The Bonsai News of Houston A Monthly Newsletter of the Houston Bonsai Society Inc.

Volume 49 Number 12 December 2018

IN THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Events HBS Annual Pot Luck Christmas dinner & Gift Exchange

Showcase of the Month Near a Shinto temple, ripe laugh and dance with the icy winter wind (Photo: Pinterest) Persimmons The next meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society will be our last meeting at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion in Hermann Park, 1500 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77004. Dinner starts at 7:15 PM.

December Bonsai Care Wednesday, December 5 HBS Annual Christmas Pot Luck Dinner & John Miller Chinese Gift. The club will furnish a turkey, a ham, drinks, plates and utensils. Please bring your family and your favorite salads, vegetables and desserts to share. To participate in the gift exchange, bring a bonsai or non-bonsai related gift, around $20-25 in value. If you bring one present President’s Letter for the gift exchange, you will take one home. If your family brings 3 presents, you’ll take 3 presents home.

Please make a note that this meeting will be HBS last meeting at this Houston Bonsai Society & location. Starting January 2019, the meeting venue will be The Trini Houston Chinese Bonsai Society Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston, TX 77055, on Fall Joint Show the first Saturday of the month. Board of directors meeting starts at 9AM, at Memorial City Mall refreshments at 10AM and the monthly program at 10:15 till 12 Noon.

Photos Upcoming Events More in Calendar of Events Saturday, December 1, HBS Saturday Study Group, 9 AM - 12 PM at Maas Nursery, 5511 Todville Road, Seabrook, 77586. Free, refreshments provided.

Good As Bonsai? Saturday, December 8, Bonsai Basics #2 - Styling and wiring (but no

repotting) - Timeless , 8AM - 1 PM, $60 including a (Ficus, boxwood, juniper, or Podocarpus), wire cutters, hand-out and wire. Everyone goes home

with a styled tree.

December Bonsai Care The LSBF state convention in Houston, from April 11 to 14, 2019, will be a joint convention with the American Bonsai Society. In addition to the 14 workshops, there are 12 seminars at no extra cost to you. These very different seminars and great learning experiences are staggered, so you can attend all of them. Hope you will find some good material at the vendors’ booths to add to your collection. It is hard to find such decent material in a landscape nursery.

Persimmons If your club has a club dig scheduled, be a part of it. There are many places where you can find one or two specimen to dig, in town as well as in the country. The problem is finding a place with enough material to take the whole club. If you know of a possible location or have a friend with some land (it doesn’t have to be very close), tell one of the officers about it. This comes under the heading of ‘be an active member’. The rest of the group, especially your program chairman, will appreciate it.

The big thing this month is to protect the bonsai roots from freezing and to make sure that the don’t dry out. Do not leave them up on the benches. Know which can be left outdoors. Both evergreen types and should not have the root ball subjected to alternate freezing and thawing. This process tends to cause irreversible damage the roots. To minimize this problem, trees in pots may be set directly on the ground, preferably not in the ground. Add a dense mulch to the pot rim and then add a looser mulch on top.

Deciduous trees should not be placed where they receive winter sun. After they go dormant, they don’t need sunlight. However, after a short period of dormancy, solar heat may cause them to break dormancy prematurely. If that happens, you would need to keep them above freezing the rest of the winter or in the greenhouse.

While the trees are dormant, examine the twigs, branches, and trunks carefully for scale insects. These are sucking insects that usually cover themselves with a hard impervious shell that is very resistant to insecticides. Some are pretty small and look like specks. You might want to search online for ‘bonsai scale insects’ for photos. Horticultural oils available at garden stores work well by filling their pores and smothering them. Oils can be applied now for thorough coverage while the trees are dormant. Another way is to use a systemic insecticide (make sure it is labeled for scale) during the growing season.

