Posted in Meetings

September 2023 Meeting

Fall is knocking on our door and there’s still lots of bonsai to do! Make sure you’re fertilizing your trees! Think of them as hungry bears preparing for hibernation!
 
Our meeting this month and next will be a special accent pot making event. David Bennett will be leading a group of 12 members through building their own accent pots using slabs of clay. The workshop is full but I’ll be bringing some balls of clay to provide opportunity for others to make pinch pots as well. I want to devote as much time as possible for the activity but it will be hard not to discuss the recent U.S. National Exhibition in Rochester. I counted at least 20 Cleveland Bonsai Club members who made the trip to see all the amazing trees and shop the massive vendor area!
 
We will start the meeting promptly at 9:30am so don’t be late!
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Posted in Meetings Uncategorized

August 2023 Meeting

The practice of bonsai, especially outside of Japan is not a settled practice. We should always be exploring, learning and experimenting for ways to raise the level of our practice in our own back yards. As a suggested discussion topic, I’d like to invite you all to share something new you’ve been trying this year. It could be seedlings or cuttings you started, a new fertilizer or pest/disease mitigation, automatic watering system, a new tool, pruning technique/timing or maybe just a new species or tree you’ve added to your collection. Even though every garden is slightly different, we all grow our bonsai in the Northeast Ohio environment and can benefit from the collective experience that I hope you will share with the group.
 
Saturday August 26th 9:30-11:30am at Rockefeller Park Greenhouse. 
750 E. 88th St. Cleveland in the indoor classroom.
 
Hope to see you and learn from you!
-Adam Shank
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Posted in Meetings

July 2023 Meeting

Bring in a tree that’s lookin’ pretty to share with the group, or a tree that needs some post hardening pruning.


For those who are interested in propagation, CBC VP Adam Shank will be bringing in an Ezo Spruce to prune which will produce a lot of cuttings. Spruce cuttings are not easy to strike successfully but Ezo is fairly rare so if you’d like to try, bring a ziploc bag to collect some.

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Posted in Meetings

May 2023 Meeting

At our upcoming meeting this Saturday we will be prepping for our show which is next weekend.

Bring your tree if it needs touching up along with any questions you have about the show. If you are volunteering it would be great if you could join us as we go over the details and plans.
 
Meeting: Saturday May 27th 9:30 am
 
CBC Summer Show: June 3rd&4th

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Posted in Meetings

January 2023 Meeting

Happy New Year Everyone!

Our first meeting of the year is coming up on Saturday January 28th, 9:30am in the indoor classroom of Rockefeller Park Greenhouse.


To begin preparations for the upcoming spring repotting season, we will start with a discussion and workshop on kintsugi! Kintsugi refers to the Japanese tradition of repairing broken pottery using lacquer dusted with gold powder. In addition to keeping the item in service, making a decorative and functional repair allows the piece to tell the story of its history and reminds us to find beauty in imperfection.


For repairing bonsai ceramics that experience wide ranging outdoor temperatures, we must deviate a bit from tradition in our repairs. We will use quick-setting 2 part epoxy to effect a structurally sound and durable repair. I am hoping some members have broken or cracked pots to bring in and participate. Materials will be provided but if you’re planning to participate please send me a message to let me know.


Additionally, if anyone got a new bonsai tree for Christmas and would like to share it, or ask questions about care, please do.


Looking forward to seeing everyone again!


-Adam Shank, V.P.

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Posted in Meetings

August 2022 meeting

For this month’s meeting we will be doing a “Swap Meet” as suggested by Rob Giorgi. If you’ve got anything bonsai related you’d like to sell or just get rid of, bring it in! Or bring a tree to work on. 

The meeting is Saturday August 27th at 9:30am. Same location as usual, in the classroom at Rockefeller Park Greenhouse. 

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Posted in Meetings

We’re back!

Hi Everyone,


The June Bonsai Club’s meeting will be held at the Rockefeller Greenhouse on Saturday, June 26th starting at 9:30 a.m.  We will be meeting on the patio outside.  


At this meeting we will be having a “Swap and Shop”  So you can take advantage of selling or trading for some of the pots, tools, plants, trees etc. you may bring.


Also, at this meeting there will be some young trees to be given away and there are four Japanese Maple seedlings that were donated to our club last year on the condition they be given to new members.  
Hope we a good turnout for our first meeting back at the Greenhouse in a year!


See you next week,

Carole Roske

Treasurer 

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Posted in Meetings

Eastern Hemlock

At our April 2019 meeting member David Bennett gave a presentation on utilizing Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) for bonsai.

David talked about some of the benefits of this tree, such as the fact that it is locally available and hardy to the area. It is shade tolerant (though prefers sun), fast healing, has good needle reduction, and tends to have compact growth when cultivated properly.

Because it is fast growing David prefers using guy wires instead of wiring branches and pointed out that hemlocks tend to have a lot of “memory” in them and bends don’t always hold. He also warned that they don’t usually backbud on old wood so that needs to be taken into consideration when styling the tree. They are also strongly apically dominant so need frequent pinching to maintain shape.

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Posted in Beginner Meetings Workshop

What Happens at a Bonsai Club Meeting?

Are you interested in attending a meeting of the Cleveland Bonsai Club but aren’t sure what goes on? Well, it really depends on the meeting!

Some meetings will have a featured speaker on a particular topic. It could be about a style of tree, species, propagation technique, wiring, fertilizer, pretty much anything bonsai or bonsai related. One of the presentations this past winter was about Suiseki (stones).

Some meetings are basically mini-workshops. Attendees can bring any tree they want and work on it at the meeting while getting advice from other members. The pictures accompanying this article were taken at the June meeting. At this meeting, the new club website was unveiled and it was also a workshop. You can see some of the trees brought in to work on.

Anyone is welcome to attend any of the monthly member meetings so if you’re interested in learning more about bonsai feel free to stop in and introduce yourself! We are a good group of folks and welcoming to newcomers of any skill level. There is no cost to attend.

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