US National Arboretum Visit 16 Nov 2K13

Visited the National Arboretum today, and had a chance to discuss trees with the assistant curator, who took us back behind the scenes into winter storage areas, and several other spaces.

And of course...the trees!

I have not been to the bonsai exhibits in 10 years, so many things have changed, and many have stayed the same.

So, lets have a look at the trees...
The front gate...opens at 10AM sharp...

...and admits you where this wonderful old Crabapple first catches your eye...

This old White Pine has been in training since 1625, and is over 400 years old!

This Ezo Spruce has been worked on since 1935:

...and another killer White Pine:

...and of course, John Naka's famous composition of many Femina Junipers:

...next to a California Juniper:

I really liked this Chinese Elm forest planting...very calm, and all trees are in harmony...

There were a number of shohin and chuhin-sized trees there as well...

...like this nice little Trident Maple..

The 3 exhibitions all had wonderful trees...I spent several hours covering all which were on the benches, trying to control my drooling!

Here are some views of the various exhibits:

There was a bust of John Naka there. Of the many artists in the early history of bonsai in the USA, he was one of the most influential:

Behind the scenes...here is the pot room...see any you like?

...a good selection of fertilizers for hungry trees...

Some trees were already in Winter Storage...

...while others were in process of having work done. Here is a thread graft in process...

...a nice Juniper being styled......

and Azaleas in abundance...

Please mama...can it come home with me? Please?

So as you can see, there are many great things growing at the National Arboretum. Coming from my home in Wayne Pa., it is about 2.5 hour drive, so grab your coffee, fill the tank, crank up a quiet radio station and head South to DC! It is well worth it, and will surely brighten dreary days in the Fall and Winter.

Cheers...

Flex

Good Morning Bonsai Enthusiasts, What a beautiful morning!!!! Two reminders: 1.) Our November meeting will be held this Wednesday evening from 7PM to 9PM at Clover Garden Center. We have a guest speaker, a friend of mine named Jack Labor who is a photographer. He will discuss techniques for taking good photos of our bonsai to include lighting, placement, background, etc. After his presentation, he will set up a place to take formal photos of our bonsai. So, if you have one or two favorite bonsai and you would like a “Playboy” shot which you can print out and frame, to place somewhere in your home, now is the time. Jack will E-Mail the photo too you. He is charging $10.00 per photo. I am bringing two of my trees all cleaned up and ready to go. We will also have a bonsai auction of trees, pots, tools, etc. What ever you wish to auction off, with proceeds going to the BSSJ treasury. I am bringing a young, collected Liquid Amber sapling in a mica pot. Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. 2.) Election for President and Vice President will close on Friday, November 15th. If you have not yet voted for the posts of President and Vice President, please do so or forever hold your peace. J I will announce the results of the election on Saturday, November 16th and give out the names of the candidates for the four Steering Committee positions at that time. Voting for them will close on Saturday, November 30th. If you have misplaced the names of the candidates for President and Vice President, let me know and I will resend them too you. Big freeze coming next week, prepare accordingly. One last thing, I have changed from Verizon to Comcast. My new E-Mail address is thomasrose143@comcast.net. Please change accordingly. I will be phasing out my Verizon address next week. Sincerely, Tom De Simone President Bonsai Society of South Jersey

BSSJ Elections and November Meeting

Good Morning Bonsai Enthusiasts, November begins on a wet and windy note. Hope all your trees are nice and secure so they won’t be blown over. We’ve gotten all the nominations for the election of new officers for 2014 and 2015. Everyone should know the people up for election. We will vote in two phases. From now until November 15, you will vote for the President and Vice President only. November 16 through November 30th, we will vote for the four people to comprise the steering committee. Any Questions??? No??? Good. Here are the candidates for President and Vice President. President 1.) Flex Houvig 2.) Doc Stone Vice President 1.) Flex Houvig 2.) Doc Stone 3.) Joe Giangrasso 4.) Tom Kruegl Please send your votes to me at thomasrose@verizon.net AND ALSO TO Dr. Karen Harkaway at drmom99@aol.com So send to me and CC Karen. We will print out the votes and hold them should anyone want to see them. I will announce the results on November 15th and we will move on with the votes for Steering Committee. If you are a member, and there are 45 of us, please vote!!!! This will be important for our club going into the future. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 13th, 7PM to 9PM at Clover Garden Center. There will be a guest speaker and an auction benefiting BSSJ. More on the meeting as we move forward. As usual, please bring any bonsai for our display table or that you may wish to discuss or work on. Time to vote, folks!!!! Sincerely, Tom De Simone President Bonsai Society of South Jersey

BSSJ October Workshop!

