talk & demonstration, Bruce Burleigh. Wednesday November 20th; AGM and break-up. We are usually required to bring a plate. There will be more details later Page 2 Rhododendron Indicum, by Barry Cairns Flower removal Flowering takes a lot of the plant’s energy so— Styles: At about 80% flowering, flower removal is recomMost of the azalea bonsai are seen as informal upmended if you want a show of flowers next searights—however it can be any style. son. Soil Mixes: When azaleas are in flower, bring them inside to enjoy. Don’t wet/water the flowers, as this may cause petal Free draining. blight. 50% diatomite with 50% pine bark 100% Kunama— some use a mix of Kunama & Diseases: Petal blight, azalea lace bug—(Confidor) root rot –use a pine park fungicide. Ph, 4.5 - 5 SATSUKI AZALEAS Other additives—Trace elements—5% shredded sphagnum moss, very small amount of charcoal, blood and bone. Fertilisers: Use a variety of suitable fertilisers. Seasol ( year round), this is not really a fertiliser. Azalea & camellia fertilisers liquid and./or dry. Aquasol—- Charlie Carp—Thrive—Seamungus— Prostagen (most tomato food is low nitrogen) Foliar feeding/spraying. Colour of the flower. Some varieties have multiple colours on one plant. Red is only dominant over white. Purple/red is dominant over red and white. Purple is dominant over all other colours. Leaf size. Leaf size is directly related to the flower size. Ie.— Large flowers= large leaves. The leaves of spring shoots are larger & thinner than on summer shoots. Leaves on lower branches are larger than on higher Above: Barry working on an azalea at our July meeting. Below; The finished tree. branches. Fertilization has an influence on the size of the leaves. Leaf shapes. There are about six leaf shapes, ranging from long and thin to egg shape. Growth Pattern Basically a shrub Strong growth from the base—opposite from black pines, which are stronger at the apex. The top of the plant is weak & must always leave more leaves/growth on the apex. One of the good things about azaleas is that they can sprout from just about anywhere. Show plant that was not pruned after flowering. Pruning Best time is after flowering 2 x 2 x 2 method Wire—Azaleas are very brittle, so care must be taken so not to break branches. Page 3 VISIT BY DON DE LUCA: Once again we had a wonderful demonstration, and a workshop with Don. People who were meeting Don for the first time, were not only amazed at his knowledge, but also by his great ability to impart his knowledge. Our members felt they learnt a lot. Don wired and shaped a desert ash, which started life as a field grown tree, and was about 15 foot high when harvested. It is very interesting to note, that the audience sat there for nearly two hours, watching Don wire the tree and were not bored. This is mainly because of Don’s ability to keep up a quite, humorous at times, patter, and at the same time answer whatever questions we were throwing at him. We also had some display trees that were of interest, particularly a jade, that Alan had cascaded, and this was from a stump of a jade, that Don had given him last year. This is the cascade, pictured below. These are a couple of our display trees, a lovely white flowering quince, and a “kirin” azalea. BONSAI NATIVE DISPLAY: Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, September 7th & 8th Page 4 Congratulations to all involved in the display of native bonsai, the weekend of the 7th & 8th September. Firstly, the staff of the Gardens who co-operated so beautifully with the Bonsai Federation of Australia, and made it as easy as possible to set up the display, and secondly, the Bonsai Federation for co-ordinating it so beautifully. It was hugely successful, and extremely interesting, as I am sure many of the general public were not aware that you can bonsai native trees. Below are some photos taken of the display, and I apologise for the quality of the photos. It was rather dark in the Hall, and the photos are not as clear as I would have liked.