|
PITTSBURGH BONSAI SOCIETY |
|
|
...to disseminate knowledge, encourage others, and create interest in the art of bonsai |
|
|
NOVEMBER 2001 NEWSLETTER |
Donna Ramsey, Editor ramseydo@home.com |
|
Notice of regular monthly meeting: |
Thursday, November 15th 7 p.m. 1059 Shady Avenue, Mellon Park |
BONSAI POT MAKING WORKSHOP with Don Gould!
Don has studied the history and art of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as other pottery, and has been a potter for well over 15 years. His bonsai pot styles and glazes express the subtle characteristics of wabi-sabi better than anyone outside of Japanese or antique Chinese and Korean pots.
The small pots we make will be fired and returned to us in due course. There will be a nominal fee of $2 per pot
.Attire: BONSAI CASUAL would be suitable for this meeting---that means old clothes and work aprons if you have them---this clay can get a bit messy.
Spotlight Pots: Bring a pot from your collection to share with us...or bring one you have questions about...
We hope you can join us!
______________________________________________________________
We greatly appreciate your donated bonsai items for our monthly meeting raffle! Please call Mark Wazenegger 412-921-0125 if you would like to donate items you no longer want.
Bring a tree to a meeting and receive an extra door prize ticket; and if you bring the type of tree being discussed you'll receive two tickets...wow!
To join
, send your dues to: Pittsburgh BONSAI Societyc/o D.G. Ramsey 103 Dogwood Lane Pittsburgh, PA 15238.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Our Library resources are dwindling due to the fact that items are being checked out, but apparently not returned! This cannot continue...please check your house for books, videos and other reference material you may have forgotten about...our January newsletter will offer another gentle reminder for overdue material--your name will appear under the heading: Bonsai Library --Use it, Don't Abuse it!
Swissvale Classes-
The best things in life are free! And that means the Swissvale classes. Class will not be held November 6th due to the Election. Our last class this season will be November 13th. As you may know, these free classes are conducted by Keith Scott and arranged by Anna Clark every week from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Swissvale Library located at Monongahela & McClure Avenues.From Keith Scott
: Know the plants you have; if not, find out. Hardy trees need a period of dormancy, at least 6 weeks of below 40 degree weather, so you can't bring them into the house. One method of protecting your trees is to plant them, pot and all, in the ground next to your house where they are protected by bushes. Watch out for critter damage. The preferred method is with a poly house or cold frame. If you've never seen one ask around at the next meeting and find someone who can show you one [Donna Ramsey took pictures of hers just for this purpose] Another method of protecting trees during the winter months is to put them in an unheated garage, but be careful not to let them dry out.Should you have a mad desire to repot, restyle, wire, trim, clean up, November is a good time to do it. Observe that none of the above should be done if the subject is frozen! Also, now is the time to spray your bonsai with a general spectrum insecticide to help curb bugs next spring. A fungicide added to the insecticide is always a valuable move.
Looking ahead, February is a good time to do heavy pruning, but don't wait until the tree starts budding because it will need all of its stored energy for spring growth. If that happens, wait until the new leaves have matured before pruning heavily. Otherwise, just sit back and pray for spring.
__________________________________________________________________
PBS Year in Review..."Who said that?"
"How much was that tree? Where did you get it? Do they have any others?"Bob Grealish, Jorge Reyes, and Dan Chinda
"I enjoy seeing a plant change over the years, it's not a short-term thing; and it's very therapeutic, calming, especially in our hectic world today." Kevin Haughey, Bonsai Manager, Phipps Conservatory
"Don't copy the instructor, but rather follow the light that guides him." Jose Cueto's Literati presentation
"We've made so many lasting friendships through bonsai." Jim and Jan Behrenberg, members for 25 years+
"Okay, okay I guess I'll do it again." Claudia Shields agreeing to host our PBS Christmas Dinner, again!
"Need I say the winter sun and wind kill and damage a bonsai, not ice, snow, temperature or gloom of night." Keith Scott
"The year tastes best to those who do not fear the bite of the wind or the drench of the rain."
Clare Leighton, 1935, from our February 2001 newsletter
Learn more about other members in the next newsletter...see you at the meeting!
"In this time of decay in the garden the rhythm of life never stops. The chestnut tree throws off its leaves, exposing where the leaf stem had been attached; but it is the swelling of next year's bud that pushes off the old leaf...Autumn is not the sad time it is supposed to be. Darkness falls at five o'clock, and the garden is cold and wet, but it is a season of planning and expectation. It is now that we plant our bulbs, in itself an act of faith. How then can Autumn be called hopeless? Even the fallen leaf is food for future years of foliage and fruit, and promises next summer an added colour to the flowers."
Clare Leighton, Four Hedges- A Gardener's Chronicle, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1935