Our October workshop was kindly hosted by Tom & Connie Kruegl at their home in Seaview South Jersey.
Weather was wonderful, and all spent the day enjoying it, their bonsai, good friends, and SOOOO MUCH FOOD!
Here are some highlights:
Tom K. had one of his fav tropicals to tune up:

Doc Stone brought a nice Juniper that needed a slight haircut. He selected the bit to come off

closed his new pair of cutters, and...VOILA:

the offending bit is GONE!

Uncle Jay was there, and had some wonderful stories to tell about King George and an interesting land deal in South Jersey.

Karen Smith listened in disbelief...

as Did Bruce Montgomery (who also had a tasty Spruce!):

Of course, our Salt Lamp Fellowe, Mr. John, had HIS own tales! Moms...lock up your daughters! 

Our Prez Tommy D. had his "FrankenFicus" to de-wire and re-wire...

The venue was a nice open shady back yard, with some tables strategically situated in the shade...

A number of folks brought items to auction:

Overall, the workshop was a success. Some timely work got done on trees, folks had some great camaraderie, and the food was WONDERFUL!

Our sincere THANKS to Tom and Connie!

Cheers...

Flex

October Memo

Good Day Bonsai Enthusiasts, Happy October. The leaves are starting to change and I hope your trees are all doing fine. Remember, tomorrow is our workshop, covered dish BBQ and auction at Tom and Connie Kruegl’s house in Seaview, NJ near Ocean City. Hope everyone can make it. Bring a tree or two you wish to work on, bring something you may want to sell (proceeds go to the club) and bring some good food for all to share. Also, BYOB. Starts at 10AM and lasts until ????? OK, this is important. We are taking nominations for the following Club Officers/ Positions. The current officers have been in these positions for five years. It is time for new people and new ideas. Those up for nomination will then be voted on in November with the results published in early December and the newly elected taking over in January, 2014. These are all two year terms. So, I would ask that members send nominations for the following positions to both myself and our Vice President; Dr. Karen Harkaway. Feel free to nominate yourself or anyone else. The only people not being nominated to any position would be myself and Dr. Karen. All others are open to nomination. President Vice President Steering Committee #1 Steering Committee #2 Steering Committee #3 Steering Committee #4 The position of Treasurer is currently being filled by Jay Burton and he has at least another year on holding the position. Please get back to us with nominations. It is important for the health of the Bonsai Society of South Jersey that new people take over. My E-Mail is thomasrose@verizon.net Dr. Karen’s E-Mail is drmom99@aol.com I will also post this on our blog site. Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Tom De Simone President Bonsai Society of South Jersey

Good Morning Bonsai Enthusiasts, Just got back from Saratoga Springs’ and the ABS Convention/Symposium. Great Time and a lot of fun. There seemed to be more instructors than students (not really) but there was a lot of teaching going on. BSSJ was represented by myself, Dr. Karen, Joe Giangrasso and Dr. Stone and of course, our better halves accompanied us. Dr. Karen’s ficus won one of the four awards for display trees, I think her category was “Hobbyist with Local Grown Tree.” Maybe she can clear that up. Anyway, congratulations Dr. Karen Harkaway on some great work!!! Beautiful tree. I’ve included some photos of some of the excellent trees on display. For once they were all displayed outside in a garden within the hotel. Very nice set up but some forecast inclement weather gave some folks some anxious moments. Met a lot of nice people and got instruction on Pines from Julian Adams and on Tree Physiology from Dr. Enrique Costano. Good stuff. If you ever get the chance, don’t hesitate to try and get to one of these functions. They are very instructive, you meet a lot of nice people and you do a lot of eating. J Sincerely, Tom De Simone President Bonsai Society of South Jersey

Here are photos from last night's meeting with Chase Rosade. Great attendance and a lot of fun. Good stuff.