cool an edible bonsai display...MMMM bonsai :silly:

Ahh... I got back from vacation in Boston and had the chance to visit an awsome Bonsai collection. They claim it's the largest collection outside of Japan. Here's a a link:http://www.bonsaiwest.com/

While on vacation I got the idea for several good bonsai canidates as well.

I was thinking of maybe doing a blueberry bonsai, an Ailanthis altissima bonsai, or a tulip magnolia bonsai.

thats a great place to buy from in the north east great healthy stock and helpful advice.havent been there yet tho

After about four and one half months of wire. My Thyme bonsai has been cut loose from its bonds. Everything appears to have held very nicely and there were really no substancial bite marks.

After having observed my thyme for quite some thyme, I've come to several conclusions about this species being used as a bonsai.

1. Spidermites are a problem
2. Repotting at least three times a year is a must
3. Wounds dont heal the same as a woody tree
4. Extremely hardy and tough as nails.

Although I dearly love my thyme specimen, I have serious reservation about how it will respond to being pruned and trained like this in the long run. My main concern is the problem of it aging or getting thicker. I'm not really sure if its hit a point where it will stay this size or not. I also dont know how long thyme can live.

thats the problem with herb bonsai you really wont get a huge trunk on them.it only limits the stlying aspect. my father has a rosemary that is styled like a flat top african savana tree with twisty branches and foliage just on top...its pretty cool

Sounds great! Friends om mine have a rosemary bonsai, don't have photos of it unfortunately, but it's still material, so need to be worked on. It has a lot of deadwood, pretty cool!

just picked up a rosemary the other day from a nursery.
still have to work on it....

I'm going to keep observing how it grows. Obviosly it did put on bulk around its trunk at some point. The real question is will it still or has it hit its limit?

I would assume keeping it pretty happy and perhaps giving it some phosphorus might aid in building a larger more complex trunk.

I'm going to make this the Thyme experiment. I'm going to see how long this little herb can go!

feed the heck out of it the bigger the plant the thicker the trunk will be. your not going to get a 3 inch trunk but it will fatten up somewhat. try developing the trunk and main branches for now. i do believe they can be cut back hard and they junp right back.