From the President November 2005
As of this writing the Marco workshop is mostly filled. I want to encourage all members to come to the regular evening session, which will start at 6:30pm, an hour earlier than usual. Although all non-participants are technically “silent” observers, there is much that can be learned. This meeting, unlike many others, will offer you a chance to see some of the material that is being worked on by other members; you might say it’s like a giant show and tell with free instruction for those that can pay close attention.

I’m not sure that this newsletter will arrive in time but in case it does here are the details of the carpooling trip to Miniature Plant Kingdom: We will meet at 8:30 am at 15th Ave and Lake, where there is ample parking, to choose which cars to take. The club will provide lunch, which will be served at Miniature Plant Kingdom, our first stop, at noon. Directions and maps will be available when we meet at 15th and Lake.

Don’t forget about the Dorothy Day Community Center work party on the 13th of this month. It starts at 11am this time and is on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. This is another opportunity for all members to pitch in, learn some skills, and enjoy some time with other club members along with free food. I’ll be there and I might just have my mini-me helper with his first set of scissors (blunt ended of course.)

I’ve been off hiking a couple times this month; I posted some photos of Sierra Junipers from Desolation Wilderness to the website for people to enjoy. The variety of tree shapes, incredibly sculpted deadwood, and fantastic wind influenced foliage all made for one of my most memorable outings. Every time I go out and explore I come home with my head full of inspiration, and I can hardly wait to get to work on my own trees.

While I was in Bishop hiking, I headed up to the White Mountains to collect Utah Junipers. Inspired by the Shinji Suzuki demonstration at the Yamato show a few weeks ago, I dug out three trees, which I hope to start working on in a year or two. For now, I potted them in loose soil and watered them with a cocktail of KLN and DynaGro fertilizer. The specimens that I collected are much smaller than typical collected material, but I find that I enjoy working on bonsai that I can carry in one hand. To find small trees that had enough character I had to search for ones growing from rock crevices. Many of them were uncollectible because of how solid the tap root was, but a few had a pocket of roots right near the surface that made them easier to collect. I always feel a slight twinge of pain when I have to cut a tap root to collect a tree; it always seems that the tree is getting everything from that root.

Tag: collecting