Since the trees are not using as much water during dormancy, it is easy to forget to check on them. The low humidity in winter tends to leave the dry, yet the winter sun can still heat up the pots, if it shines directly on them. Winter also brings frequent cold winds which would hasten the drying process as well. Therefore, however you protect your trees, check for dryness often, especially those that usually need more water in the summer. I have lost more trees during the winter due to insufficient

watering than from the cold or freeze. be careful, since standing in water, your plants may develop soil problems, such as root rot or fungal Keep an eye on the plants that will need repotting next diseases. I basically use the same control in the spring. The circling roots that fill up their pots no greenhouse as the ones outside all year. longer have soil to hold water, while those in soil mix with decomposed organic matter may remain soggy. Take advantage of the winter slowdown by getting Organic matter broken down during the summer into your pots ready for spring repotting, clean and fine texture may clog the drainage holes, causing sharpen your tools, study your trees to see what water log and root rot. changes you would like to make, so on and so forth. Make notes of what needs to be done and place a Plants have different degrees of top growth and root colored stake or ribbon on the trees, to jog your hardiness. The ground is a large reservoir of heat that memory in the spring on what needs to be done. I use keeps the soil in pots warm. In the coldest winters, red for repotting using the same pots, purple for a new Texas soil seldom freezes more than an inch or two pot, yellow for serious major pruning, orange for down. Therefore, plants in pots like pomegranate and restyling, etc. These decisions can be made early crepe myrtle (which are at the northern extent of their during the year, while doing your general routine work. range outside) will remain hardy up to 32 degrees.

Any , whose hardiness you are unsure of, should John Miller be protected from freezing. This can be a problem John Miller, who writes a monthly column for the Bonsai because if they are not kept cool after they go Society of Dallas and Fort Worth Bonsai Society, has agreed dormant, they will break dormancy and start to grow to share his column with us. We need to make adjustments as soon as the weather warms up. Uncontrolled for our warmer and damper climate, with earlier springs, spindly growth in insufficient light weakens the trees. longer summers, late fall and erratic winters.

My best solution is to keep the bonsai on a long platform on wheels. I keep those hardy plants outside all the times but bring them in the garage only on nights when freezing was forecast. President’s The cold weather will keep most insect problems Letter under control outside, however do use a dormant oil spray to kill over-wintering insets and eggs. Diluted With the holiday season upon us once again, lime-sulfur can be sprayed on deciduous trees with no it’s time to check the weather forecast every green foliage left to control fungal spores. Liquid lime day to make sure the environment our tender sulfur is the caustic agent we use to bleach jin and plants are in is appropriate to what’s coming. shari, so use it with extreme caution. Dilute it per Watering also becomes less frequent, but directions on the bottle. If used as a dormant spray, every bit as important, so monitor your plants only apply it to fully dormant deciduous trees with tight regularly. winter buds, but avoid spraying on warm windy days.

Watch out for damage caused by rodents such as Don’t forget that our January meeting will be rabbits, squirrels, possums and rats. They can held on January 5th at 10:00 AM at the Trini seriously strip your , branches and tree in Mendenhall Community Center. The center in short order or remove soil from your pots, leaving the located at 1414 Wirt Road which is about a bonsai roots to die. mile north of I-10 and about ½ mile outside the 610 loop. For information on the center, Bonsai in greenhouses or indoor bonsai will need to see their website at be watched for the normal indoor problems, such as http://www.pct3.com/Community- low humidity, spider mites and scales. To keep the Centers/Mendenhall-Community-Center humidity high, place the trees on a humidity trays but

Any change like the change in meeting time and the move to the community center venue will impact different members of HBS differently. For some, this new time will make is easier to attend meetings and the longer meeting time will make it possible to broaden our slate of programs. For others, it will be more difficult and for a few, even impossible to attend. I want to acknowledge what some of you are going through as you try to Anthony Cutola sharing his passion with a visitor maintain your interest in bonsai, in spite of new conflicts. If you can think of ways in which we can make this change more successful for you, I would really like to hear about it.

