NFBC Newsletter October 2025 - North Florida Bonsai

Pre-Meeting Help Hour- As usual, the club will be open from 6-7pm before the meeting. In an effort to be of service to all club members, some of our more senior members have been kind enough to offer their guidance the hour before the meeting starts. If you need help with anything bonsai related and have the time, join us and bring whatever material it is you are seeking help with.

Meeting Activity: Boadleaf & Deciduous Discussion w/ Josh Brown (Bring your Broadleaf & Deciduous Trees)It’s already October, kind of hard to believe! And, with that, comes fall (like) temperatures and changes. Lucky for us, we have club member and talented bonsai artist Josh Brown speaking this month to us about Broadleaf Evergreens and Deciduous bonsai with a focus on seasonal changes and the work that goes along with that. So, if you have a broadleaf or evergreen you have questions about, make sure you don’t miss this one. You’re welcome to bring any broadleaf’s or evergreens for help/guidance during the pre-meeting help hour and after Josh is finished speaking.

October 19th @ 8:30am Club Soil Mixing Day!

Where: Florida Bonsai Nursery & Supply

That’s right! The club soil you have been patiently waiting for will finally be here…well, after we mix it. We have been fortunate to have many club members volunteer so we are looking forward to a productive day. The only items you should need to bring are gloves, if you’d like to use them, and your preferred beverage if you happen to not drink just any beer. Otherwise, a modest amount of beer will be provided. It should be a good time so come on out!

October 18th & 25th @ 3pm: Beginner’s Study Group

If you are new, fairly new, or just seeking more bonsai knowledge in general, try out our very first Beginner’s Study Group! Recommended for folks with less than 1 year of experience.

If there are no sign ups this group will pick back up the next month when we have participants. Special arrangements can be made for single participants.

If you would like to volunteer to to facilitate this group, please let us know! You can do so by contacting Kelly Harrison either at the meeting or via email at [email protected]

WHEN: October September 18th & 25th 3pm @ Florida Bonsai (unless specified otherwise)

More information available at each meeting by talking directly to Kelly Harrison or emailing him at [email protected] to register/ask questions!

October 22nd @ 6pm: Intermediate Study Group

Not a beginner but not ready to call yourself an expert? We’ve got just the group for you!

We welcome any and all participants to come by whenever they can make it. You do not need to be present for every meeting in a single quarter to sign up, but if you wish to take the study group sessions in succession, this quarter’s meetings will be taking place on July 23rd, August 20th and September 17th! With a new session beginning in October!

We will be sending out a reminder the week before each meeting.

WHEN: Wednesday 6pm October 22nd @ Josh Brown’s Home (address provided upon sign up)

More information available at each meeting by talking directly to Kelly Harrison or emailing him at [email protected] to register/ask questions!

*Important Note*: Previously our Intermediate sessions have taken place at Florida Bonsai Nursery, but for the month of October we will have a new face hosting the Intermediate Study Group. Josh Brown will not only be facilitating, but also hosting at his house. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see Josh’s trees I suggest you take the opportunity to get a look! Josh is also an excellent teacher so take advantage while you can. If you plan to attend please let me know so I can give you the details necessary to participate (date and time are as stated above). You can contact me at (904)-463-6731 or at [email protected].

Other Bonsai News/Events

Multi-Club Auction and Picnic!

Saturday October 18th Setup at 10am, Event 12pm-3pm

Hosted by the Bonsai Society of Brevard

Taking place at F. Burton Smith Park

7575 W. King Street, Cocoa, FL (On 520 in West Brevard County)

The Multi-Club Auction and Picnic is a wonderful annual event where buyers can purchase some truly awesome bonsai trees in either a live or silent auction.

If you have any trees for auction you would like to enter you are encouraged to sign up early by doing so here.

For updates on this event you can visit the BSOB website!

Check out the Multi-Club Auction and Picnic flyer

Florida Bonsai Nursery & Supply Now Has a Podcast

The Florida Bonsai Podcast has officially launched with the Pioneer Series featuring Mike Rodgers.

You can check out the latest episode here!

The BSF 2025 Exhibit Book is Still Live on Amazon!

If you loved this year’s exhibit, or didn’t get to see it, don’t fret!

You can get your own copy for just $22.99 right here!

October Meeting

Pre-Meeting Help Hour

An opportunity for anyone seeking help, newcomer or otherwise, to bring in any material they are looking for feedback or guidance on. David Ruth has made himself available the past couple of months, but many of the club’s more senior members are present and available to offer guidance. Feel free to take advantage as this is now a permanent fixture.

Part 1 Club Update/Announcements

We will begin the club meeting with an update on club business and upcoming events of note. Including, a reminder on the upcoming soil mixing day (10/19) and Spring Festival Planning/Committee updates.

Part 2: Boadleaf & Deciduous Discussion w/ Josh Brown (Bring your Broadleaf & Deciduous Trees)

It’s already October, kind of hard to believe! And, with that, comes fall (like) temperatures and changes. Lucky for us, we have club member and talented bonsai artist Josh Brown speaking this month to us about Broadleaf Evergreens and Deciduous bonsai with a focus on seasonal changes and the work that goes along with that. So, if you have a broadleaf or evergreen you have questions about, make sure you don’t miss this one. You’re welcome to bring any broadleaf’s or evergreens for help/guidance during the pre-meeting help hour and after Josh is finished speaking.

