The year is quickly coming to an end.  As George informed me, this will be the last newsletter for the year.  It's been a wonderful year for the Greater Louisville Bonsai Society, and I'm sure next year will be even better.

Nominations are still being accepted for the 2009 board and officers.  Voting will be conducted during the Christmas party.  Positions include:

President
Vice President
Treasurer
Meeting Chair
Show Chair
Board Member 1
Board Member 2
Board Member 3
Board Member 4

Join us Saturday, December 6th at Jumbo Buffet and Grill (2731 S Hurstbourne Pkwy) for the club's annual Christmas Party. Festivities will begin at 6:00pm and continue on from there. Members and their guests are asked to purchase their meals from the buffet. Wine will be provided by the club.

by George Buehler 

When I sat down to write the ramblings this month, I had to decide what I could write about. As I usually do at this time of year, I started thinking about the successes and failures I had during the year. I guess my biggest failure this year was the loss of a nearly finished Stewartia that I had been working on for a number of years. I have written about this type tree in the past since it is such an unusual tree. The best property of this species is its appearance at this time of year when the leaves fall and the bright organish trunk is fully visible. Unfortunately, this species is a ‘lime hater’ and I constantly had to add a mild dose of MirAcid to adjust the pH of the water. I knew I was fighting an uphill battle trying to grow one in Louisville. The quality of the water we have just isn’t suitable for it. Once it started going downhill, there wasn’t much I could do to keep it going – even with the help of Donna Micheal, UK extension agent. Of course this led me to starting a series of experiments looking at the water quality in terms of pH. Hopefully, I will have enough information collected to write an article next this year.

By Randy Davis

Botanical Name – Ulmus rubra
Common Name – Slippery or red Elm

Description
Native to – Eastern United States from Quebec to northern Florida and west to the Dakotas and Texas. Botanical Information – Tree to 60 feet with spreading branches forming a broad flat-topped head. The leaves are oblong and very unequal at the base where the leaf connects to the petiole. Leaves are doubly serrate, of firm texture and very rough above and pubescent beneath 4-7” long. Flowers are red, form dense clusters close to the branch and appear in early spring along with the ripening seed. A reddish brown pubescence of the bud-scale is very conspicuous in the spring as the buds are unfolding from which it gets its common name of "Red Elm".

by George Buehler 

Caring for your bonsai in the spring, summer or fall is a fairly easy undertaking (this is said tongue in cheek) since so much is written for these times of the year.  However, when it comes time for winter, not much is out there, although it seems like more has been written in the last few years.  If the tree is not cared for properly during the cold months, all the pruning, wiring and summer growth can be lost or damaged.  What is the best method to use for any particular tree?

The first place to start is to find out the particular species of tree you need to “winterize”.  Just because it is a pine doesn’t mean that it really can stay outdoors in the winter (i.e. Norfolk Island Pines wouldn’t make it outside in the type of weather we have in the Ohio Valley).  The USDA has a fairly extensive list of plants used in the landscape and their hardiness (hardiness zones).  However, I must stress that this is only an indication of what the tree will take when it comes to the cold.  This list will tell you whether the trees are:

by John Callaway

We had a great month of bonsai during September.  A big thanks to Julian Adams for his great lecture and accompanying workshop.  He put together a great program, and I'm sure we all learned a lot.  If you missed the Julian Adams workshop you can learn more about him by visiting his website, http://www.adamsbonsai.com.

by John Callaway

Planning for the ABS/BCI 2011 Conference, Bonsai in the Bluegrass continues.  We will be having another planning meeting on Thursday, October 9th at 7pm.  George has offered his home for the meeting venue.  Please RSVP to me in advance if you plan on attending. All Committee Chairs are expected to attend: