Bonsai

Kay and Gary sent us a Bonsai for our anniversary. The brochure that came with it said that the word Bonsai means “Little Trees in Pots.” These little trees are dwarfed by cutting or pruning the roots and by wiring or pinching branches to form a desired shape. The art of Bonsai originated in China and was later refined in Japan. It has become very popular internationally.

Once when I was in Philadelphia Kay took me to Longwood Gardens. They had a wonderful collection of very old Bonsai. When we were in Disney World last October, we saw Bonsai plants that had already been trained for 25 years. In the National Bonsai Foundation they have a tree that someone began to train in 1875.Can you imagine the patience and imagination it takes to invest that many years in developing a dwarfed tree?

It is because of Bonsai plants that we obtained our dog, Hildy. Hildy was a wonderful black Cockapoo. She belonged to our good friends. The husband in the family was growing and training Bonsai plants and Hildy thought they were delicious. Al, our friend, was naturally very upset. He was so upset that he was taking Hildy to the pound. We asked if we could have her and let her eat our plants, instead. They graciously let us have her, and she did indeed eat our plants, beginning with the camellias and going on to the azaleas and other shrubs and plants. We loved Hildy and thought it was worth losing our plants to have the pleasure of her company. She also was the mother of our little Velvet, our neighbor’s Sandy, Punk and Linda’s Princess, to say nothing of Ron and Pam’s Mouflon. What great dogs.

The Bonsai we received for our anniversary was a little dwarf rosemary. It seemed a little peaked when it arrived and I thought it perhaps was in shock so I gave it a few days. It, unfortunately, did not survive and when the only word that described it was “crispy” we reluctantly came to the conclusion it wasn’t going to green up. I e-mailed the company that sent the plant and told them what had happened. Their guarantee on plants is only for two weeks so I didn’t expect anything to happen except perhaps a “too bad, so sad,” note so I was very surprised this morning when FedEx delivered another Bonsai plant. It was larger and certainly healthier than the last one – but the pot was broken! Who could have predicted that?

With some fear and trepidation, I called the company and Amy, dear, friendly, understanding, reassuring, Amy talked to me. I think she was actually here in the US of A! She said, without any cajoling on my part, that I will have a new plant by tomorrow. Now that company has great customer relations and a super training program for their people. Just before the Ubermoms went to Philly, I had received a bouquet of irises and tulips for Mother’s Day . Unfortunately, some of the irises were broken off. When I contacted them, they sent a fresh bouquet, not to our house, but to Philly and we enjoyed it all the time we were there. I would guess that they also have a lot of repeat customers. I might add they have beautiful flowers and plants. The name of the company is Pro Flowers. Kay and I have used them a lot and think they are great.

P.S. This morning the FedEx truck delivered yet another Bonsai plant. I am going to transplant Bonsai #2 in container #1 and I will have two wonderful plants - perhaps in my new garden window in the kitchen. No, there isn’t a garden window there but I can dream, can’t I? I never guessed I would have two Bonsai either.

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