The Art of Bonsai

This Euonymus alatus was salvaged from our yard where it was a neglected landscape shrub. The tree responded very nicely to pot culture and developed well ramified branches in several years. It even blooms and sets fruit most years. The fruit is a hanging orange berry. It must be repotted yearly as the fine hair…

This apple was collected from a friend's pasture where it had been deer and cattle grazed for over 40 years. Much of the tree was dead but a living strip on its left side provided enough vascular supply to keep the foliage happy. Many apple trees were collected from the same pasture during the summer…

When purchased in 1990 this Ficus benjamina was a ten foot tall, potted indoor landscape tree. It was used for years as a rental tree for parties. I aquired the tree because of its lovely base. Prior to shortening the tree down to 23 inches, I air-layered the top 8 feet of the tree and…

This Buttonwood tree, Conocarpus erectus, was purchased in 1992 but originally was collected in Florida. It is 22 inches tall and with a main tunk diameter of 4.5 inches. It has been very happily growing in my greenhouse, and tolerates very high heat, up to 120 Fahrenheit, which occasionally occurs when my greenhouse ventilation quits.…

This Bougainvillea was purchased as pre-bonsai stock in 1989. The tree took some years to stabilize under my growing conditions, and for many years never really showed good vigor. In the last few years I have increased its light exposure with metal halide lights and kept the tree a bit drier and potted it in…

This Ficus burtt-davyi 'Nana' was obtained from Jim Smith in 1992 as a small tree. It has lived indoors for all the subsequent years. It grows fairly slowly in its small pot and occasionally will have small green figs maturing into a maroon color. The seed of course is sterile since it does not have…

This tree, Diospyros rhodocalyx has been under my care since 1990. I believe that it is related to the persimmon and is found in much of Southeast Asia. I have seen this material used as bonsai in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malayasia. It likes extreme heat and lots of water and fertilizer. I doubt that…

This Ficus salicaria, older names include F. salicifolia, nerifolia, neriifolia etc., was purchased from Joe Samuels in 1983 as a rather small tree. It has lived with us since then as a summer patio plant or indoors under lights. The aerial root on the right was created by grafting a rooted cutting into the lowest…

This plant of Ficus rubiginosa was obtained from a friend who visited Australia and collected some ripe fig seeds. I obtained the plant from him as a 7 year old tree in 1984. The tree's leaves are quite large in relationship to the tree's size, but with defoliation the foliage can be reduced to only…

The Coccoloba uvifera or Sea Grape was collected in Florida in 1992. It was originally a landscape tree that was shortened to about 20 inches in height. When collected all branches and leaves were removed to a bare trunk. The tree has been growing indoors under lights or in a greenhouse since collection. This plant…