A Bonsai & Daddy's girl...

A few weeks ago we went out to Wimberley, Texas with my parents.  It was our anniversary week and I really wanted my mom and dad to see the hill country.  I could see them retiring there and really enjoying small town life, so into the truck we all piled and drove off to Wimberley.

There were quite a few little places to check out, but the one that had me most excited was the Central Texas Bonsai Exhibit.

I was pretty blown away by the entire exhibit.  First of all, I thought that all Bonsai were Juinpers.  Wrong.  They are any plant that you train up into being a Bonsai, which literally means in Japanese, potted plant:  bon, basin + sai, to plant.

Some of these Bonsai had taken decades to grow.  To grow the base they are kept in nursery pots, once they are transferred to their permanent pot the base will stop growing.  The plants are removed periodically from their containers to trim around all of the edges of the root system to keep it from getting too cramped and then inhibiting further growth. 

The couple who runs the exhibit were so nice and proudly walked us around their museum and shop explaining all of the various Bonsai and how they were created. 

Then my dad told me to pick one out.  He does stuff like that- I swear I feel like I'm five years old when I get excited about something and my dad can tell, and just like that he says, "Why don't you pick out one that you like".  At 45 years old I am still daddy's girl ;)  

So we walked around for a while until I found my Bonsai:

Then I picked out a cute little figurine to place underneath my Bonsai tree.  These are added for perspective to give the tree the illusion of being much bigger than it really is.  

So far the maintenance has been easy.  I watered it thoroughly when I got home and check it every few days to give it a light watering evenly across the top.  My tree can be indoors or outdoors, but I prefer to have it inside where I can see it more.  

If you get out to the Wimbereley area be sure to check out the Central Texas Bonsai Exhibit.  It is a beautiful stroll through rows and rows of gorgeous Bonsai.