Whenever I travel to San Francisco I'm tempted to come home with a bonsai from a farmer's market, where there is usually a table full of them. But traveling with the plant, to say nothing of not knowing what to do with it next, always stops me in my tracks. Attending the "Bonsai for Beginners" workshop held at Bowood Farms a couple of Saturdays ago confirmed what I suspected about these "plant sculptures," —there is a lot more to growing them than simply watering and taking an occasional snip. I also realized that it is more rewarding in the long run to take a starter plant and "train" it into a bonsai all by yourself.
During her introduction to the workshop Bowood Farms' Horticultural Manager Ellen Barredo said that a class on bonsai has been a frequent request of customers since the nursery opened six years ago. It was also a learning experience for the instructors, Sales Associates Kathy Hoyer and Kevin Sir (above), who studied bonsai extensively and then shared everything they learned with the workshop participants.
Kathy taught us that bonsai (pronounced "bone-sigh") is traditionally created from temperate species that prefer to be outdoors and need a winter dormancy period, i.e. Junipers, Maples, etc. However most gardeners are more interested in creating and caring for bonsai inside their homes. To this end tropical and subtropical plants that have characteristics that lend themselves to the art of bonsai indoors were the subject of the demonstration on February 11. Kathy suggested wikipedia (look here) for a terrific overview on the subject, and also that more information could be available from members of the St. Louis Bonsai Society, whom she has found to be extremely helpful.
Sales Associate Kevin Sir, above, discussed the proper soil, watering and fertilizing frequency, and then demonstrated how to pot and train a bonsai "start" by snipping, pinching, and sometimes wiring (with 18-gauge wire) the branches to bend them into the desired shape.
Because I didn't want to go to great expense for this bonsai experiment, I chose a $7 jade plant for my starter plant. I also really wanted to buy one of those cute flat bonsai dishes shown in the upper right corner of the photo above, and hoped to pop my jade plant right into it. Unfortunately, I learned you can't plant in the dish until the trunk has achieved the proper thickness, i.e. until the plant starts to look old.
If you want instant gratification and don't want to try your hand at training your own plant, check out the bonsai selection in Bowood Farm's Conservatory. You might also ask for the excellent instruction sheet that was handed out at the Bonsai Workshop—and definitely ask Kathy or Kevin for their expert advice.
Bowood Farms, 4605 Olive, (314) 454-6868.