If you haven’t registered for next year’s convention here in Houston, you should take some time to get on the HBS website and register. The planning committee has put together one of the best programs I have ever A show stopper displayed with its “baby photo” seen at a bonsai convention, but you need to get registered to ensure that you can A great collection of participate in the events that interest you gorgeous kusamono with a happy mix of festive colors most. Workshops spots in particular are and plants filling up and over ¼ of the workshops are already full.

Pete Parker

Houston Bonsai Society & Houston Chinese Bonsai Society

Fall 2018 Joint Show

As promised in the November issue, here are some more photos of the bonsai and accent plants displayed on October 13 and 14, at our Houston A Chinese Bonsai Society’s and its sister Houston Chinese elm dragon, Bonsai Society’s Joint Fall Show at Memorial City styled in Mall. the Lingnan technique, is ready to These bonsai and kusamono are only a few of the 44 soar to the displays of trees and kusamono, a wonderful effort by celestial both societies. The amazement in the eyes of the heavens. shoppers passing by was a joyous spectacle in itself.

A fabulous ficus cascade and a realistic windswept yaupon

Many faces, like Chris Logan and Clyde Holt, beaming with bonsai joy

A couple of bonsai teachers ready for live demos…

… and Soon Chueh, our local Kusamono instructor who have been working so hard to spread the Kusamono joy to the bonsai communities

We have Dr. Hoe and Soon, Alex Leong, and many members of HBS and HCBS to thank for such a fun A nice mix of Chinese and Japanese styled trees and successful show in a gorgeous venue.

Many thanks to those who spent the week-end introducing visitors to the Art of Bonsai, as well as bringing the trees, getting ready the tables, and clearing the atrium area as well as cleaning up afterwards.

Hope to see more beautiful bonsai and grass accents from the other talented artists of HBS and HCBS next Fall.

Shawn Nguyen

way) and artificially ripened them in the rice bin or in lime water for some undetermined length of time. I could not wait to taste the finished product, so one day, I sneaked in the rice storage bin to steal one, Persimmon then hid in a closet to devour it. My ignorance at the time did not prepare me for the mouth-puckeringly Good as bonsai? tartness and bitterly painful accident. The lesson I learned that day: Unripe persimmon is the most horrible thing to eat! It sucked the spit right out of my mouth with its . The astringent latex - like sap did a pretty good job gluing my lips, my mouth and teeth together. In my terror, I had no choice to run find my grandma and ask her to save me. Without a word, she dragged me straight to the rice bin, reached inside, pushed the other green persimmons aside, then grabbed a handful of dry rice. To my horror, she stuffed it all in my open mouth, rubbed it on my gum, teeth, even inside my cheeks. As if that wasn’t enough punishment, she rubbed more on my lips and around my mouth. I This morning, I opened my window to let in some tried to beg her for mercy, but the pain robbed me fresh air, only to catch a glimpse of the commotion of my voice. My tears or desperation started to outside. Two black birds loudly chased a squirrel stream out uncontrollably, which somehow stopped determined to steal the last persimmon from my the torture. In a stern voice, she asked me to spit the tree. They all lost the battle when I decided to save rice out. “Either rice or sand!” that was all she said. I the . It’s hard to believe, from hundreds of didn’t dare speak a single word, but thought to in the spring, less than a dozen fruits myself: Sugar would have done the same job if all remained on the tree till August. In spite of all my that exercise was to collect the glue, but at least it efforts to hide these precious tree jewels from would leave me with some sweetness to camouflage hungry thieves flocking in from land and sky, in the awful tart aftertaste. I was not sure if it was the spite of the foam cages, brown paper bags, latex or the rice that left my face and mouth red and aluminum foil wraps and (my last and desperate raw for a couple of weeks, perhaps both. attempt) blinking solar Christmas lights, only one singular fruit remained on the branch till October of this year. To put an end to my resentment towards “God’s wild creatures” who co-habit my garden, I decided to leave the last fruit alone, while savoring perfectly beautiful persimmons of many varieties bought from Asian supermarkets.

