President's Message
by
Glenda Konopka
Where has the month gone? The unusual weather lately has made for interesting
bonsai upkeep challenges - hot, then cold, hotter, then colder, now windy every
day. For me, it's been fascinating to see how various species of trees react
to the desiccating effects of the wind (and what I've been having to do to minimize
the effects on the most vulnerable), even without much heat. Hal Mahoney was
a terrific guest artist at our April monthly meeting. I really enjoyed seeing
his unique "claft" style done, along with the tips he had about perspectives
in saikei (1 and 2 point) and making streams. I was too tired to last the whole
meeting, but Del tells me the finished product was absolutely beautiful; dang,
I wish I'd won the raffle!
This month's Members' Study Group features Chuck Ware on the topic of ramifying
deciduous trees, which is a timely topic - I've been after my maples all spring
and they still keep getting away from me. Our May meeting will have Terry Ward
going over show preparation of trees, especially for our May show. Remember
- tell everyone and anyone who'll stand still long enough to come and see us
show off our work. Bonsai is truly a labor of love; I hope every member has
picked out the tree they'll show and bring it to the meeting if they have any
questions for Terry. The new table covers should really be the icing on the
cake (I know, Pat, I'm sewing as fast as I can!). Thanks to all who've been
helping with the show thus far, and don't forget - there's a million details
that Del and Co. need help with, so please offer your time, muscles, and ingenuity
to the show committee. I can hear Charlotte now - remember to log your time,
even working on your show trees at home, so the club can register this volunteer
time with the Zilker folks.
On a sadder note, we've accepted the resignation of David Gordon as our VP
in the face of his family's need for his time and support. Roger Patterson graciously
volunteered to take David's place and, in compliance with the ABS Bylaws, the
Board unanimously elected him to the post at the April monthly meeting. David
- all our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this trying
time, just please come back when you can for any meeting - we miss you!
Remember, if you have any feedback, comments, or concerns regarding our club,
the programs, or anything else, the Board is always an open venue for discussion.
Take care and see you all soon.
Calendar of Events
May 14 Monthly Meeting
Pot Care & Show Prep
with Terry Ward
7:30 PM
Zilker Garden Center
Refreshments by:
Elaine White
Audrey Lanier
May 16 Set up for Annual
Show - Starting
about 4:30 PM
May 17 & 18 Annual Show
Zilker Garden Center
May 21 Board Meeting
7:00 PM
Zilker Garden Center
May 23-26 Bonsai Societies of Fl. State Conv.
Ft. Myers, Fl.
May 28 Members workshop
Azaleas with Vito Megna
7:30 PM
Zilker Garden Center
May 31-Jun 1 Central Oklahoma Bonsai Soc.
Oklahoma City, Ok.
Jun 11 Bill Cody will help us “weather”
the Summer
July 11-13 LSBF Symposium, Austin,Tx
General Meeting Minutes
by
Del DeLos Santos
The April general meeting of the Austin Bonsai Society was called to order
at 7:30 P.M. on April 9, 2003, by President Glenda Konopka. Refreshments were
provided by Els Ulug and Rita Matthews.
Old Business announcements were as follows:
1. Elaine White brought to the attention of the society that the issue of
changing the by laws for the State Bonsai Exhibit to clarify the location for
the exhibit in the city of Austin, as the Parks and Recreation Department has
denied the use of park land. A vote was held and the change passed.
2. Announcement was made that there were still openings at $40.00 and bring
your own tree for the workshop with the evening's visiting artist, Hal
Mahoney.
3. Announcement that there are still openings for workshops and registration
for the Summer Breezes Symposium, scheduled here in Austin in July.
4. Also, John Pittenger needs members to provide trees for inclusion into
the bonsai display for the symposium. 5. Pat Ware provided a reminder for members
to provide her with items for the symposium raffle.
New Business announcements:
1. Dave Gordon has resigned as Vice President due to personal matters. Roger
Patterson volunteered to fill the vacancy and was approved by the board.
2. Charlotte Cranberg asked all members track their volunteer hours whether
spent preparing trees for the show, or sewing table covers, as she needs to
report those hours to the garden center for funding.
The evening progressed with the introduction of the evenings' visiting
artist, Hal Mahoney, who presented a truly informative demonstration creating
a ‘claft' style saikei from a juniper. The demo ‘living landscape'
was raffled and won by Eileen Urschel.
The general meeting was adjourned at 9:30 P.M..
