Bonsai for the Tropical Plant Enthusiast A Personal Perspective By Ron Arthur Many years ago as a young Air Force officer, I had the opportunity to live in Japan. The Japan I experienced often seemed more in tune with the 19th Century rather than the 20th. In those days, due to the lingering effects of suffering defeat in WWII and the subsequent occupation, many Japanese were cautious even though they were outwardly gracious and polite. Three areas of interests, which today we take for granted as being open to all, were not at that point in history open to a “foreigner” -- sushi bars, the martial arts, and bonsai. Today I eat sushi and grow bonsai. As for the third category, I represented the United States in judo many times and participated in the sport for the next thirty years. It also took a while within the US for bonsai to be opened up to everyone, which accounted for some racially profiled societies around the country. Linguistically, the pronunciation of bonsai is bŏn sī and should not to be confused with banzai (bän zī), which is the Japanese battle cry or patriotic cheer often associated with Kamikaze pilots engaging in suicide attacks on military targets (e.g. ships in old war movies). Bonsai refers by definition to the art of growing dwarfed, ornamentally shaped trees or shrubs in small shallow dishes, pots or trays. Legend has it that a 4th Century Chinese poet and civil servant (Guen-ming) started the whole thing by bringing in chrysanthemums in pots, which he placed on his veranda. A couple of hundred years later, during the T’ang dynasty, paintings appeared that depicted pine trees, cypresses, plums, and bamboo growing in pots. The Japanese adopted and then proceeded to perfect the art of making miniature trees look like their larger, natural counterparts. So who gets credit for using plant materials other than those traditionally and necessarily associated exclusively with the great outdoors. Well the truth is that the individual or group who started using tropical plants that could survive and/or thrive indoors cannot be identified. Some credit the Europeans (most notably the English and Germans) and others like to credit some of the venerable US botanical institutions (e.g. Brooklyn Botanical Gardens) with leading the way. Today Puerto Rico and Indonesia are recognized as being at the forefront of employing tropical plants for bonsai. Indoor bonsai are simply miniature versions of tropical (or subtropical) trees and shrubs, whose native climate matches with the “temperate climate” of a home. Bonsai are not shaped by genetic changes, and the bonsai grower has no influence on the size of flowers and fruits; however, the grower can alter roots, branches and trunks (e.g. cutting and wiring). Some growers choose to select trees and shrubs with leaves that lend themselves to creating an acceptable ratio to the height and girth of the miniature version in order to simulate the look of its full size relative. Other growers prefer regular sized flowers or regular sized fruits suspended from tiny branches. The life of the bonsai is made up of the same never-ending-cycle-of- events (influenced by light, air composition/movement, temperature, and humidity) as are all other plants maintained inside a house. The symbol of life in many cultures -- the tree -- can be enjoyed in its miniature form all year long with the rest of your houseplants. Bonsai range in price from under $20 for starter trees to $1000s for “specimens.” The age of a bonsai can be commensurate with that of its normal relative. At 5 years, for some species, the shape becomes pleasurable to the viewer. Some of the bonsai used in movies and television programming as scenery are several decades in age. I had the pleasure of assisting in the transplantation of a dwarfed 600-year old Colorado bristlecone pine a few years ago. Obviously, not a tropical, but as a representative of the earth’s oldest living class of organisms, I thought this experience worth mentioning. There are other practices associated with bonsai involving rocks, sand, symbolic figures of humans & animals, and structures like bridges & temples, which can add another dimension of interest for some even though often rejected by the purist. Experimenting with Bonsai as an alternative to growing normal-sized tropical shrubs and trees can be a rewarding experience. An indoor bonsai, deemed to be of the specimen (i.e. trophy) class, is recognized today, as its outdoor counterpart has been for centuries, as the quintessential achievement in the growing of plants. We can anticipate that because of tropical plants there will be many new growers throughout the world who will aspire to create the next generation of these organic jewels

