by George Buehler

The bonsai season is almost over for 2005. It was a tough year for most of our trees. With the extremely hot and dry weather during July and August, we can consider ourselves lucky if our trees made it. Now the temperature is getting cooler and they are beginning to turn color. It won't be long before we have to put them away for the winter. Don't forget the wintering program as described in Earl's message. On page 2, you will find the 2006 GLBS schedule. We believe, with the variety of topics, that there is something to interest everyone. We hope to have more people attend these meetings

I am always looking for articles to reprint, information for articles I am writing or ideas for new articles. I use a lot of information from other bonsai club newsletters (I currently get 15 electronic newsletters from various clubs around the country). I also use the web extensively to research information. When using information found on the web or information found in books or magazines, you have to be careful. Information found in books or magazines is sometimes based on the area where the author lives and may not be apropos to our area. Information found on the web is "free" information and sometimes that free information can cost you big time if it isn't correct or not complete. I hope that all of you have noticed in a number of my articles I put the caveat that ‘in my case' or ‘what has been reported', etc. I do this to caution you that the information worked for my situation or it may not be completely accurate since I got it from the web.

Fortunately for me, putting together this newsletter every month has expanded my knowledge in a number of areas. On the reverse side, it has also shown me that I still have a lot to learn about bonsai (do we really ever know everything there is to know?). I have found a number of good web sites that have a lot of good information. I have also marked off my list several web sites where I believe the information is poor, incomplete, or inaccurate. You don't have to be a computer "geek" to get information from these web sites. You just have to be persistent in finding them and in some cases spend a lot of time going over the information on these sites.

Several of what I believe to be better sites are: The American Bonsai Society (www.absbonsai.org), Bonsai Club International (www.bonsai-bci.com), The National Bonsai Foundation (www.bonsai-nbf.com) and The Learning Center (www.bonsailearningcenter.com). The More Than Just Tofu article this month was obtained from The Learning Center web site. You might want to visit some of these sites to see what they offer. If you have a favorite site for bonsai, let me know.

Another area of the web I periodically visit is www.ebay.com. For those of you that don't know, ebay is an auction web site where you can bid on and buy almost anything. They have a section where you can buy bonsai, bonsai supplies and books. You can bid on items or simply purchase them. Periodically they have listings for older bonsai books, so if you are looking for an out-of-print bonsai book, you might check this out. I have bid on several and won a few. You have to have a ‘reasonable' idea of what the item is worth (either actually or to you) and place your bids. One of our members (Ron Smith) often uses ebay to sell old magazines, supplies, pots and even trees. Check it out. Be careful because it can become addictive (as my wife believes I am).

Last months More Than Just Tofu article by Midge Goeth, talked about feeding the birds. On page 8, as a follow up, we are printing a table she supplied on the type of food that a number of birds like. Don't forget that many birds stay around for the winter and need our help in supplying them food. One of the important functions of birds is to help keep a number of the insects that feed on our trees in check. Now that the insect population is dwindling with the cold, the birds need other sustenance.