A month later, on Lunar New Year day, my grandmother handed me a plate of strange grey- colored buns. Before I could figure out what they were, she brought me a knife and instructed me to remove the dry woody calyx in the middle, cut the The four most popular varieties available in U.S. markets today bun in small pieces, then remove the before bringing the plate back to her. It was then that I Persimmons have always been my favorite snack realized that the intensively sweet, gooey and chewy since I was a kid growing up in Viet Nam. My date-like pieces I ate before were not candies, but grandmother often purchased green ones from the dried persimmons. It wasn’t until recently that I market (the astringent kind - I found out the hard discovered how dried persimmons (called Hoshigaki

in Japan) were cleaned and hung to dry in the sun What happened to my prematurely harvested fruits? and the wind, then massaged to bring their sugars to Since I never did complete my lesson from grandma the outside. The frost like sugar coating was natural on how to properly cure green Hachiya persimmons, fructose. The process requires so many steps and those ended up as rubber balls in the compost pile. much intensive labor was involved, making dried persimmons a rare delicacy relished by many Back in Houston, I discovered a wider selection of cultures around the world. If someone ever offers persimmon trees at JRN II. Thuy Doan, the owner one leathery, wrinkled, funny looking dried took the time to walk me through her well stocked persimmon to you, take it! It’s incredibly delicious! fruit tree nursery and described how the fruit of each of those varieties’ taste like. That’s the only part I was interested in at the time. I chose the Fuyu, tree with non-astringent (very important) fruits that resembles an orange-colored baby pumpkin, so I can eat them like an apple while still firm and crunchy.

The most widely cultivated of the family and the genus are the Asian or Japanese persimmon with edible fruit, . The few trees of the Diospyros genus that don’t belong to non-persimmon species, are mostly grown for high quality dark timber. The words "dios" (δῐος) and "pyron" (πῡρον) from ancient Greek are often mis-construed as "divine fruit, fruit of the Gods or God's pear", but after finding out the true meaning, most folks still cling to that poetic belief.

Of the hundreds of persimmons varieties cultivated in the United States, there are only two most sought after as food, the Fuyu and the Hachiya. Actually, none of the fruits of the persimmon family should be eaten green, especially Hachiya, the kind growing in my first backyard. The in the leathery skin A rare Pumpkin Persimmon bonsai as well as the latex from the green pulp can seal one’s mouth better than Gorilla glue. That’s was After my move to the U.S., I had the good fortune to exactly what happened to my two in-laws and to build my first house with a huge backyard I intended myself as a kid. I wished I was able to catch them in to turn into an Asian Garden of Eden. My search for time to spare them the agony I went through. Asian fruit trees took me to Banting nursery, (Yes, it was Vaughn Banting’s family business), where I got Flat and non-astringent, my first persimmon tree. In the shadow of big trees, Fuyu can be enjoyed the 4- foot tree did not grow tall, only wide, with both when firm like an elegantly weeping branches. In the third year, it apple or very ripe. started putting out thousands of fruits in the spring, but by September, only a couple hundreds remained. The fruits kept growing bigger and bigger, and the branches kept drooping lower and lower. I quickly built a wooden frame to support the tree and its heavy load. That year, I invited my in-laws to come for Thanksgiving dinner. My mother and sister-in- law walked in the front door and directly out to the Elongated oval shaped garden to check on my picture perfect tree. In a and astringent if still blink of an eye, when I was not looking, they green, Hachiya can only stripped the entire tree. But just one bite into one be eating very ripe fruit told them they shouldn’t have done so. when soft like pudding.

When Hachiya persimmon is perfectly ripe, its red providing the thyroid with much needed iodine to skin turns to a dark burgundy with black streaks of function optimally. sugar burned by the sun. Its pulp softens to a liquid and silky smooth gelatinous goo. The Persimmon connoisseurs patiently wait until they are full ripe to eat it with a spoon, but never before it’s time.

Lately, a new gorgeous Fuyu look-alike appeared on the market, the Organic Sweet Pumpkin Persimmon. It is even sweeter than a Fuyu, a bit smaller, and eaten firm and crisp, like an apple. Its thinner skin can be eaten, so no need to peel it, however I personally don’t recommend doing so. The second look-alike offspring is the smaller version of Hachiya, the Saijo, same shape and color, just a bit smaller and sweeter.

