Oh! What a Drive!

 - By Vijaya Rao

Oh! what a drive it was to Suseela’s home – her Concept Bonsai Garden 😊 it was never the distance that mattered for as the invisible crocodiles led the way (they share the same compound wall), distance shortened and the car tured left, right into the lane, the excitement spiked. I felt like Alice who swallowed the potion that made her grow bigger and bigger while all that was around her grew smaller and smaller……there were lil lil over grown trees (sounds like an oxymoron) of different species and I went into a trance as I stepped out of my car and floated towards the merry chattering of Bodhi members who had not stopped entering one after the other with greetings and smiles. We quenched our thirst with water as the summer was setting in with a blaze but our thirst for more knowledge on anything to do with Bonsai increased. 

The topic for the meet was Miniature Bonsai. The tiniest was called Keishi 1”, next came Shito 3”, while the slightly taller one was Mame6”. Shohin was taller still 8”

As we (Suseela and Viji) did a demo of these different little greenies it was explained how it was nothing different from regular bonsai when it came to following specifications of form or style. The size of the pot should be 2\3 the height of the Bonsai. The soil needs to be less loose and more sticky and firm to hold the plant in the tiny pot. Some might need to be fixed with a wire. Water the plant with a spray to avoid soil disturbance. Since the container is small and soil less it might need frequent spray of water. We need to observe and wet the soil accordingly. Fertilize once in 15 days with liquid fertilizer (Suseela recommends banana peel and tea leaves dried and ground in a mixie and dissolved in water into a slush). Plants with small leaf are better suited. For quick making of miniature bonsai, we can use cuttings of branches that are already looking mature and use them after they have formed sufficient roots. The double potting method can be followed to increase the growth. While using this method the roots that grow out of the miniature pot should be cut periodically for further development.

These miniatures are easy to carry about and placed where ever suited. With most of us shifting into apartments that have less room for large pots these provide immense satisfaction of having a garden in our balconies and window sills. After a few doubts were cleared Mohan,Maria and Suseela helped with the shaping and styling of a few over grown plants of our members. It was a pleasure to have new members Jayshree, Srilatha and Suman who were all eyes and ears through out the meet.

Suseela and Mr.Verghese - our hosts for the day had their dinning table filled with yummies and we did full justice to the spread. Pics were clicked with plants worked upon. We enjoyed gathering for our signature group picture. Every meet is a drive towards bettering our bonsai skills.

 We then bid good bye and hit the road. Now the drive seemed very long as we drove away from our Bodhi Monthly Meet. Oh, what a passionate drive that was towards more and more of Bonsai skills.