Board Meeting Minutes
by
Del DeLos Santos
A special meeting was called prior to the April 9th, General meeting to discuss
the resignation of David Gordon as Vice president and discuss filling the position.
Roger Patterson volunteered to fill the position and was approved by the board.
The monthly board meeting of the Austin Bonsai Society was called to order by
Vice President Roger Patterson at 7:00 P.M. on April 16, 2003. In attendance
were Board Members Roger Patterson, Del De Los Santos, Pat Ware, Larry Gfeller,
Connie King, Carl Quisenberry, and members Chuck Ware and Angela Patterson.
Old business
Pat Ware reported there has been no reply from Mark Noelanders regarding his
2004 visit.
Larry Gfeller announced his intended meeting with members of Senior Net and
the possibility of their participation in a bonsai mentoring program.
Pat Ware reported that the portions of table covers under her control were
complete and that she would contact the other responsible members regarding
their portions. Pat also reported that we should address the issue that the
cloths will need to be pressed. She has attempted and said it takes about 1
hour per cloth. Her investigations into having the cloths pressed professionally
arrived at a do-able price of $8.00 per cloth. The board held discussions and
voted to have Pat make arrangements to have the cloths pressed at club expense.
New business
Discussion was held regarding L.S.B.F. proposal that they reimburse clubs who
have to keep visiting artist an extra day; our vote was to keep the status quo.
Discussion was held regarding budgeting for a tree in a pot for our donation
to the Summer Breezes Symposium.
Discussions were held on the topic of including an overview of how to prepare
for participation in a workshop in the newsletter, Larry Gfeller volunteered
to take this project.
Discussions were held regarding Mary Millers workshop for August and the need
to begin advertising it now.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 P.M.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT FROM A BONSAI WORKSHOP?
by
Larry Gfeller
1. How do I know whether to bring my own tree or whether the program cost
includes the tree?
2. How about other supplies: soil, pot, wire ?
3. If I bring my own tree, where should I purchase it (bonsai nursery or conventional
nursery)?
4. If I bring my own tree should it already be potted, wired, or prepared in
some other way?
5. Different workshops have different costs. How do I recognize trees, styles
or techniques that are not cost effective for beginners (likelihood of long-term
success is low)?
6. What is the best way to learn and record the care and feeding requirements
of the workshop tree I will take away from this experience?
7. How do I learn if special tools will be needed (i.e., carving, grinding,
etc.). If they are, should I invest in these tools for a possible one-time use
in this workshop?
8. Often I have difficulty understanding the artist. How do I deal with this
if it should come up and I paid a fee for someone I can't understand?
9. There are more workshops offered than my time or money allows. How should
I choose? Is there any real value involved in observing?
Garden Council Report
by
Charlotte Cranberg
President, Irene Shlapak reported that the projected income from the Garden
festival was down by $10,000. Final figures will be in by next month. The amount
taken in was about $40,000.
Two members of the 5 member nominating committee for next year's officers
asked that their names be removed from the report due to irregularities they
perceived in the operation of the nominating committee. No comment was made
on this. The vote was taken and all the proposed nominees were elected. Charlotte
Cranberg asked that the Garden Council members be given an opportunity to vote
on changing the by-laws to bring them into agreement with Roberts Rules of order.
At present the President appoints the nominating committee chairman and the
executive board elects the members. This leaves the garden clubs with no direct
input on selection of the committee. Robert's rules says that the president
should have no part in this and that the nominating committee and chairman should
be elected by the membership. The president said she would appoint a committee
and have a report in September.
Please, we need volunteers. Call me if you want to know more about what you
can do. I want to thank David & Glenda Konopka, Els Ulug, Rita Matthews
and Larry Gfeller for their work at the Zilker Garden Festival in our club's
name. Their work keeps us in good standing with the Garden Council. Some of
you may have worked for different groups or had a booth. You are all thanked.
Two new clubs are being considered for membership: Bird and Habitat group (which
is an offshoot of the Audubon society) and the Native Plant Society.
May 3rd will be a lecture “Austin Biodiversity Project” which will
cover the different types of living organisms in Travis County and the city.
It will start at 9 AM and cost $5. This would be a great way to learn how you
can create diversity in your backyard. The garden center has been given an award
for having the “Best in Texas” backyard garden. This is for its
native plant
garden.
Vandalism continues at the gardens but some newly assigned staff and 4 more
vehicles may help that problem. Now there will be at least one paid employee
there at all times. This is still not enough to deal with the huge crowds that
arrive on weekends. We are happy to be popular with the public but need to protect
against the few vandals who can do a lot of damage.
