The summer rains are almost daily in Florida now.  That still means monitoring daily to make sure the trees receive enough water.  Although the bonsai were watered this morning and there was a very brief mid-day shower, it was so hot some trees were wilting by late afternoon and required a second watering.

June 1 is the official start of hurricane season. Did you know that Native trees suvived the hurricanes better than non-natives?  Buttonwood, live oak, red maple, and cypress are all examples of good trees for hurricanes while Australian pine, ficus, laurel oak, and black olive are not storm resistant.  Maybe we are helping out by turning them into bonsai. Since the good hurricane trees also make great bonsai, they too should be added to collections.  And it’s always a good idea to anchor your trees into the pot in case a heavy wind comes along.

Along with the rains come the pests so be sure to look for leaf changes and deal with pests quickly when you find them through natural organic (or non organic means if you must). If you want your bonsai to live, you may want to follow the directions.  And if you see lady bugs, look closer with your magnifying glass to see what they are feeding on.  Lady bugs are a natural pest control and can be purchased by the hundreds.  Now, don’t even get me started on mosquitoes.  They don’t hurt the bonsai but all the rains caused a new batch to hatch.  Got out the citronella candles and put on skin-so-soft (thank you, Avon ©) and finished weeding the bonsai garden, well almost…!

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Get out of the house and into the garden.  It’s all about Spring Greening now.  Abundant sunshine, fertilizer and water = Greening and Growing = Beautiful Bonsai.  A few other ’ings’ to add to your SPRING besides fertilizing are pruning, cutting, mixing, moving, styling, wiring and displaying.  It’s that busy time of year again – the leaves and flowers are popping out all over so it’s time to get that growth under control – amazing what a few hours in the garden will accomplish.  Hopefully your tools are sharp, your pots clean, your soil on hand and a plan in mind!  No?  Well, if not Orlando Bonsai is here to meet your springtime bonsai tool and supply needs.  If you can’t find something on the site, just send an email inquiry and we may have it or find it.  We have a number of pots, trees and display stands that aren’t shown on the site so let us know what you have in mind so you can move on to your Spring Greening too!

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Thank you everyone that submitted entries in the February “Love Your Trees” contest and congratulations to Rob Kempinski for his winning entry – a rap parody aptly named ‘I Like Big Trunks’! You’ll find it on Orlando Bonsai’s Facebook page – the Feb 13 entry.  Click on Orlando Bonsai Facebook under Bonsai Links to the left.  I’ll be sending Rob an email with his $20 gift certificate!  Here is Rob’s Sumo photo that accompanied his entry.  I guess he does like BIG trunks!

I like BIG trunks

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February is a “lovely” month for Orlando Bonsai’s ‘Love Your Trees’ contest. Submit the winning entry and you will receive a $20 gift certificate from Orlando Bonsai. Here’s how it works. Click Bonsai Links then Orlando Bonsai facebook page. “Like” our FB page and submit an email to sandy@orlandobonsai.com that contains your entry in 150 words or 800 characters or less.

Must be an original bonsai ‘love’ poem, haiku, story or ditty about why you love or like anything bonsai-related with or without a photo of a bonsai or bonsai setting. One photo only please. A submission indicates your permission to post that story, poem, haiku, ditty or photo on Facebook or OrlandoBonsai.com. We want to share the best and most creative with everyone. Must be 18 years or older to win. Contest ends February 29, 2012. Get Creative and Good Luck!

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