The August meeting main program will highlight judging techniques and what judges look for. From 9 to 10: If you can, bring two trees with you, one to work on from 9 to 10 and a second “finished” tree to discuss during the 11-12 hour. From 10 to 11: Raffle, Show and Tell, Business Meeting. The main program will be from 11 to 12. Learning how to judge a tree. Bring a tree that is “finished” or fully wired and styled. Each member will receive a critique sheet and 5 minutes to score a tree. A discussion of the tree and the judging will follow. We will move through each tree the same way. The purpose is to learn what to look for in a well designed tree and how to improve each tree.
BONSAI SOCIETY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Meeting: June 18th
Time: 9 AM
Place: SPALC
9-10 AM: Bring trees to work on or receive help.
10-10:30: Raffle and Show and Tell
10:30-11:30: Program: EVERYONE TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR MUM TO ADD TO A NOTEBOOK. I WILL BRING THE NOTEBOOKS.
Bring the Mums back to add an initial style. Review the basic styles of bonsai to choose a direction for your mum. Be sure to bring scissors and wire cutters. Club will take care of the wire. We will have a discussion on how to clean out the mums as they grow, increasing the sun exposure and fertilizing. NO PRUNING UNTIL JULY MEETING. The growth will increase trunk and limb size. Watch for wire cuts. I will bring some sample sizes of organic Acid fertilizer to use for the next month. Mums require an acidic soil.
NOTE: I will be ordering additional mum cuttings after our June meeting for myself. Anyone who would like to get some more cuttings or 1st time cuttings come prepared to get at least 5 at $20.
11:30-12: Business Meeting
COMING JULY 16th:
1. Mum work
2. Learning to sketch your tree with Phil Krieg. This should be great fun even for those who think they cannot draw. Be brave. Give it a try.
The next part of the program is, hopefully, very exciting. All the Chrysanthemums are
SUPPOSED to arrive the first of that week. I will bring them, the pots, the soil and care
instructions. Sue will bring us some grafting tape to bind the plants. All we will do this
meeting is get the plants bound and potted and go over the care instructions. You will
take them home and give them the needed attention. The first step with a plant species
is to keep it healthy and strong. At our June meeting we will see how the plants are
doing and hopefully, move on to the next step of wiring. HERE’S TO A SUCCESSFUL
NEW ADVENTURE.
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Saturday, July 18th, 9AM, SPALC BUILDING
Summer Intensive continues. I hope most of you received the Ed Trout Critique Sheet that I sent out. I am including another one with this newsletter. This is the sheet we are following to improve our trees.
In June, members brought in trees and we discussed the health of the trees. I hope everyone benefited from the information and the advice was helpful. There was a little bit of design work done but not much.
Toby Diaz from the Miami area will be joining us for this great day. Toby has been doing bonsai for many, many years and is well-respected for his talent and skill throughout Florida. His knowledge working with tropicals is matched by only a few.
This month we are looking at the next 5 items: Balance, Depth, Taper, Movement, and Creativity. Everyone will have a chance to get help from Toby on these specific areas. Remember, you had to participate last month to work with Toby. So bring in a tree, the one from last month or a different one. Bring your tools!
Also, we are providing a pot luck lunch. Everyone bring a dish to share and enjoy a great day of learning and improving our bonsai.
I will see you there. I will have my tree and a food dish. Hope you do too.
Any questions or if you need more info, email me at marthagoff50@comcast.net.
