Living Art
Bonsai are not only beautiful, they're a true, living art form. They represent the perfect marriage of art and nature. And they have a storied history: more than one thousand years ago in ancient China, gardeners began to sculpt expressive, miniature trees from seedlings grown in pots. Over the centuries, the aesthetics of bonsai were keenly refined; their development required masterful skill and knowledge, and was passed from generation to generation. By the 17th and 18th century in Japan, bonsai were highly regarded as an art form, their rare beauty celebrated and revered. Indeed, in modern Japan this place of cultural prestige and honor is such that some of the oldest existing bonsai are considered national treasures.
Something Special
With such an illustrious history, it's easy to see why the gift of a bonsai is so special. Each bonsai is cultivated, trained, and formed to create a unique, distinctive specimen, and no two are alike. They're a truly thoughtful way to remember friends and loved ones for birthdays and special celebrations, whether casual or formal.
A bonsai is a living gift, so you can expect it to endure as an expression of your care and appreciation for the recipient. As your bonsai gift grows and thrives in their home, they'll be reminded everyday of your friendship, love, and kindness. Many first-time bonsai owners discover such a sense of fascination with them that turns into a lifelong hobby.
Select a bonsai as an imaginative gift idea for those who have everything, for gardeners, hobbyists, or for anyone looking to bring a sense of nature's quiet beauty to indoor and outdoor room settings.
Natural Beauties
Everyone loves the beauty of the natural world, and a lovely bonsai captures the essence of its mystery and magnificence in stunning miniature. Their compact scale makes it possible to display them either indoors or out as classic symbols of nature. This is precisely what makes them so appealing and compelling—a bonsai can become a contemplative horizon line for the viewer, a reminder of a splendid landscape, or a soothing token of mother nature's eternal spirit. And as an objet d'art, it has no parallel.
The display of bonsai has its own unique tradition as well. To make the most of their diminutive scale, they are typically placed on a low bench for easier viewing. And a row of several graceful bonsai on display in one's home will make an impressive interior design statement.
The varied shapes, colors, and sizes of the bonsai in our gallery offer plenty of different styles to choose from, so you're sure to find something to complement any environment, whether traditional or modern. And the variety of species means you'll turn up something wonderful to suit everyone on your list, from the green-thumb gardener to the new homeowner.
Heaven and Earth
Since there is a level of skilled artistry required in training and cultivating the bonsai, one might naturally assume their ongoing care is a tricky endeavor, but this is unfounded. While the bonsai's beauty is painstakingly encouraged to emerge through a variety of specialized techniques, caring for its continuing health is deceptively easy.
One need only to understand a few simple facts about the proper siting, watering, and feeding of bonsai to create a proper habitat where they can thrive and flourish.
Water your bonsai as directed in the care cards that arrive with it; however, each bonsai is different and will use water at a different rate. In general, you should water when the soil appears dry, and never allow the soil to completely dry out. For best results, it's suggested that you make note of your particular specimen's water needs over time, and water accordingly.
If one follows our simple care steps, you'll be rewarded with the bonsai experience classically referred to as "heaven and earth in one container".
Honored Traditions
Whatever species and style you select—from a curving ficus to a gnarled Chinese elm to a flowering plum—and in honor of any occasion, a bonsai makes a prestigious gift of nature.
There is a venerable tradition in the trade that holds that there are three basic virtues necessary to craft a worthy bonsai: truth, goodness, and beauty. Each year, our growers make the journey to the Far East to select the finest prime bonsai stock available. Our exceptional trees and plants are cultivated and trained in a U.S. state-of-the-art horticulture facility into singularly lovely works of art. From stock to soil to cultivation and container pots, our bonsai are developed to ensure the finest quality and most exquisite artistry.
When you give a bonsai or choose to make a place in your home environment for one, you're sharing in the symbolic harmony between man, art, and nature. Let the long lasting bonsai make an honorable and timeless gift of your esteem and affection to family and friends.