| It’s not only hot, it’s like a sauna out there |
Wow, it’s been hot! I’ve just been trying to stay cool in these horrible temperatures.
That’s what your bonsai are trying to do as well. Just stay cool and hang on until the nice growing weather comes back.
Over the last month, I pruned the schefflera I wrote about last month back about 40% of its height. Here are some pictures.
 |
I’m eager to repot it, but it’s really hot and I want to prune the top growth back first. That way, it won’t be so hard to handle and move around when I repot it. Since its so hot, what I end up doing is going out on the patio just before dusk for 15 minutes or so and pruning. You can see it in the pictures. I’m slowly uncovering something. It makes you realize how Michelangelo must have felt as he carved David. He knew there was a work of art in there, but as he worked on it, all he saw with his eyes was a block of stone. At this point, I’m not sure what I will get, but I’m visualizing a beautiful plant.
Since it’s so hot, and I have to get my yard work done as the last rays of sun fade into the horizon, I’ve been working on Caladiums. I repotted them last week into larger pots. I’ve been feeding them a constant feed fertilizer, just like I feed my Bonsai, and the leaves are enormous now!
The Hibiscus are blooming and beautiful. I just got in some tropical foliage plants from Hawaii last week (variegated of course!) named Dracena Godseffiana – Angeldust. I bought it on eBay! Shocking I know. There were some beautiful palm trees in the shipment as well along with philodendrons and a beautiful fern named Dryneria Quercifolia. I’m excited because this will all go well with my banana plants and green stripe bamboo. In case you are wondering, yes, the Banana Plants (some say trees, but they aren’t) are variegated. They call them a “margarita,” they have a light green chartreuse stripe. I love them for the big leaves even though they will never produce fruit due to the climate.
I’ve finally decided, I will be building a green house before winter. The one I had was a kit purchased from Costco and was wrapped in plastic. We had a wind storm in January that shredded it. I had to cover it with tarps and limp through the remainder of winter. I lost a lot of rare Japanese plants. It was heart breaking!
My new greenhouse will have patio doors around it and be a trapezoid. 13’ long in the front, 16’ long in the back and 20’ deep with a fiberglass roof. That should be big enough to fit all of my bonsai and other plants, and strong enough to withstand a winter windstorm.
For bonsai, did I mention that it was really hot this summer? There have been 105 degree temperatures in Texas and Georgia. All along the South it’s been unbearable. Hopefully in the North and Northwest you have been a little cooler.
Right now, as always at this time of the year, bonsai are just trying to hang on. You are going to need to water twice a day. Pines are ok for the most part, but Maple leaves will turn crispy. Ficus and Schefflera leaves will look dusty. All plants will be losing water rapidly. So will we for that matter, so remember to drink plenty of water!
I’ve often thought of getting or building a small greenhouse for some of my plants in order to keep the humidity up, but that would be just as dangerous if not more so. It would have to be kept in the shade. Otherwise, if the sun shone into it, the temperature would rise so high so fast the plants would surely die.
Quite honestly, all of us, plants, humans and animals are all just trying to stay cool! That means lots of water and taking it slow!
We had been hearing a lot of “chatter” about a new scissor in Japan that everyone loves. I spent countless hours online researching to find the mythical scissor. So much time in fact that I feel like I can almost read Japanese Kanji.
After much searching, I found the fabled scissor and ordered an amount I felt would last me a couple months. Guess what? They have arrived!
It’s easy to understand why so many in Japan adore this scissor. It’s balanced very nicely, is stainless steel so it won’t rust, and has smooth composite inserts in the handles to make it easy on your fingers.
Most Japanese prefer rounded tools, but these scissors have captured their imagination with their squared off sides. Some have excitedly compared them to robots.
The Japanese have funny ways of saying things, but the truth is, these are one of the nicest pairs of scissors in the world and we have them at a very special price!
| What’s Happening here at Dallas Bonsai |
Last month in our mid-month email, we announced 3 new products: The “Pochette” tool holder, a double set of aluminum “chopsticks”, and a single fatter aluminum “chopstick” rootpick.
Well, if you are thinking about purchasing one of these, you better do it now because they went extremely fast!
 TH132 - Pochette
Of the Pochettes, we only have 1 beige and 2 charcoal left! The beige is a very popular color!
 T152 - New Aluminum Root Pick Set
This new “chopstick” set is very attractive and functional. It really flew out the door. There are only 2 sets left!
 T153 - New Aluminum Root Pick
To our surprise, this fatter aluminum root pick was also extremely well received. We sold over 40 of them in 15 days! We have just 2 left in stock, so if you want one, order fast.
I wanted to point these products out again because they have gone extremely fast and if you are thinking of ordering one, you should do it now! But hurry because the remainder of these products is on a first come, first served basis. We will have to turn people away.
We will reorder these, but it will take a couple months for our shipment of them to arrive from Japan. If you would like, we can place you on a waiting list. We will work that out with you if we have sold out before your order.
|
