Special Event @ Filoli – Saturday May 18
by Rita Curbow
Instead of our normal Friday night meeting in May, Kusamura will be hosting “Bonsai Day at Filoli” on Saturday, May 18 from 10AM-4PM. This will be an opportunity for Kusamura to demonstrate the art of bonsai to Filoli visitors along with introducing them to our club. Members of the club who volunteer once a week at Filoli will be on hand to assist with this demonstration.
The activities that day will include the option to observe a morning critique of some of the bonsai in Filoli’s permanent collection, observe a bonsai demonstration in the afternoon, tour the Filoli mansion and gardens, have lunch in the Quail’s Nest Cafe, and shop for potential bonsai material in Filoli’s nursery (part of their Clock Tower Gift Shop).
Bonsai Collection Critique 10:30AM–Noon
This will be a critique of the bonsai in the Filoli collection by Kusamura member Michael Greenstein along with a short history of various trees by Rita Curbow. Members and visitors will be able to ask questions throughout the critique/tour.
One of the new exhibits for this year’s Filoli display is a grove of shimpaku created on an old cherry log from the Filoli property. This bonsai was designed and spearheaded by club member Idris Anderson. Note that this was her first endeavor using a log in a bonsai display and is not the same one she created afterward and displayed at our club show. You’ll definitely want to see it. Support “feet” for the log itself were designed and created by club member Ole Laustsen.
Additional Display of Kusamura Bonsai
We will be displaying up to 10 bonsai from Kusamura members that day. So if you have a bonsai that you would like to display for this event, sign up on our club website. For display, the tree must be available for show from 10AM-4PM and you must bring the tree to Filoli around 9AM so it can be placed accordingly. If you have a tree but can’t make it to Filoli that early or be there at 4PM please let Rita know and she can work with you to find a solution. Or if you think you will need a “wagon brigade” to assist you with bringing in your tree from the Filoli parking lot that morning, please let Rita know in advance.
Note: Boxwoods are used extensively throughout the gardens at Filoli and there is a disease called boxwood blight that is prevalent in the Bay Area. So, members will not be allowed to show a boxwood at this event. Thanks for understanding.
Flowering bonsai will certainly be a hit for the Filoli crowd. But other varieties of bonsai are welcome too. Please let Rita know if you have a stand for the tree or if you need her to find one for you. She will handle getting the stand to the event if she is providing it. Also, if you know you have a SHOW display card for your tree, let Rita know and she will ask Charlene to make it available that day. Visitors will appreciate knowing a little history of the tree so feel free to provide additional photos or a write-up if you like.
Show trees must be brought to Filoli around 9AM so they can be placed prior to Filoli’s opening.
In addition to the trees on display, we will have club literature available for visitors to pick up.
Afternoon Bonsai Demo 1:30PM-3PM
Three bonsai selected from the Filoli collection will be worked on under the guidance of Michael Greenstein. Visitors will get to observe and ask questions about a number of bonsai techniques such as wiring, styling, promoting branch ramification, creating a jin or shari, repotting, etc.
Volunteers Needed
We will also need volunteers to help man the tree display tables throughout the day. We will announce how you can volunteer for that via our website once we have that set up. Note that this is a great way to volunteer for Kusamura, promote the club and the art of bonsai, and enjoy interacting with Filoli visitors at the same time. I know there are some of you who joined the club after seeing us at Filoli in years past! Members, please visit this page to sign up..
Location
All activities will take place on the Dining Terrace or the lawn area that is adjacent.
Filoli is located at:
86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA 94062
Monthly Tasks
Each month there are a number of tasks you need to do to your bonsai – from repotting, to fertilizing to spraying for pests. We have put together a checklist, customized for the San Francisco Bay Area to help you. This checklist is adapted from earlier work by Mitsuo Umehara.
This month: May Tasks
Intermediate Workshop – Saturday, May 25
by Dave Curbow
May is a great time to clean up work on Maple and other deciduous trees to remove extra growth and cut large leaves in half to slow down the growth.
Location, Time and Cost
We will be meeting in the rear parking lot of St Mark’s Episcopal Church – our usual location for monthly meetings.
Please be there at 12:45PM ready to setup tables and get to work soon afterwards. We will start cleaning up at 3:45PM.
To help offset the cost of renting this facility we are asking everyone who attends to donate by using the on the event page.