Though we travel the world over
to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us
or we find it not.
Emerson
Don't Forget!
Mark your calendar and
to send in your registration
form for the 2003 LSBF
Symposium
to be held in Austin
July 11, 12, 13
Your Bonsai in Full Sun, Part 1:
Bonsai Root-zone Temperatures in Sun and in Shade
by
J. R. (Bill) Cody
All bonsai persons are told by the itinerant bonsai masters who come through
our neighborhoods, holding us spellbound by their lectures and demonstrations,
that if we want short needles on our pines and junipers, and short internodes
and small leaves on our deciduous
bonsai, we should put these bonsai in FULL SUN! It is no wonder that this treatment
works like a charm because not only is a sunlit leaf warmer than the air surrounding
it,1 but also summer dormancy of plants occurs when the ambient temperature
exceeds 950F. and the plant will not grow until the temperature is reduced.2
Are there other possible consequences to the blind acceptance of and adherence
to the 'full sun' premise. Are the root-zone temperatures of our bonsai in full
sun higher than we ever dreamed they would be? The purpose of this study is
to find out.
The professors who study root-zone temperatures for the commercial container
plant industry are so concerned about the deleterious effects of supraoptimal
and suboptimal temperatures in containers that computer software has been developed
capable of predicting the thermal behavior at 1164 locations within any container
using any growth medium.3 Supraoptimal root-zone temperatures, defined by Foster4
as being from 89.60F. to 1040F., contribute to growth reduction due to reduced
photosynthetic rates and increased root respiration. Elevated root temperatures
in this range can influence other physiological and chemical processes within
the plant such as shoot extension, apical dominance, stomatal closure, flower
initiation, hormone synthesis and translocation, which in turn, can adversely
affect growth rate, cause leaf chlorosis and abnormal branching, and reduced
flower number and quality. These adverse conditions can arise even in the face
of optimum levels of fertilization and irrigation and other production inputs.3
The absolute temperature causing root cell membrane rupture and death of the
root varies from species to species and is influenced by the duration of exposure.
Though predicted lethal temperatures for roots of some 13 ornamentals range
from greater than 1320F. (Ixora coccinea) to 1180F. (Ilex crenata 'Rotundifolia')
for 30 minutes exposure,3 another study of "Rotundifolia' evaluating growth
found that 1000F. appeared to be the upper threshold for root-zone temperature
tolerance for a number of physiological and growth values and that 800F.(300C.)
appeared to be optimal for that holly.5 Therefore, resistance to exposure to
lethal root temperatures does not necessarily mean that exposure to sub-lethal
but supra-optimal, i.e., 89.6-1040F. temperatures, is NOT detrimental to the
well-being of the plant.3, 6, 7
Procedure
A large rectangular brown ceramic bonsai container [inside measurements: 18"
x 13" x growth medium of expanded shale and pine bark v:v::1:1. The container
was placed in an open area and on a platform four feet above ground level. Four
identical red liquid thermometers were calibrated using a mercury laboratory
grade thermometer. Since root-zone temperatures are the highest in the outer
2.5 centimeters (one inch) of the root-ball,8 each thermometer was inserted
into the growth medium no more than two inches from the sides and three inches
into the growth medium in the four quadrants of the container. An identical
thermometer, situated five feet above the ground, in the shade and well away
from any heat reflecting surfaces or structures, was used to record the ambient
temperature.
Temperatures were recorded every two hours from 0600 to 2000 for five days during
each treatment studied. The North/South temperatures were consistently within
a + one degree centigrade range and were averaged to reduce chart clutter. The
study was carried out during late summer of 1999.
The second part of the study was to determine if the placing of a cover over
the container would reduce the container temperature to any significant degree.
A frame was built to allow the cover of white plastic sheeting to be placed
one and one-half inches above the surface of the root ball and three inches
outside the lips of the container. The cover also was designed to hang down
over all four sides to the level of the base of the container. This configuration
would allow air circulation around and above the container and would prevent
direct or indirect radiation from striking the top or sides of the container
and root ball from any direction.
Results
I believe that these studies of bonsai containers in full sun substantiate that
the ceramic container acts first as a heat sink (collector of heat) as ambient
temperature rises and then acts as a radiator of heat for several hours after
the ambient temperature begins to decline. The highest single West temperature
measured here was 1100F. at which time the ambient temperature was less than
1000F.
