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Outdoor:           This is it, the busiest month in bonsai.Once the danger of temperatures in the low twenties or less has passed, it is time to bring your trees out of winter protection and into their summer homes. For trees in mulch beds, be sure that the mulch has thawed below the pots before lifting the trees out of it. Do not force trees from a frozen mulch bed, as significant damage can result. Watering requirements will increase, so be prepared to water more frequently. Fertilization…

YUZU (Japanese Winter Hardy Citrus) Yuzu (Citrus junos, from Japanese 柚子 or ユズ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu forms an upright shrub or small tree, which commonly has many large thorns. Leaves are notable for a large, leaf-like petiole, resembling those of the related makrut lime and ichang papeda, and are heavily scented. It is unusual among citrus plants in being relatively frost-hardy, due to its cold-hardy Ichang papeda ancestry, and can be grown in regions with winters as low…

Outdoor: These trees will need to remain in their winter quarters this month. It is often tempting to bring them out on that odd warm day that may occur this month. This is not advisable, however, as the weather cannot be expected to remain above freezing as yet. It may be necessary to water the trees if there isn’t sufficient rain or snow melt. Do not fertilize. Trees can be wired if they are accessible enough to be worked on. Indoor: Care continues the same as last month. Be…

What a Difference a Year Makes We had a great event on February 18th at Cantigny Park.  You may know that this is our third Silhouette Show at Cantigny.  The first was held in 2020, just a month before the pandemic shut down everything and everyone.  It was well-attended and we all considered it to be a successful event, particularly for the first time we had run the event.  There was no show in 2021, due to the pandemic.  We did run the show again in 2022, but the…

Collecting Bonsai What is it about Bonsai that so thrills the viewer? Is it the fact that a Bonsai looks so old? Could it be the "how does it grow in that small container?" How about the simple beauty of it? What is it about Bonsai that so thrills me? They say the first Bonsai were brought back from the wild. That a man, one day, so admired a tree along his way that he returned and dug it up. He then brought it home, planted it in a…

An online “GREEN event” with recorded event presentations to view at your leisure. Demonstrations were all taped in other countries and the tape speed increased when appropriate – the show was a classy production. The length of a demo could be 35 minutes or 1.5 hours. I watched only one live presentation at 9 pm, that time and the 11 pm live demos were too late for me. So I watched when convenient. As a registrant, you had access to tapes until mid-November.The headline professional demonstrators were at 9…

THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH Outdoor: Protect trees from freezing winds that can dry buds and twigs. Water if the soil becomes dry. Trees wintered outdoors should be watered during snowless and sunny or windy periods. Do not fertilize. Trim off obvious dieback. Ventilate enclosures when the outdoor temperature is 40 F or higher. Prepare for repotting season by acquiring new pots and soil supplies. Take notice of trees in nature and note their shapes and branch structures. These observations can be used when shaping trees later in the…

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) This deciduous tree is native to northern China and can grow over sixteen feet tall. (Samson, 96) In winter, bright yellow flowers appear on bare branches between January and March, followed by tiny dark green leaves. (Tomlinson, 74) Style: Informal Upright, Slanted, Cascade, Semi-cascade, Root Over Rock, Exposed Root, Clump, Multi-trunk. Summer Placement:  Place in a sunny position but keep shaded from the full summer sun. Winter Placement:  Protect from hard frosts. Watering: Daily in summer. Keep moist at all times. Feeding: Two to three times…

President's Letter for February 2023 Off to a Great Start for 2023! Our first General Membership Meeting is set for February 1st. We will view and discuss the comments, suggestions, and criticisms of the trees entered in the Morton Arboretum Destination Asia Festival show last August. Our guest artist for the event was Chris Baker, the curator of the Chicago Botanic Garden bonsai collection. I had never been present for the review of the displayed trees before, and I was not sure what to expect. I was struck by…