Highlights and Gratitude for our Annual Show
by Idris Anderson Show Chair ‘24
Mike Pistello demoing cork bark oak
Some trees at our 2024 Show
Our 2024 show succeeded in offering both experienced and novice members an opportunity to present a few of their best trees in a formal Japanese display. It was wonderful to be all together again at Addison School—what a beautiful space for beautiful people and their beautiful trees!
First, some statistics:
Over 60 displays of trees were on the floor plus the beautiful and unusual display of Kusamono assembled by Barbara Phillips, Christine Weigen, Jenn Tan, and JC Zhang.Barbara Phillips’ desert bonsai display was most innovative.
A large black pine root-over-rock was on loan to us from Filoli House and Gardens Bonsai Collection. Special thanks to Jim Salyards for granting permission for us to show this 150-year-old tree.
24 members displayed at least one tree.
Nearly 400 visitors attended the show. Charlene Fischer had a visitor from Flagstaff, Arizona, Barbara Phillips had a visitor from Portland, and bonsai master Tom Vuong and his wife Hanna Vuong from the Anaheim area, guests of Steve Iwaki, also attended.
Several small dogs escorted visitors.
Gross proceeds, including consignment sales, reported by our treasurer Hal Jerman—from sale of trees, pots, and tools--exceeded our gross total from 2023, a record total for the club. We had a major consignment donation of pots and trees from Donna Farmar. We are grateful to her for this gift to the club.
As a “Teaching Club” we wanted to include opportunities for visitors and members to learn more about bonsai, and so we thank:
Mile Pistillo working on tree
Mike Pistello, our headliner, not only talked us through his styling of a large corkbark oak bonsai but also provided a show critique, from which we all learned. The large oak was auctioned off. Matt Spain was the lucky bidder. He knows he got a bargain for this majestic oak.
Richard and Barbara Phillips whose demonstration on Sunday enlightened us all about landscape plantings. Richard talked us through the assembly of the parts of the landscape while Barbara and JC did the work. The landscape was raffled off to a fascinated crowd of attendees.
Andy Mayhew along with his crew, includingManshu Verma, Maryann Hinden, Christine Weigen, Henk Harkema,Lovisa and Vigo Laustsen, Paticia Lee, Gianne Souza, and others, were in the Children’s Corner helping visitors of all ages create accent plants to take home. They had so many visitors, they ran out of pots!
John Mekisich secured gift certificate donations from Lyngso and Summer Winds. We are grateful to these garden suppliers for sponsoring our show.
Gordon Deeg, for his extraordinary trees, and his service as Doctor Bonsai, with noble assistance by Steve Iwaki.
Docent tours of the show were conducted on Saturday and Sunday by Charlene Fischer, Steve Iwaki, and Christine Weigen. Other members became impromptu docents for visitors who asked questions and wanted to know more. Visitors learned about individual trees, their histories, and bonsai techniques.
Paticia Lee and Gianne Souza, both new members, were there all three days and wore many hats. They seemed to be present everywhere, anytime. We also welcomed help from new member Mitsuko Morgan Banks, who was pinned with her new badge even as she was in the line of duty at the reception desk. New member Molly Gibian also helped on the reception desk.
Idris Anderson updated the red-dot, now the gold-dot booklet keying the language of bonsai to specific trees—for visitors to learn about various bonsai styles, techniques, and terminology.
White Pine
We are always amazed at how generous our members are with their time. The tasks always get done! Many volunteers were there for all three days. It was especially gratifying to see the enthusiasm of the newer members, showing their trees and volunteering for any and every kind of task. Extra thanks to the following who headed up special teams:
Charlene Fischer and Marsha Mekisich: our Show Curators for floor design, tree inventory, aesthetics of placement and set up, ably assisted again this year by Sean Morris. Charlene’s assignment of places for trees, in advance of the Saturday morning arrival, facilitated the setup this year and was greatly appreciated by all members showing trees.
Hal Jerman and his sales team, especially John Mekisich and Katherine Glassey, worked almost non-stop before, during, and after the show opened and closed. Michael Greenstein once again assisted Hal in pricing trees. Hal and Lynne O’Dell priced many boxes of pots.
Ren You, Steve Jensen, Christoph Dressel, Lynne O’Dell, and Steve Jensen picked up and returned show materials from storage areas at Lynne O’Dell’s house.
Sean Morris and Christine Weigen retrieved bonsai stands from Sean’s storage.
Idris Anderson and Hal Jerman designed and constructed the new backdrops, backdrop frames, tablecloths, and runners, along with Lynne O’Dell (cutter and seamster) and Katherine Glassey (seamster), and advice from the Backdrop Committee, including Hal, Lynne, Charlene, Maryann Hinden, and Idris. Many thanks to The Board for approving funding for this project.
