Plant of the Week: Bonsai

 

Bonsai, tree in a pot, includes many plants grown around the world.

Deciduous Bonsai

This week, we visit the world of Bonsai. Bonsai, simply translated, means tree in pot. Bonsai does not refer to a specific type of plant material. Many of us have watched The Karate Kid movies that featured Junipers. Evergreens, like Junipers, and Deciduous trees, (materials that lose their leaves in the winter), produce excellent specimens.

Pomegranate

We have found at our garden center that most people want to grow their bonsai indoors for most or part of the year. For that reason, we carry primarily tropical and sub-tropical finished bonsai and starter plants in our greenhouse. Materials for outdoor bonsai can be found outside with our regular nursery stock. 

Mistletoe Fig finished Bonsai

Bougainvillea finished Bonsai

Our Bonsai grower propagates, grows, and trains the material we carry from beginning to end. We have a nice selection of finished Bonsai, starter plants, wire, bonsai pots, soils mixed for specific types of trees, and accent plants that we use as companion plants and in terrariums. We are very honored to have Martha Meehan from Meehan's Miniatures teach classes at Valley View Farms on the first Saturday of every month. Our first class of the season, on Saturday, January 6,at 9 am, is an excellent time for people who are new to the hobby to learn the basics of Bonsai tree care. Bring your tree to the class with you if you would like.  Pick up a schedule while here in the store, or check our website for the monthly schedule. We will have a Create Your Own Bonsai workshop for our April 6th meeting. 

 

Martha Meehan conducting a Bonsai seminar in or greenhouse

I've been very fortunate to see Bonsai at Martha's nursery, the Bonsai collections at both Longwood Gardens and the National Arboretum, and other Botanical Gardens across the United States. On a trip to South Africa a few years ago, our group visited the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town where we viewed more beautiful Bonsai trees.

Brittany loves to travel and enjoys plants wherever she goes

Matt is a Bonsai enthusiast in Southern California. Like me, he enjoyed seeing this collection halfway around the world. 

The collections were extraordinary in all of the locations we visited. I am envious of Martha and her husband Hugh's visit to China many years ago to see the art/science used in creating these beauties where it began. 

I'll be starting a bit smaller, working on Bonsai that may be just a few years in training. Wish me luck.