Ornamental chili-pepper like tart persimmon bonsai

What can you make with persimmons? The soft variety like Hachiya blends well with ice cream, pudding, breads, cookies, sauces, chutneys, relish, smoothies and even candies.

Fuyu and other firm varieties are best eaten fresh like an apple, chopped for salsa, sliced as part of a salad, baked into pies and let’s not forget, dried as a delicious snack.

Throughout the world’s culinary history, the best chefs and cooks have found countless creative ways to feature the nutritious and delicious persimmons. Like most children, I prefer to eat them fresh.

For more fabulous health benefits with persimmons, check out this website: http://health.facty.com/food/nutrition/eat-persimmon- An American Persimmon () fruit-for-these-fabulous-health- benefits/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=c- Persimmons not only are beautiful, they are also search&utm_term=%2Bpersimon&utm_campaign=f-h- delicious and nutritious. health-benefits-of-persimmon- Most people like their bright orange color and their fruit&msclkid=1db4405f717b17a199f21c5fa96d049a mildly sweet flavor that compliments most cuisines. Others praise their nutrient-rich powerhouse and Now the big question: Are persimmon trees good as medicinal values, being high in vitamins A, B and C, bonsai? especially rich in antioxidants that help protect us Bonsai persimmon tree!!! That’s how I threatened from the damaging effects of high-stress job, from my persimmon tree in the ground, when it didn’t some mental problems as well as the common cold grow fast enough or failed to bear fruits. In truth, or flu. most of the common persimmons found at local nurseries make fruits way too large to reduce as Not many foods are rich in iodine, but surprisingly bonsai. Most of Japanese Persimmon Shohin we persimmons can make that claim. Hence they can admire in bonsai books or in Japanese exhibits with help keep thyroid-related health problems at bay by gorgeous chili-pepper size crop are Princess

persimmons, the smallest of the family and perhaps the prettiest of all.

Diospyros rhombifolia or Princess Persimmon (also called Diamond- persimmon) are a dioecious genus. So both male and female trees are needed to produce fruits. A relatively cold hardy plant, this fabulously ornamental persimmon bears abundant tiny orange colored fruits. Rumor has it that this Princess Persimmon looks better than she tastes. Others believe that her small, dry fruits remain very astringent even when very ripe, in short they are inedible.

The tree is a beautiful ornamental. The large glossy turn bright red every fall. After the leaves dropped away orange fruits hang like red lanterns on the tree.

A good way to start the seeds is to plant them in damp soilless mix in 8-inch pots, in a controlled temperature around 70 - 75 F. Expect a shoot in 1 -6 weeks. Keep the soil damp during seedling and sapling development, in a warm, sunny spot. After the first year, the sapling can be transferred to well-

draining, acidic sandy or loam. Soil requirements: Persimmons are well adapted to a wide variety of soil types. They are tolerant of wet The persimmon is an easy to grow, resilient fruit but also do well in light sandy soils, and can tree that yields an abundance of delicious fruit every withstand high heat, cold, brief droughts as well year. By cross breeding persimmons around the excess rain, once established. In short, persimmons world, from Southeast Asia to India, from South are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow. America to Eastern Europe, excellent cultivars of superb quality have been grown for millennia, both Pests: They have almost no pest or disease for food and beauty, in the ground or in pots. problems.

Pruning: They can be kept small with judicious pruning. After the initial styling, pruning should be limited to light thinning or removal of excessive growth because persimmons and bear fruit on the current season’s growth.

