Fall Color

Abstract shots of the Arakawa...

NBS Over-Wintering Seminar and October Meeting

The NBS October Meeting will follow the Over-Wintering seminar, presented by Max J. Miller and Loren Buxton at 10:00 am this Saturday at Mulhalls.

Nebraska Bonsai Society Fall Show

The Nebraska Bonsai Society will be holding our fall show in conjunction with Lauritzen Garden's Autumn Ambience and Japanese Festival this weekend.  The admission fee to the gardens this weekend will support the addition of their Japanese garden.  The Ikebana Omaha International will also have a display.  Come out and enjoy the festivities.

Honeymooning at Wigert’s

It was a blistering, humid day in Southwest Florida, but I managed to convince my wife, Jenn, to spend the afternoon at the Wigert’s in North Fort Myers.  After all, what’s a honeymoon without a little bonsaing!  Erik and his wife run a large operation that includes tropical and semi-tropical bonsai stock and a gallery of specimen trees.  The nursery is very impressive and Erik is no doubt a talented artist.  I was surprised to see him and his assistants wearing pants and long sleeves on such a hot day - no doubt to protect them from the insects.  While Jenn was relaxing in the a/c, I was perusing the many rows of stock at the nursery.  I managed to pick up an interesting suggestion on how to prevent deadwood from rotting on species with soft wood - MinWax Wood Hardener.  Erik specializes in collecting/styling Bougainvillea and uses the MinWax to treat the soft wood of the tree after carving.  Check out this gallery of Erik’s trees.  Most were collected, including the Lantana, just recently from a beach in the area.  Lantana’s grow like weeds in that part of the country.  

Developing Ramification on Deciduous Bonsai

Very informative three-part series on Bonsai Bark from Bonsai Today issue 66. Check it out...

Part I
Part II
Part III

Lincoln Journal Star Article

Lincoln man shares his passion for bonsai

The Beauty of Satsuki Azalea Bonsai

Over time, I’ve developed an appreciation for what some classify as flowering bonsai.  Species such as Ume, Rhododendron and Malus are grown specifically to induce flowering and are primarily appreciated for the spectacle of their flowers.  Often, the branches are left unkept on these species to increase the number of flowers, which can often lead to an unsightly tree during the period in which it isn’t flowering.   

With its miniature leaves, tight growth habit and unusual bark color and texture, Satsuki Azalea can be enjoyed during all seasons.  The flowers on this Hakurei cultivar are primarily white w/ pink lines or speckles, but as you can see, a flower emerged within the last week that’s entirely pink.  Satsuki hybrids are known for producing multiple colored flowers on the same plant.

At the Shohin Convention in St. Louis last year, I was fortunate to sign up for a Satuski Azalea workshop with David Kreutz.  It was an inspiring session.  The NBS is in the planning process of hosting David for a workshop on Satsuki in Nebraska.  Please contact me for further details.  

Oak Creek hosts 1st Annual Bonsai Show

This all day event was well attended and there were some excellent specimens on display. Haider Kazem really inspired some interest in collecting native species for bonsai, as he displayed his American and Siberian/Russian Elms and an Eastern Red Cedar. Rick McConnell displayed some interesting caudiciforms and Ed caught all of our attention with his soil-less ‘Too Little’ figs, growing in only moss. Dave Fortune’s multi-trunk Trident Maple and Scott Luke’s Chinese Elm and Horsetail accent were certainly highlights.

Check out these photos of the event captured by Dana...

Nebraska Bonsai Society May Meeting

The Nebraska Bonsai Society May meeting will be held on Thursday, May 20th at 7 p.m. It’s open to members and non-members. We have decided to alternate meeting sites monthly between Lincoln and Omaha for now. Since the Oak Creek bonsai show in Lincoln was held in lieu of our meeting, this month’s meeting is in Omaha at Zorinsky Lake Park. Please see below for details regarding the meeting site. We are still in the experimental phase of locating meeting sites, so we’ll see how this one goes. It appears to be a great site.

For those who will be traveling from Lincoln and care to arrange a car-pool, please let me know. I plan to leave Lincoln around 5:30. I realize that getting to the meetings may be somewhat of an inconvenience depending on your location, but I know you will find it worthy.

I hope to see you all there!

Agenda
Informal discussion or meet/greet
Show & Tell
Discuss any news, events, etc. (Azalea Workshop)
Air Layering a Korean Hornbeam

Zorinsky Lake Park
3808 South 156th Street
Omaha, NE 68130
(402) 444-5900

We will plan to meet at shelter 4 (smaller one). If we are not there, check the other three which are all on the cul-de-sac.

Select this link to input your location for driving directions to Zorinsky:

Mulhall's Spring Show 2010

The NBS held a bonsai display and demo in conjunction with the Mulhall’s Spring Show on Saturday.

Max Miller, Les Bingle, Fred Hutchinson and myself all brought trees for the display. Max brought a refined deciduous tree (I don’t recall the species) that he trained from nursery stock, and a large, upright fig. Fred brought a Ficus clump, while Les arrived with a collected Malus, ‘token’ dwarf Spruce and a Betula. The highlight for me was the story behind Les’ collected Birch.

Recently married and on his honeymoon, Les saw a group of Birch’s growing in the corner of a parking lot on a very shallow bed of soil. He immediately grasped the opportunity and dug up every tree in the lot. I regret not getting further details on his wife’s assessment of the situation, but if she wasn’t aware of Les’ passion for bonsai prior to getting married, she certainly was now. Fortunately, Les carries around a bottle of Super-Thrive at all times, so he drenched the roots and hoped for survival. Years later, Les is happily married with one remaining Birch. So, needless to say, that Birch carries some meaning.  

Kim Stevens put on a repotting demo, as he reduced the root system of a dwarf lilac.  And after much discussion, I believe Max and Kim convinced Fred to size down that Benjamina fig grouping.

Thanks to Paul Blajan for capturing these photos and Dana and Mulhall’s for organizing.