Gabriel Lobo was lead on assembly of new backdrops at Friday night set-up. Lynne O’Dell and Charlene Fischer were leads on assembly of the old backdrops. The set up was accomplished in record time.
Jenn Tan and JC Zhang at the Reception desk were multi-tasking with all their experience and knowledge.
John Mekisich and Jenn Tann placed flags and other signage.
Dave Curbow, assisted by Gabriel Lobo, took care of all things tech. JC Zhang provided background music.
Dave Curbow again deserves special thanks for web design on Kusamura’s Members Only Online, including the sign up feature—tons of hours of work.
Melinda Murray, Richard Murray, and Steve Jensen, Hospitality and Food,kept us well-hydrated and nourished in the Members Room. It was all so delicious! Many members also provided desserts for our enjoyment. Jenn Tan did her usual run on Friday night for pizza to supply a hungry worker-bee crowd.
A Happy Customer
Katherine Glassey and Gianne Souza, both class acts, handled the benefit drawings and raffle.
Aaron Alvarez Mendoza, our photographer, and his able assistant Catherine Iwaki, along with Charlene Fischer, Marsha Mekisich, Christine Weigen, Gabriel Lobo and othersmanaged tophotograph our treeson Sunday morning before the show opened.
Christoph Dressel, Charlene Fischer, Sean Morris, and Lynne O’Dell: storage facilities for show materials throughout the year.
Royal Hansen publicity, no doubt a significant factor in our increased attendance this year. Among his many other placements of information for our show, he managed to secure cover photo publicity in MountainHome, a publication for Woodside and Portola Valley, with Lynne O’Dell’s photo on the cover and inside her story of our show and her own bonsai history.
Idris Anderson, who corralled the talents and sweat equity of our membership, who booked things, made calls and emails, ran herd on other things, detected gaps and plugged them, now thanks everyone who made it happen.
Special thanks to Jeff Downing and Melinda Zschietzschmann of Addison School for their endorsement of our show and assistance with details. We hope we can build on our relationship with Addison and continue there next year.
Extra special thanks to Lynne O’Dell, Charlene Fischer, and Hal Jerman—for extraordinary above-the-call-of-duty service and on-call advice and support throughout the year.
Yes, it was a lot of work but we had so much fun getting to know each other better, beaming proudly, and talking bonsai!
Participant in Kids Corner
Recommended Videos - Summer Pruning Techniques
by Idris Anderson
After foliage hardens off in late spring, we can begin pruning our trees and can continue to do so into the early fall. We prune for different reasons; techniques may vary from one species to another. One technique is to defoliate either fully or partially to produce smaller leaves and to help with ramification, that is, smaller internodes and more frequent branching. There are other techniques for producing more ramification, all discussed in this first blog and the four videos below. It’s summer! Get out your pruning shears. Use them often to refine your trees.
Pruning Bonsai
https://www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/styling/pruning
Good basic information about maintenance pruning and structural pruning. The image about ¾ down of a tree and where branches should be trimmed is really helpful.
Bonsai Defoliation Techniques
Bjorn Bjorholm | Bonsai-U
12 minutes 43 seconds | May 3, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM5TFxGIL5c&ab_channel=Eisei-enBonsaiKyoto
Bjorn discusses and demonstrates what he calls “partial outer canopy defoliation” on a trident maple, Chinese quince, and flowering apricot. Thorough, clear, exact. Lots of excellent information. Best timing is when leaves harden off, which is around May or June.
Japanese Maple Defoliation
Colin Tomlinson | Greenwood Bonsai UK
18 minutes 37 seconds | June 9, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umg81FCKSf8&ab_channel=GreenwoodBonsai
Another good video on defoliation. Colin has become one of my go-to bonsai professionals. I try not to miss any of his videos.
Cork Elm Bonsai Ramification Techniques
Michael Roberts | Baikoen Bonsai Club
34 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sp2S_Hf6GQ
Arguably the best deciduous master, Michael Roberts talks about ramification techniques for cork bark elms and oaks. He prunes for winter silhouettes, so his main focus is ramification. He is an expert.
The Ramifications of Elm Bonsai Ramification
Eric Schrader | Bonsaify
6 minutes 15 seconds | April 30, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0a2vcE6IpQ
Eric talks frankly about mistakes and successes—so helpful.