NFBC Bonsai Events January 11th NFBC Meeting @ - North Florida ...

NORTH FLORIDA BONSAI CLUB
                              January 2021

   NFBC Bonsai Events
 • January 11th NFBC Meeting @
   7pm
   • Juniper Cleaning, Wiring and General
     Care

 • Soil Mixing Day
   • We now have all the materials and a soil
     mixing day will be scheduled

 • February 8th NFBC Meeting @
   7pm
   • Trident Maple Root over Rock
     demonstration
                                                           Xavier’s Winning Tree from
                                                           the Decorating Contest

                                                Florida Bonsai Events
                                                • BSF Board Meeting Jan 9th
                                                • D&L Seasonal Intensive
                                                  Programs
                                                 • Dates vary based upon species
                                                • Kawa Joy of Bonsai
                                                 • Feb 2021 – exact date TBD
  Two other beautifully                         • BSF Convention
decorated trees that were
part of a 3‐way tie for first                    • Memorial Day Weekend
  place in initial voting

January Meeting
This month’s meeting will focus on junipers. We will be discussing general
cleaning, wiring, and maintenance work. Bring your junipers to work on or
discuss.
Thanks to the Karate Kid junipers have become the quintessential bonsai tree for
most beginners. When some folks are just discovering bonsai they often believe
junipers are “bonsai” trees rather than the technique being applied. A very
understandable mistake. This month we hope to dispel some of those common
myths and teach you a little bit more about caring for the common juniper species.
NFBC is having a call for volunteers. Our officers have all served at least a 2yr
term. We have a lot of members with fantastic ideas that we would love to have
get more involved. A fresh infusion of ideas is what helps keep our club growing.
Please consider lending a hand in whatever capacity you are able. Members are
not required to have “years” of bonsai experience to participate in leadership
positions. A variety of perspectives and bonsai backgrounds is what helps to
provide a better-rounded curriculum that applies to more of our membership.

                         December Events Recap
Our annual holiday celebration was another great event.
The tree decorating contest had good participation. It was really hard to pick a
winner and we had a three way tie for first place in initial voting. It took a second
vote to pick the winner and even then it was incredibly close. Thank you to all who
participated, the trees looked great.
The raffle was a new addition this year and the raffle tables were FULL. We had a
variety of pots, trees, soil and tools. There was some really nice material available
and hopefully this is something we can make a part of future holiday celebrations.
Even though we couldn’t have a big potluck like years past there were still a ton of
great snacks. There was a little something for everyone and it brought some joy to
our hearts and stomachs.

Soil Mixing Event
             The club is currently out of bonsai soil. We will be scheduling a day
             to mix additional buckets. In the meantime please bring back your
             empty buckets and lids to the upcoming meetings. The more buckets
             we have the more soil we can make at one time.

                                    Seasonal Advice
This is a quiet month for bonsai work since January is normally our coldest month.
 Tropical Trees - We shouldn’t be doing any work on tropical trees. Our primary
 goal this month is protecting trees as temperatures drop below 45 for our most
 sensitive species (i.e., buttonwood, black olive, etc.) or the low 40’s for other
 tropical trees. A frozen tropical tree will sustain serious damage that is
 sometimes fatal.
 Deciduous Trees - These species need a winter dormancy period to remain
 healthy. Once deciduous trees have gone fully dormant it is a good time to do
 structural pruning since you can see the full winter silhouette and identify
 potential areas for improvement.
 Conifers and Broadleaf Evergreen Trees – These species need a winter
 dormancy period to remain healthy. It is also time to begin preparing for
 repotting. Make sure you have the pots, soil, tools, you need once the early
 repotting window begins later this month.

                             North Carolina Arboretum
Traveling safely right now is more difficult and it limits the ability to make trips that
we otherwise might have. Some places that are still available to us are
                            arboretums and gardens where we can stay outside
                               and remain distanced from others. Xavier and his
                                  family took advantage of an opportunity to visit
                                   the North Carolina Arboretum.
                                     He was kind enough to share some pictures of
                                     the trip. Please enjoy this virtual visit.

2021 Membership tracking
The following members have paid their dues for 2021.
     Bruce Washington     Joseph Stumpf         Mike Bentzien     Vicki Neuer

     Dave Sanders         Josh Brown            Michael Allan

     David Ruth           Justin Lee            Ron Price

     Jami Jenkins         Mark Phillips         Sandy Rodriguez

     Jay Dealing          Matt Ray              Tina Mattucci

If your name is not on the list and you have paid your dues, please contact me at
Joshuareubenbrown1@yahoo.com so we can get it corrected.

                                National Bonsai News
The only US based bonsai magazine, International Bonsai, is going digital after 42
years in print. The new online format will be called International Bonsai OnLine and will
be FREE to anyone. They have digitized one of the most recent print magazines so you
can see an example of the content if you are not familiar with the magazine. I welcome
everyone to subscribe at www.internationalbonsaionline.com

                                       Bonsai Classifieds
If you have something you are interested in selling/trading please send pictures
and contact information for inclusion in future newsletters.
 NFBC Membership
   - Membership is $36 for the year
              o We have started collecting towards the 2021 dues now
   - Visitors are always welcome at meetings and events
 Soil
   - The cost is $25 for a five gallon bucket. Please contact an officer a few
     days ahead of time if you would like to have a bucket brought to the next
     meeting.
 Bonsai Supplies
   - Tristan has wire for sale in multiple sizes.

Trees
  - Josh has bonsai and pre-bonsai available. Please contact him at
    joshuareubenbrown1@yahoo.com to schedule time to come take a look.
Vendors
  - American Bonsai Tool (www.americanbonsai.com) is providing our club a
    10% discount on products. Use the coupon code ‘NFBC10’ at checkout.

                                   NFBC Officers
                        Tristan Kincaid       President
                        Bruce Washington      Treasurer
                         w/ Ron Price
                        George Armstrong      Secretary
                         w/ Tina Mattucci
                        Josh Brown            Website