I love bonsai. I found a wonderful collection of bonsai at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh when I visited there a few years ago.
For my birthday, I requested a trip to a local bonsai nursery. Every year for my birthday which falls in early January, I make my husband take me to something that I want to do but I secretly think that he will also enjoy, but not necessarily want to go there on his own. A few examples of my birthday outings include The Little House Picture Book Exhibit, the Walter Gropius House from the Bauhaus Movement, and our trip to Costa Rica for my 50th birthday.
I thought the bonsai nursery was in the Berkshires, about 2 hours away, but silly me, it was only 20 minutes away. Who knew Littleton was near Concord, MA?
My goal for our outing was to find a new bonsai plant to put in the bonsai that my sister gave me many years ago. I kept it alive for a good number of years, but it finally died. The people at the bonsai nursery think that because it was a pine tree, it wasn’t suited for the pot and died a natural death.
My personal theory is that the pot got broken from a ping pong game in our kitchen in which our friend used a frying pan instead of a ping pong paddle, since we didn’t have enough ping pong paddles, and the frying pan flew out of his hand, and nearly smashed the window. Luckily, my bonsai plant was in the way and took a hit. It sacrificed itself to save the kitchen window. Good thing too, because it was cold outside!
In any case, my husband got careful instructions from the bonsai nursery people who also recommend this book for the actual care of our bonsai plants. We are now obsessed with bonsai and want to take a class.
Unfortunately for us, we purchased plants from the “Tropical” section which was kept at a very warm temperature with high humidity. Our kitchen does not replicate that balmy environment. Our bonsai went into shock and lost the majority of their leaves before I figured out what was wrong. I’d show you how they look now, but you’d only get sad and depressed seeing them so bare. In any case, I am now trying to nurse them back to health in my office, which I am keeping warmer. Please wish me luck!
How about you? Do you like bonsai too? How are your bonsai faring? I hope, better than ours!
p.s. Related posts:
Picture Books on Growing A Garden
Plant a Garden with Your Kids to Teach #PlantPower
A Year in The Secret Garden Interview
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum
Fantasy Garden Play Spaces for Kids and Adults
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Good luck! I have a tiny baby bonsai tree that I grew from a seed – this was try number 5, and more than a year later it is alive. The others would grow to a certain height and then die. This one seems a lot more stable. It grows very slowly – I think it is still under 2 inches tall! I just hope I can keep it alive.
I killed the new one :(. It didn’t stay intact when the wire was wrapped around so it fell out about a month or two after it was put in place. Then, when it was wired in again, I think the root structure was too badly damaged, and the whole plant just kind of hollowed out, and died. But, the one we bought, after losing all its leaves because our kitchen was too cold during the winter, has made a complete comeback!
The bonsai are much harder to keep alive than I realized!!!