Last month, Allan gave a thought-provoking presentation on how to develop one’s artistic skill with bonsai and/or penjing. Using Sydney artist Lindy Lee’s advice to young visual artists, Allan introduced us, through example, to the art of appropriation and its extension into artistic practice. Lindy refers to what she calls the Second Year Crisis- ‘When […]
Hugh’s choice of tree for last month’s demonstration was Casuarina or more precisely, Allocasuarina which are a favourite his. Commonly known as she-oak, Casuarina and Allocasuarina are in the same family but Allocasuarina are only found in Australia while Casuarina are found all over SE Asia, the Indian subcontinent and islands in the West Pacific
The weather is finally getting cooler and winter is on the way, so hopefully your deciduous bonsai will be starting to show some autumn colour. Keep the trees in full sun, if possible, as sunlight combined with cooler nights improve the colour intensity. If you are in the market to purchase more deciduous species, this
Josie McNeilly is opening her garden on the weekend of the 16-17th February from 9.30am to 4pm both days. All members and friends are invited, so come along and relax enjoying what Josie has achieved in her own little haven. Spend as much or as little time as you wish. Meet up with other plant
Cotoneasters harden very quickly and it is next to impossible to find a more mature plant with movement enough to make a good bonsai. Therefore, I picked up a $4.50 starter plant at Ray Nesci’s nursery in September, a $5 pot and styled a full cascade. Initially the apical branches were left on as sacrifice
Back by popular demand- Joe Morgan-Payler. If you missed out last time, don’t wait to book your workshop space.
Ray Mackaway has been involved with bonsai for over 30 years. His interest in bonsai grew out of a need to find a hobby that was completely different from his busy and quite demanding work life. It was on his way home from doing work in Indonesia that he first thought about getting involved in
The last few months have been very hot and there’s more of the same ahead, so it’s still important not to let your trees dry out. Some shallow or smaller pots rmay require watering more than once a day at this time of year and should be kept in a more sheltered position for protection
The subject of wind-burn is a HOT subject in summer and particularly relevant given the windy weather we have been experiencing recently. Actually, the cause of damage to contained plants is NOT necessarily SUN or WIND but lack of moisture to the potting mixture. Vita and myself experimented with this subject (potting mixtures) over many
Summer is a very busy time for the bonsai enthusiast. For many species, spring growth will continue and one must be mindful of keeping vigorous trees trimmed to encourage short internodes. Watering is the most important task during summer because lack of it and high heat can mean high fatality rates, especially in miniature trees
