Club News - March 2018

Meeting - March 16 @ 7PM

Show Prep and Accent Plants Program

by Charlene Fischer

The focus during the first part of the March meeting will be preparation for our upcoming show. Charlene Fischer will have a slide show to explain the tasks and process as well as a short introduction of how she got into bonsai as well as some snapshots from previous shows. Lynne O’Dell will assist by setting up one of her trees in a Tokonoma style and obtaining feedback on the display. The second half of our program will be a demonstration of preparing small accent plants. Charlene and Lynne will be preparing several small accent plants to be included in the raffle table.

2018 Annual Show

Saturday April 21 (Noon to 5PM) – Sunday April 22 (11AM-5PM) with setup on Friday April 20 (5PM-9PM) at Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto 

Our guest demonstrators are Laura and Darren Wong on Saturday. Demo on Sunday is by club members who will be working on creating small Penjing or rock plantings. The club will provide materials for the demo on Sunday, but we are looking for at least two people to do the demo. Demos run for about ninety minutes.

Participating at Our Show - contact Charlene Fischer

Please contact the Show Chair, Charlene Fischer to add your name to any of the jobs or to ask questions on what is needed. Please sign up for at least one task if you are able.

These are the activities in which volunteers are needed:

• Friday Setup and Plant Pricing:  5PM - 9:30PM
• Saturday Setup: 8AM–NOON
• Sunday Breakdown/Strike: 5PM–7PM
• Hosts (Reception Lobby, Exhibit Area): Saturday, 11:30AM–5PM
• Hosts (Reception Lobby, Exhibit Area): Sunday, 10AM–5PM
• Kitchen (Kitchen & Dining Room Setup): Saturday/Sunday, 10AM–5PM
• Plant Sale (Sale Table, Sale Area): Saturday, 11:30AM–5PM
• Plant Sale (Sale Table, Sale Area): Sunday, 10AM–5PM
• Door Prize and Benefit Drawing Ticket Sales:  Saturday, 1:30-3PM
• Door Prize and Benefit Drawing Ticket Sales:  Sunday, 1:30-3PM
• Kids Corner:  Saturday, 12-4PM
• Kids Corner:  Sunday, 11AM-3PM

Stands Available from the Plantings Prior to Show

John and Sandy are offering their stands, scrolls, and scroll illustrations for use at our show but you need to borrow them before the show because they will not be bringing everything to the show. Call them to schedule a time to go by and borrow a stand and possibly other items for your tree. Take your tree with you so they can help you make the right selection.

Club Owned Stands Available at Saturday Show Setup - contact Sean Morris

Sean Morris will bring club owned stands on Saturday morning for use at the show. There are many larger stands available but only a few smaller ones. Visit our website to determine what is available. 

Show Tree Display Cards - contact Charlene Fischer

Members are asked to prepare at least one and as many as three displays for show this year. Contact Charlene Fischer to let her know what trees you plan to show. 

For each of your trees, please provide the following information:

1. Common name.
2. Botanical name (if you don't know, Charlene will look it up for you)
3. “Trained Since” Year
4. Normally your first name will also be on the card but can be left off if you prefer. Shohin displays will have a simple list of the trees rather than individual cards.
5. Story of you tree. If you have an interesting story about your tree of display, let Charlene know. Our visitors will find it interesting to learn more about our trees or about why we do bonsai as they stroll through our show, 

Consignment Sales - contact Hal Jerman

Offering trees for sale via consignment at out annual sale is another way to thin your collection and benefit the club at the same time. 

Kids Corner - contact Barbara Phillips

Last year this was such a hit so we will be introducing bonsai to our young visitors again this year. We will have tables and chairs setup with pre-planted bonsai ready for some simple wiring. The goal is to inspire children about bonsai as a fun hobby.

Recap of Our February Meeting

Jonas Dupuich did a fabulous job showing us how we can improve our wiring. Jonas said that while bonsai is an old art form using wire to shape trees is relatively recent. One hundred years ago trees would have had weights attached to branches that needed to be shaped. That approach is used when training Niwaki - trees in a Japanese garden. However, weights and guy wires can’t produce the complex twists and turns that wiring can. That’s why being able to wire a tree is a crucial skill to produce complex and beautiful bonsai.

Many people dislike wiring. They think it’s hard to wire properly, but really there are just a few questions you need to be able to answer:

1. What size should I use?
2. Which branches should be wired together? 
3. How tightly should I wire? 
4. Should the wire be put on clockwise or counterclockwise? 
5. When I come to a junction, one branch splitting into two, how do I wire that? 
6. How long should I leave the wire on the tree? Wire that is left on too long will mark the tree’s bark because the tree grows over time.

Clockwise or Counterclockwise?

The answer depends on which direction you need to twist the branch. Of course one part of the branch may need to go down, while another needs to go up or left. In that case you may switch directions at a “Y”.

Begin by securing the wire at the trunk or the part of the branch that’s closest to the trunk. Assuming that you’re right handed, hold the wire with your left hand and then use your right hand to curl the wire around the branch. As you wrap the wire around the branch your right hand would add a curve to the wire. The wire should be tight enough that you can move the branch with the wire, but not so tight that it will mark the bark in just a couple of months of growth. You often hear people talk about spacing the “turns” around the branch so that when you look at the different loops of wire it looks like a 45-degree angle. Jonas reports that in his experience a sixty degree angle (a bit further between the loops) is better.

Actually, it’s a bit more complicated. You really need to identify the spots on the branch where it needs to move (up, down, left, right) and arrange so that a loop of wire will apply pressure on the branch to move it in the desired directions. Look first at the place where the branch splits. You will want to move at least one of the splits in some direction. So, assume that you want the split branch to move down. You’ll want a wire to be on top of the branch just behind the split (to anchor) and then past the split to hold the wire down.

When there’s a “Y” shape you don’t want to wire the two together - at first. Instead you wire one side with a wire that is attached to another branch. Because you should start wiring with the largest wire you’ll need on a branch, you’ll be wiring close to the trunk first. As you wire from the trunk outwards, the end of the wire will be applied to one leg of the wire. Then apply a second wire from the first branch to the second branch. At the intersection lay the wire on top of the branches and hold it tightly to the branch. Now wrap a couple of loops on one branch to anchor the wire in place. Now wrap a couple of loops to the second branch. Look at the result to make sure they are in the right place. Now add a couple more loops and check they they’re in the right place. Because you don’t want the new wire to cross over the existing wire, you can tell which direction the new wire should loop. Having the wires loop in opposite directions on the two branches generally works better than having the loops going in the same direction. Because you’re usually bending the branch down, you’ll want the first loop of wire to be on top of the branch. 

Aluminum or Copper?

Aluminum wire can apply about 1/3 the pressure that copper does. When you have trees that need a lot of pressure it is easier to use copper. But, on deciduous trees which can have quick growth spurts you may want to use aluminum wire. Because aluminum is weaker you’ll need to use larger wire - the larger diameter will be less likely to mark than a small wire. Jonas provided a handout containing two articles he’s written on basic wiring. In case you missed getting a copy you can see those articles on his website at www.bonsaitonight.com. Great job Jonas! 

Newsletter Editor: Rita Curbow