by George Buehler

I received some distressing news in late November. The Evansville Bonsai Society has disbanded. When I heard this from club president (and personal friend) Dave Bogan, I was surprised, although Dave had informed me earlier that they were considering it. It seems that it has been a downward spiral - falling membership, lack of money to bring in the masters to generate enthusiasm, people not wanting to fill board positions, etc. It sounded all too familiar. It seems that many organizations, both bonsai and non bonsai, are suffering the same problems.

However, there is some good news; Dave wouldn't give up on bonsai, so he and his future bride (Barbara Walton) have started a study group, which will meet at his greenhouse. The plan in February is to discuss and prepare for re-potting, pruning, wiring and wood carving. In March and April, they will do the re-potting, pruning and wiring on deciduous trees and then Pines and Junipers. In addition, Dave will continue to write the Nashville newsletter and will write a monthly study newsletter (thank goodness for that, since I "steal" a lot of Dave's articles and information for this newsletter).

Now for perhaps the best part, Dave and Barbara are starting their own bonsai store out of their home in Lynnville. They currently have over 350 quality pots (See picture on page 2) in stock, and will have soil, wire, and other bonsai supplies. Dave also plans on offering some quality trees in the future. The "store" will only be open by appointment, so you will need to call (812-922-5451). Perhaps later in the spring, we can plan a field trip over to Dave's when he gets more organized (if that's possible). Stay tuned for more information.

You might notice on page two that the American Bonsai Society is holding a raffle for a 17-piece silver Masakuni tool set. This is a brand new, never used set valued at over $2000. Masakuni is known for its quality tools. This set would fit nicely in my tool bag, and I'm sure it would in yours also. Raffle tickets are $10.00 each or 15 for $100.00. You can get your raffle tickets at http://absbonsai.org/books/r-item.html , or you can send a check to the address on page two. Remember the raffle ends on Jan 10, 2008, so if you are mailing a check, you need to do it soon! The proceeds from the raffle will be used to help pay for the ABS learning seminar in San Antonio. I hope someone from our club steps forward in such a manner to help the GLBS ensure that the 2011 seminar here is a success.

When you get this newsletter, the days of "visions of sugarplums dancing in my head" will be over and a new year will be beginning. In looking back at 2007, we need to look at what we learned, what was successful, and where we had failures. For me, my most troublesome event was the loss of a dwarf Hinoki. For some reason - which I still don't understand - my rigid dwarf hinoki fronds started turning brown in July and continued to brown over the whole plant. When I first noticed the browning, I put the tree in isolation and monitored it daily. On examination, there was no sign of pests or anything else I could see that would be causing the problem. I pulled the tree from the pot in late August and saw nothing wrong with the root system. I finally decided in late September that the tree was gone. When I again pulled the tree from the pot and looked at the complete root system, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. I continue to scratch my head trying to figure out what happened. I guess that this type of event should be a learning experience, but when you can't figure out why it happened, it is hard to consider it a learning experience. What still baffles me is that this particular plant was treated the same as the other hinoki I have, and they seem to be OK. As I have said many times in the past, we practice a delicate balance trying to work with Mother Nature and sometimes trying to overcome some of her "rules". But when a plant that I have been working with for three to four years suddenly dies, and there doesn't seem to be a reason, it is disappointing, to say the least.

This year I didn't bury my evergreens until Thanksgiving week due to the warm weather. I looked back at my records and find that I had buried my trees over a varying time frame. The earliest was late September and the latest was Thanksgiving week. I always judge when to bury them based on the number of frosts and the average temperatures. As we all know, here in Louisville, the weather remained warm until mid-November. During late October and early November, the temperatures were up and down. I keep thinking about ways to moderate these wild swings in temperatures. It would be nice to have a refrigerated room where I could put the plants, but I can't find an economical way to do it. Of course an additional problem with this idea would be to convince my "house general" that this is a good idea.

As some of you know, I installed a lot of stands and a large shade table this past year. In conjunction with this, I put in a complete irrigation system. Here I learned several things. The first is that this system doesn't work when the electricity goes off. During one of our summer storms this year, we lost power for about 26 hours. While I was more worried about the loss of a freezer full of meats, I almost forgot that the irrigation wasn't going to go off without the electrical current. Luckily my wife brought it to my attention, and I quickly hand-watered.

I also learned several things about the heads I use for watering the trees. Some work very well, while others need to be changed to different types. When I set up the system, I decided to set up the heads attached to the stands rather than having them directly on the trees. This allows me to easily rotate the tree on the stand, something that is much more difficult when the irrigation head is directly on or in the pot. It is also more aesthetically pleasing when viewing the tree.

As I have reported here a number of times, I have 'played' with an automatic watering system for the last four or five years. Every year I 'tweak' it by making additions or changes to the system. When I first started using the automatic system, it was simply a battery operated timer. When I started planning for the additional stands and shade house, I knew I needed something better than the battery timer, since there would be a larger number of stands to water as well as the shade house. After much planning and consultation with a professional irrigation company, we decided to install a large enough underground piping system that will allow for sufficient water for the current needs as well as any major expansion that could come about. At least I hope so!