. . . . . . .Bonsai trees - the gift that keeps on giving

What is bonsai? This was at one time, the most commonly ask of all questions, but, since the Karate Kid was first shown, the frequency with which this question gets asked has decreased a little bit..Bonsai is literally a plant, (usually a tree or shrub) grown in a tray, or dish. The first plants grown in pots were in Egypt about 4000 years ago, mostly for practical reasons, mobility, and convenience. The Greeks, Babylonians, Persians, and Hindus copied the technique. The Chinese were the first to plant trees in pots for aesthetic purposes about 200 AD. It then moved to Japan with the monks that also brought Buddhism in the 6th and 7th centuries. This data is supported in essence by a scroll from Japan's Kamakura period (1192-1333), in a scroll describing life in the Heian period (794-1191).

Bonsai originated in China more than 1,000 years ago, but it has been pursued and developed by the Japanese. A bonsai industry of considerable size exists in certain sections of Japan. It has also become popular in many parts of the world.

A Japanese word meaning "tray-planted," bonsai refers either to dwarf trees or to the art of training and growing the miniaturized trees in containers. Bonsai may be either conifers with small needles or deciduous plants with small leaves. Some bonsai are small-flowered or small-fruit trees. Good bonsai can be kept outdoors all year long.

The overall artistic effect is of great significance in growing the trees. Everything must be proportional: the size of the tree, its leaves or needles, its flowers or fruit, and the container in which it grows. The containers, especially, must be chosen to harmonize in size, shape, and color with the tree.

There are four sizes of bonsai: miniature, small, medium, and average. Miniatures range up to only 2 inches (5 centimeters) in height. Started from seeds or cuttings, they mature in about five years. Small bonsai are from 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 centimeters) and take from five to ten years to train. Medium bonsai are from 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters), and average bonsai are up to 2 feet (0.6 meter); both sizes can be produced in as little as three years.

The bonsai are dwarfed by pruning roots and branches. Their shapes are controlled by wiring the trunk and branches. The wires must be removed before the bark becomes scarred.

The art of raising bonsai--dwarfed potted trees--has enabled the Japanese to admire nature in an indoor setting. Bonsai are able to bear fruit and to drop their leaves in season, thus reproducing nature in miniature. A skillful bonsai artist can prune, bend, and shape branches to suggest trees standing tall and upright in a field or bent and gnarled by age or weather. The beauty of a natural landscape is evoked in the viewer's imagination.

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Brush Cherry-Medium . . . . . . . . Juniper "Karate Kid Tree . . . . . . . . .Juniper with Fairway Golf Ball