[marmalady]

Had a chance to 'diddy-bop' today, and visited my friends who own a bonsai nursery in Flemington, nearby. I've know them for 10 years, and it's been so wonderful to watch them grow and their business develop to the point where they've got not only fine potted specimens, but 'stock' plants for folks who want to pot up their own.

Some unusual varieties they now have are Acacia trees, Barbados cherries, tiny little Hokkaido elms (the leaves are smaller than a ladybug!), a 'creeping' azalea, and - my find of the day - a miniature hosta! - developed in Japan, it's small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, and will definitely NOT go outside to become deer food! I have a garden window that faces south, in which it will sit quite prettily. Oh, and a miniature fuscia, with blossoms so tiny they look like earrings. And dwarf crepe myrtle trees. And crabapple bonsai with fruit!

Now I'm going to be hard pressed to be a good little girl and get my chores done tomorrow before I go play with my plants!

[Isa]

Lucky you!

How many bonsai do you have?

[mudbug]

That's wonderful! You may enjoy browsing the Bonsai Forum of GardenWeb. It's always interesting to see what other people around the world are doing.

They also trade Bonsai plants which can really get your collection going in a hurry!

[marmalady]

Cchiu, thanks for the site - all I need are more temptations!!

Isa, At one time I had over 75 bonsai, but after my son's accident, I had no time for their upkeep, and I either sold/gave away a lot, or some died due to neglect, as I had no time or emotional energy to put into them.

I kept a Trident maple, a Japanese Larch, a Korean hornbeam, and a Chinese elm, which were still in their nursery pots. They're all pretty hardy, and overwinter nicely with not a lot of care involved. I just potted all those up and shaped them this spring, and they're doing very well.

I feel like I've just come alive again this spring, now 3 1/2 years since the accident; I can feel joy in the little things like a flower blooming, or a tomato ripening on the vine. It's nice to be alive again!

I haven't done my major garden yet (25 x 25), but have some potted tomatoes - a yellow plum, sweet 100's, a patio and a bush beefsteak, along with some Chinese cukes, and lots of basil, lemon basil, curly mint, chives - regular and Chinese, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and sage.

The lemon balm is taking over the rock garden - have to go do some serious pruning, along with the sweet woodruff I planted about 5 years ago; it's just sat there in the clumps I planted it in for this long, and now this year has overtaken everything in the garden! I'll transplant that into some shady areas where nothing else will grow! Or make a bunch of May wine!