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Text Box: A very bad spring will soon turn into what could be a very bad summer. I say this without knowing how good or bad the weather will be. I say this because our bonsai have suffered the effects of a awful dry and hot fall to emerge into a hot, dry spring. My trees have put on very little growth. This makes me believe my bonsai are a bit weaker than normal, or a lot weaker than normal. I’m fighting every day to make each bonsai a bit healthier. At this point only a turn to a more normal rain cycle is apt to make my bonsai settle into a normal growth pattern. I very hot, dry summer could leave me with a much smaller collection. You can only do so much to offset nature.

Text Box: When it gets summer hot, your bonsai are being watered enough and they don’t grow…..don’t add fertilizer and more fertilizer. If you think they are suffering from a lack of fertilizer use a organic like fish fertilizer. It will either help or flush through the pot without any damage. Now is the time to add more soil to top off your containers. Some people water harder than they should washing off a bit of soil each time they water. That reduced soil level could be a killer if it lets the bonsai dry out

Text Box: Dry out hours before you can water. The last thing you need to do is check your bonsai before you go to work, the first thing when you get home is-check your bonsai. Might sound like you are putting your bonsai before every thing else but you are dealing with a life and death situation. All the work invested in your bonsai is lost if the bonsai is lost. Hope we all have a summer that is so normal that we have nothing to write about. We could all use the break just for ourselves and our bonsai deserve a time to recover. Joe Day

Text Box: It a rare event that a Joe Kuhn comes along and is willing to give the time and effort to stay of top of the job and do it with a constant good nature. We made a rule in ACBS that we do not give out plaques or other items when our bonsai year ends. That does not mean that you can’t take a minute to tell Joe Kuhn how much you appreciate the hard work over the past years.

Text Box: 25 or so years of ACBS Presidents has certainly show that not everyone can be an effective president. We have no training program for the position of President. It’s a lot of hard work that never, never ends. To those who have never been president they would be amazed that it’s a daily job. You must <7 days a week> communicate with someone about something.

Text Box: As I said in another part of the newsletter, ACBS is just the name we give a group of people who love the art of bonsai. Every thing that happens at ACBS is a product of leadership. We are lucky that we have experienced artist and past leaders in our membership but they also need a leader to bring it all together, That’s what Joe Kuhn does and does it well. Joe Day

Text Box: The edge of summer

Text Box: The display, vendor area were easy to find. The rooms were pleasant and the hotel restaurant had very good food. It was nice to see lots and lots of bonsai friends from all the years. My demo and workshop events were set up very nice and had wonderful people. Thanks to buying a bit of bonsai stuff from almost every event over the years

Text Box: I only needed to visit the vendors for a couple pair of cheap but excellent scissors and some more sealing compound. The vendors were well stocked with almost every bonsai item you could need. Our old friend Karen is back with the Monastery, “Bonsai Monk”. That is a big plus for ACBS. Joe Day

Text Box: Nothing but great things can I say about this event. Those bonsai folk in Gainesville were extremely nice and ever helpful for any need. After 25 years of bonsai I understand the amount of work it takes to host a big event and still hold together to be pleasant and helpful to everyone.

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