Bonsai for the Tropical Plant Enthusiast

A Personal Perspective

Ron Arthur

Many years ago as a young Air Force officer, I had the opportunity to live in Japan. The Japan I experienced often seemed more in tune with the 19th Century rather than the 20th. In those days, due to the lingering effects of suffering defeat in WWII and the subsequent occupation, many Japanese were cautious even though they were outwardly gracious and polite. Three areas of interests, which today we take for granted as being open to all, were not at that point in history open to a “foreigner” -- sushi bars, the martial arts, and bonsai. Today I eat sushi and grow bonsai. As for the third category, I represented the United States in judo many times and participated in the sport for the next thirty years. It also took a while within the US for bonsai to be opened up to everyone, which accounted for some racially profiled societies around the country.

Linguistically, the pronunciation of bonsai is bŏn sī and should not to be confused with banzai (bän zī), which is the Japanese battle cry or patriotic cheer often associated with Kamikaze pilots engaging in suicide attacks on military targets (e.g. ships in old war movies). Bonsai refers by definition to the art of growing dwarfed, ornamentally shaped trees or shrubs in small shallow dishes, pots or trays. Legend has it that a 4th Century Chinese poet and civil servant (Guen-ming) started the whole thing by bringing in chrysanthemums in pots, which he placed on his veranda. A couple of hundred years later, during the T’ang dynasty, paintings appeared that depicted pine trees, cypresses, plums, and bamboo growing in pots. The Japanese adopted and then proceeded to perfect the art of making miniature trees look like their larger, natural counterparts.

So who gets credit for using plant materials other than those traditionally and necessarily associated exclusively with the great outdoors. Well the truth is that the individual or group who started using tropical plants that could survive and/or thrive indoors cannot be identified. Some credit the Europeans (most notably the English and Germans) and others like to credit some of the venerable US botanical institutions (e.g. Brooklyn Botanical Gardens) with leading the way. Today Puerto Rico and Indonesia are recognized as being at the forefront of employing tropical plants for bonsai. Indoor bonsai are simply miniature versions of tropical (or subtropical) trees and shrubs, whose native climate matches with the “temperate climate” of a home.

Bonsai are not shaped by genetic changes, and the bonsai grower has no influence on the size of flowers and fruits; however, the grower can alter roots, branches and trunks (e.g. cutting and wiring). Some growers choose to select trees and shrubs with leaves that lend themselves to creating an acceptable ratio to the height and girth of the miniature version in order to simulate the look of its full size relative. Other growers prefer regular sized flowers or regular sized fruits suspended from tiny branches.

The life of the bonsai is made up of the same never-ending-cycle-of- events (influenced by light, air composition/movement, temperature, and humidity) as are all other plants maintained inside a house. The symbol of life in many cultures -- the tree -- can be enjoyed in its miniature form all year long with the rest of your houseplants. Bonsai range in price from under $20 for starter trees to $1000s for “specimens.” The age of a bonsai can be commensurate with that of its normal relative. At 5 years, for some species, the shape becomes pleasurable to the viewer. Some of the bonsai used in movies and television programming as scenery are several decades in age. I had the pleasure of assisting in the transplantation of a dwarfed 600-year old Colorado bristlecone pine a few years ago. Obviously, not a tropical, but as a representative of the earth’s oldest living class of organisms, I thought this experience worth mentioning. There are other practices associated with bonsai involving rocks, sand, symbolic figures of humans & animals, and structures like bridges & temples, which can add another dimension of interest for some even though often rejected by the purist.

Experimenting with Bonsai as an alternative to growing normal-sized tropical shrubs and trees can be a rewarding experience. An indoor bonsai, deemed to be of the specimen (i.e. trophy) class, is recognized today, as its outdoor counterpart has been for centuries, as the quintessential achievement in the growing of plants. We can anticipate that because of tropical plants there will be many new growers throughout the world who will aspire to create the next generation of these organic jewels – tropical bonsai.