The addition of a white plastic cover reduces the radical fluctuations in the
root-zone temperature in the East and West quadrants but the temperatures are
remarkably near ambient throughout the day, converging significantly during
the period of greatest solar heating from 3-6:00 p.m. CST.
Discussion
Points to remember when your bonsai are to be placed in full sun:
1. the temperature range within growth medium for the best growth of roots and
tops of plants is 60-860F.9
2. supraoptimal root-zone temperatures result in reduced growth processes and
root-zone temperatures should be maintained below 1040F.,3, 6, 7
3. supraoptimal root-zone temperatures increase maintenance respiration and
cause reduced growth by depleting the available carbohydrate pool,5 this energy
source now being spent to protect the integrity of the roots and other existing
tissues,3, 5
4. root and shoot nitrogen accumulation (a function of growth) was highest at
820F. and decreased linearly as the root-zone temperature increased to 1040F.
resulting in reduced root and shoot growth despite any increased rates of fertilizer
application.7
5. root-zone temperatures may be significantly higher than the ambient temperature
in some sections of your bonsai container and exposure of half of the root-zone
to supraoptimal temperatures cannot be compensated for by more moderate root-zone
temperatures in the other half.5 Therefore, the advice to rotate your bonsai
to take advantage of the sun's rays on the entire
foliage mass, may merely serve to kill all your roots rather than just half!
6. Exposure time to supraoptimal root-zone temperatures influences the root's
response to the elevated temperature:
(a) root growth is reduced more by a single 6-hour exposure at a given temperature
than a single 4-hour exposure;
(b) several daily exposures at a given temperature affect root growth more seriously
than a single exposure at that temperature, however, similar exposures of longer
duration to that temperature will have the greater negative influence on growth;
(c) root-zone temperatures of 950F. for 6-hours for 1, 2, or 4 consecutive days,
can reduce root growth as much as 40%, 50% or 75% respectively;
(d) root recovery times may be delayed as long as three days after cessation
of exposure to elevated root-zone temperatures.10
We are reminded that repeated leaf pruning on an annual or semi-annual basis
may be detrimental to our bonsai by interfering with the photosynthetic mechanism
which in turn has the potential to interfere with the overall long-term health
of our bonsai. I believe that this study should call to your attention that
exposure of your bonsai to full sun in the summer months,
especially in the so-called Sun Belt States, may well cause similar accumulative,
long-term deleterious effects on the health of your bonsai. The age-old custom
of rotating your bonsai so that they will have equal exposure to the sun's rays
could serve to compound any detrimental effects of the higher temperatures in
the West exposure.
The addition of a white plastic shade over the container was an attempt to reduce
direct exposure of the root ball and container to the sun, restricting exposure
to the beneficial effects of the sun only to the tree itself. Though there were
no root-zone temperatures above ambient with this sort of protection, the temperatures
were constantly very near that of ambient by the late afternoon period of greatest
solar heating and well within the supraoptimal root-zone temperature range for
ten hours.
This study should suggest to the bonsaiist that it may be of value to pay attention
to the ambient temperature as the late afternoon root-zone temperatures of covered
bonsai will consistently be very near that of the ambient temperature. Bonsai
with no protection from solar radiation may experience West quadrant temperatures
as high as 120% of the ambient temperature.
This is not to say that exposure to the sun is not beneficial to our bonsai
but it is to call to your attention that sun-up to sundown exposure to the sun
in the Sun Belt states may have negative effects on your bonsai. These negative
effects may be so insidious that early signs of trouble may escape your observation
until some acute stress (e.g., repotting) results in the unexpected, unexplainable
death of your bonsai. The cedar elm used in this study, a native to our hot
ambient air in Central Texas, was subjected to the same "full sun"
stress the previous summer (1998). Subsequent bud break this spring (1999) was
much less vigorous than other cedar elms in similar sized containers, which
had been under 70%, shade the previous summer. This elm was again quite chlorotic
and had lost a significant portion of its foliage by the time this study was
concluded in the second week of September. Its condition compared very unfavorably
to the other cedar elms, which, though exposed to the same ambient temperatures,
were shaded during the time period of this study.
ATTENTION
ALL MEMBERS!!!
Please bring the items you will donate to the raffle or silent auction for the
Symposium in July to the meeting and give to Pat Ware. We are asking everyone
to donate one item (more than one will not be refused!). The profits made by
the raffle will benefit us all! As this Symposium is being held in Austin, we
are hoping for a large support from the Austin club.
Also, anyone who would work for a couple of hours selling raffle tickets, please
let Pat know - she can use all the help she can get!!!