Bonsai Beginner’s Study Group October 18th & 25th (Saturdays) 3pm

This is not a class or workshop. It is a group of individuals in a similar place in their bonsai journey studying the same material. There is no charge or membership fee. We will be studying from The Foundations of Bonsai by Harry Harrington and will cover the material over two meetings in a single month, but this group will be ongoing. We currently have about 5-6 copies of the The Foundations of Bonsai so please only commit if you are serious about attending both meetings and studying the book. We will need each copy returned at the last meeting of each month. Typically the second Saturday of each month will mark the beginning of a new study group and will be led by a facilitator. Because it is a study group and not a workshop or class, you do not need prior experience to facilitate this group. So, if you are interested in facilitating or participating please get with Kelly Harrison at the April meeting or send him an email at [email protected].

Intermediate Bonsai Study Group

October 18th (Wednesday) @ 6pm

This is not a class or workshop. It is a group of individuals in a similar place in their bonsai journey gathering to further their bonsai knowledge. There is no charge or membership fee. This group will meet once a month over a 3 month period before a new group begins, but you are welcome to drop by whenever you can. Josh Brown is hosting our current intermediate study group. If you are interested, the club has multiple copies of The Principles of Bonsai Design by David De Groot available to check out while you participate in the study group.

*Important*: Previously our Intermediate sessions have taken place at Florida Bonsai Nursery, but for the month of October we will have a new face hosting the Intermediate Study Group. Josh Brown will not only be facilitating, but also hosting at his house. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see Josh’s trees I suggest you take the opportunity to get a look! Josh is also an excellent teacher so take advantage while you can. If you plan to attend please let me know so I can give you the details necessary to participate (date and time are as stated above). You can contact me at (904)-463-6731 or at [email protected].

Seasonal Advice – October

Deciduous Trees – This month’s seasonal advice will be relatively brief considering our meeting Monday will be on Deciduous and Broadleaf’s and there truthfully has not been a material change in weather. However, temperatures are starting to finally show signs of cooling off. Your deciduous trees should be happy about this! They likely have not begun to show foliage color change or fall off yet but that should be happening in the next two months or so. When they do go bare, it’s a great time to get a good look at how the structure of your tree is developing and also an opportunity to make some changes with wiring or planned pruning. We are still seeing high to mid 80’s during the day but night time temps have started to cool and are regularly hitting the 70’s. We’ve also seen a fair amount of rain in recent weeks but that’s more of a positive with the lower day time temps than it was for deciduous during the summer. Hopefully you can attend this month’s meeting and learn a great deal more on these wonderful trees from Josh!

Conifers and Broadleaf Evergreen Trees – Conifers and Broadleaf Evergreens continue to look forward to cooler temperatures as we near what Florida calls Fall. As we know, we don’t get a ton of seasonal variance outside of winter and summer, but pretty soon here we will start going out in the morning to find it’s much cooler, dare I even say chilly? An important event of note was the Autumnal equinox which took place on either 9/22 or 9/23. The Autumnal equinox marks the sun being directly over the equator, so what does that mean for our trees? It means they are seeing about an equal amount of day and night as opposed to the longer days we were getting prior. With less sunlight you might notice your watering needs are lessening, especially for conifers. This typically results in marginally slower growth for a lot of tree types, but you’re not likely to notice a difference in your conifers. Just be sure to continue to observe your trees and react accordingly!

Tropical Trees – With the changing of seasons all trees are impacted one way or another. Our tropical trees probably more so than any other on this list. Gone are the days of more sun than night, and with it the rapid growth our tropicals enjoy so much. It’s still plenty warm for them right now but they are starting to slow down with the decreased sunlight. You’re probably still watering most tropicals twice a day right now with day time temps still steadily over 80, and night time temps not going below 70 (yet), but keep an eye on the forecast as it is not uncommon to have early cold snaps hit as soon as October. A night or two below 60 isn’t a big deal for even the more delicate tropicals, but sustained temperatures below 50 can be a real issue. With that said, if you don’t have a place for these guys to go when we do reach those temps then now is an excellent time to start planning for greenhouse arrangements.

Miscellaneous: Not to sound like Jon Snow here, but winter is coming! Take the time to prepare now before it is too late. If you have plans to build a greenhouse, or don’t, but should, now is the time! It is very easy to lose track of the season here in Florida due to the mild climate and you could very easily find yourself moving 20+ tropical trees into the garage while your spouse watches with disdain. Don’t let that happen to you! There are many options for affordable greenhouses or wintering alternatives for your warm-blooded trees!

Talk to your fellow club members and find out now which trees you may have in common and what they will be doing to keep them happy during the colder months of the year! Additionally, if you’ve still got air layers going, check on them! It is ideal to have them in a pot and established before the cold temperatures become a regular feature. If they simply aren’t ready and won’t be for some time, they may need to stay wrapped in foil throughout the year, but knowing is half the battle, so find out!

NFBC Membership

– Membership is $36 for the year 2025

– Visitors are always welcome at meetings and events