In article . com,
Scooter the Mighty writes

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look and see what I can find of those
types.

Alan Silver wrote:
Hello,

I know zero about bonasi, other than the popular idea that they are
dwarf trees. I fancy the idea of having one in my office, but know
nothing about how hard they are to keep, what I need, what type is
suitable, etc.

I did a quick search and, of course, found huge numbers of pages. It was
hard to get a good overview from any of them, and I don't know how
reliable any of them are. I looked on eBay, and there were loads for
sale, but again, I don't know if what they are offering is suitable or
reasonable.

Anyone know of a good resource for people like me? I'm not looking to
become an expert (don't have time), just looking for enough info to
allow me to keep one of the beautiful looking trees in my office.

Most bonsais are outdoor trees, and need to be outdoors or they'll die.
They have to go through winter dormancy for their normal life cycle.

However, there are some good indoor options. My personal favorite is
ficuses, which are very hard to kill and grow quickly. If you buy one
ficus, you can easily root the cuttings when you prune it, and end up
with as many as you want.

There are a lot of different kinds of ficuses. My favorite is Ficus
retusa, which grows a nice thick trunk and is generally not as wimpy as
ficus benjimina (the most common houseplant variety). There is a sport
of ficus benjimina called "too little" which has very small leaves and
is pretty cute.

I have a Fukien tea plant that I got at a Fred Meyer store that was
dying in a pot with rocks glued over the dirt. I pried that off and
repotted it and it's doing fine. Fukien Tea plants are easier to kill
than ficuses though.

Another plant you might want to try is Texas Ebony, although I don't
have much experience with them, I have one recently sprouted from a
seed.

People worry about air conditioning drying the air out too much, but
all I can say is the plants in my office window seem happy enough.


--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)