Stratification and storage: persimmon seeds require a 2 to 3-month period of chilling at 35 - 50 degrees before planting. This process of keeping persimmon seeds moist for germination is called stratification. It softens the seed coat and facilitates growth. Seeds can be mixed in with damp sand or placed in a plastic bag, in between layers of damp moss. Keep the bag open when possible to allow for air circulation. Jonas Dupuich wrote a great blog on A possum caught savoring ripe persimmons in an oil painting this topic. at the 5th US National Exhibit in 2017 - (Photo: Bill Valavanis)

As large as the largest grape, the apricot sized fruits are ready to be picked when they turn dark purple or black. They can be eaten fresh or made into a jam or pudding. Their mildly sweet, clear pulp has a nice gelatinous texture of grapes. The two Texas persimmon bonsai I got from Chuck Ware did bear fruits two years in a row. One day, a huge blackbird perched on the tree to peck at the ripe fruits. Its weight broke the top branches, but that tree survived. The second bonsai was knocked off the shelf another day and the pot broke. The tree died. So make sure you protect your persimmon bonsai in fruit from pests.

Persimmons can tolerate and adapt to a wide range of climates. Persimmon bonsai of all species have stiff leaves, but branches of the female tree droop more like willows than the male, perhaps to

When the Japanese kaki cultivar, originally from accommodate the heavier load when fruiting. Most China, Nepal and Korea, arrived on the West Coast, grow slowly in shade but faster in full sun, but it was grown successfully in California and Oregon, overall, they are quite resilient to extreme hot and but in the past decades, it has surprisingly adapted cold climates. to the Texas’ hot and humid climate to produce excellent yields of fruits with high sugar content. So far, none of these kaki has been shown at the Lone Star Bonsai Federation exhibits, only their counterpart, the Texas persimmon.

Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon) Texas persimmon is a native to central and west Texas, southwest Oklahoma in the United States, eastern , , Nuevo León, and in northeastern . Its round fruit – usually 1-inch in diameter, changes colors when ripening from green to copper, purple then bluish black in August.

The American Persimmon is similar to the more common Asian Persimmons but the fruit tends to be rounder and much smaller in size.

Persimmons are also known for their resistance to diseases and pests. They are one of the last trees to leaf out in the spring, and do not flower until well after the leaves have formed, to minimize the threat of losing its blossoms in late frost. When all the deciduous trees start to shed their Autumn multi- colored coat, persimmons put on a gaudy Shibui winter coat of gold, orange, red and brown.

When the wind from the North blows, that coat flies away, leaving gorgeous orange fruit hanging on bare Chuck Ware of Jade Garden in Wimberley, TX

branches to greet Father winter and the first snow he brought with him. Calendar of Events 2018

DEC 1 Saturday Study Group at Maas Nursery, in Seabrook, 9AM - 12PM. Free, refreshments provided.

DEC 5 HBS meeting: Annual Christmas Dinner and Chinese Gift exchange, last HBS meeting at the Cherie Flores Pavilion in Hermann Park.

2019

JAN 4 Friday Grafting Pines class with Jonas Dupuich, 1 PM – 5 PM, Timeless Trees. Cost $90 include grafting Diospyros virginiana - American Persimmon peeking through supplies. a blanket of snow to light up the cold winter. JAN 5 Saturday HBS meeting: Bonsai artist Jonas Everything about persimmons is a true delight to the Dupuich’s lecture demo at Trini Mendenhall Community eyes and to the palate. Their color and shapes are so Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston, Texas 77055 - 10AM beautiful that for centuries, they were the favorite refreshments, 10:15 meeting starts. subject of many watercolor artists in Japan and JAN 5 Saturday afternoon Bring your own Pine Tree China. I dare to say that they look as good as they (BYOPT) workshop with Jonas Dupuich 2 PM – 6 PM, taste. Its flavor is a wonderful mix of high sugar Timeless Trees, $60. Focus: How to develop pines. content of dates with the warm hint of pumpkin. Most birds, squirrels, raccoons, rats and possums JAN 18 Friday Saikei class with Rodney Clemons, 9AM - 3PM, Timeless Trees. More details coming. seem to agree. JAN 19 Saturday Bring your own Pine Tree (BYOPT) If you can find a pre-bonsai or (for the young folks) Class, Timeless Trees - 2 workshops, morning and persimmon seeds, go for it. Don’t forget to buy a afternoon – $60 per session or $110 for both. few solar or battery powered pest repellers to guard Focus: How to develop pines. those beauties from the competition. JAN 20 Sunday Foemina Juniper Forest Class with Shawn Nguyen Rodney Clemons, 9 AM - 3 PM, Timeless Trees. This Foemina Juniper forest will be a two-year, two-part project.

