My standards say that serissa is not a true bonsai because I have trouble
growing them outside in California. These are my standards. I don't
expect anyone else to meet them. I don't even expect them to be logical to
anyone else.

This is the point I was making. Who am I to say that someone in the
tropics shouldn't enjoy applying bonsai principals to what grows well for
them? Being blessed with a climate similar to the bonsai growing areas in
Japan, I can afford to be more traditional in my choice of materials.

There are traditionalists that say one must be able to master black pine
and juniper to have real bonsai. So does that mean if you don't live where
black pine and juniper grow well that you should not have the joy of
raising little trees?

What I am saying is that if you personally practice what you consider an
art and it brings you joy, why should you destroy that joy for yourself or
others by applying standards that come from some place else?

I have a mallsai chardonay grape that I rescued from sure death. It
actually had a nice fat trunk with curves and stood in contrast to the
straight skinny sticks near by. I brought it home, soaked off the glued on
rocks, and transplanted it. It is doing well and some year it may be what
I would call a bonsai. Right now I just want to see the single bunch of
grapes mature. I am playing with it to see how to control internode spacing.

Namaste,
Kitsune Miko

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:
Good Day to All,
Ms.Kitsune,

I can see the sense of big leafy tropicals giving a
problem when being seen as a Bonsai.
Many of us down here are not big on the one 3' leaf
being imagined as so many branches and leaves.So
anything along the lines of Fukien teas or Sparrow
plums,is preferred.

BUT could you explain to me why a Serissa does not
make it as a Bonsai in the Traditional world ?
This is one of those confusing facts I seem to have
missed.
Thanks in advance.
Khaimraj
[ West Indies/Caribbean,
the domain of Huracan]

*Mallsai,have been some of my best finds and I am
happy that they are around.Much new variety in the
so-called Indoor Bonsai.
Thank God for them.


-----Original Message-----
From: Kitsune Miko
To:
Date: 27 July 2003 8:54
Subject: [IBC] Hmmm was/ Is this a Bonsai?


I grow pines, elms, maples, crabapple, azaleas. I consider these my true
bonsai. I am purist enough to not consider serissa real bonsai, but I
would never take away the joy of doing from someone with a budding interest
in the sport. I have PERSONAL standards that I expect me to meet. I do
not require validation of my standards by others. I hold no lofty position
that makes me holier than thou. I have not re-written rules, but I see
them trampled on such a regular basis, that I do not tell others what is
right anymore.

Kitsune Miko

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