Stop by and enjoy Phil’s weekly bonsai show & sale, and a study group on Saturday morning, 8AM-12 Noon, at the Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers’ Market, 3000 Richmond. Make appointments to see pre-bonsai and large bonsai.

Note: Most photos used in this article came from Pinterest and Shawn’s private collection.

Go to Timeless Trees’ website and subscribe to weekly Winter is here at JRN II. Cold bulbs, Poinsettias and Current Events to stay in the know about events and holiday flowers and Christmas trees have arrived, yet classes offered locally. We have bonsai gifts of all kinds, orchids and bromeliads for all occasions can still be trees, pots, supplies, soils, tools and books as well as ordered. Bonsai supplies and hardy flowering bonsai can Christmas gift certificates for your bonsai lovers and you. make great Christmas gifts for families and friends.

Quality Feed & Garden and Ken stand ready to help you Visit artist Andrew Sankowski at the Mossrock Studio & with bonsai trees, basic tools, pots and soils like Akadama, Fine Art Gallery for the finest gifts and most uniquely Lava, Pumice, Kanuma, and “Dr. Ken’s Special Bonsai Soil beautiful bonsai pots in every shape, form and color. mixes in 10 lb. & 50 lb. bags. Free Bonsai Study classes Personalized pots or gifts can be commissioned year for HBS every 3 months. Ask for 10% HBS discount. round. Weekly pottery classes are also available.

Andrew Sankowski 26002 Oak Ridge Drive Direct (281) 684-4411 The Woodlands, TX 77380 Fax (281) 363-9032

[email protected]

Come stock up on bonsai soils, pesticides, fungicides, For high quality daizas for viewing stones, Suiseki, bonsai fertilizers and other supplies. The plant doctor is always on stands and Shoji screens in any shape, form, style, , duty, so bring your unhappy or unhealthy bonsai for a free dimensions and colors, please visit artist Jerry Braswell. check-up. Don’t forget to ask for a 10% HBS discount. Send him your designs and specifications for custom wood

work. For more info: www.artofthedaiza.wordpress.com

Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. P. O. Box 540727, Houston, Texas 77254-0727 www.houstonbonsaisociety.com

HBS Board Members

President Pete Parker [email protected] 1st Vice President Scott Barboza [email protected] in charge of Education 2nd Vice President Hoe Chuah [email protected] Secretary Maria Grissom [email protected] Publicity Ken Cousino [email protected] Treasurer Eldon Branham [email protected] in charge of Membership Webmaster Anthony Cutola [email protected]

Member at Large - O Gale Childers [email protected] Member at Large - O James Kelly [email protected] Member at Large - O Ryan Vollert [email protected] Member at Large – E Sharon Barker [email protected] Member at Large - E Ray González [email protected] Member at Large – E Brian Gurrola [email protected]

Delegates Past President Hurley Johnson [email protected] LSBF Delegate Terry Dubois [email protected] LSBF Alternate Pete Parker [email protected] BCI Ambassador TTSBE Representative Alan Raymond [email protected]

Refreshments Website/email Gary Teeter [email protected] Newsletter editor Shawn Nguyen [email protected]

The Bonsai News of Houston is a monthly publication of the Houston Bonsai Society, Inc. Copyright © 2011. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the editor or a member of the Board of Directors. Exceptions exist, however, for certain not-for-profit and non-profit bonsai organizations or associated bonsai and bonsai nursery newsletters, including without limitation the American Bonsai Society. HBS participates fully with reciprocation of contents and material between other LSBF member organizations and others. Authors who submit articles for this newsletter thereby give permission to such organizations to reprint, unless they expressly state otherwise.

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