Enaisio wrote: Hahahaha i just found this while i was looking for a book. dut2up1aqgazz.cloudfront.net/346869f7/m/9780762416714.jpg

:blink:

then i started understanding the concept of bonsai so i chuked it in the bin, it is now a " Bin-sai " lol.

I think that's more of a gag gift than anything serious

Ed

BonsaiLearner wrote: I think that's more of a gag gift than anything serious

Well... actually:

www.amazon.com/The-Art-Bonsai-Potato-Mini/dp/0762416718
"Instant karma! This tongue-in-cheek kit pokes fun at Western culture's twin desires for inner harmony and instant gratification."

I like that.

OK, I'm going to add a bit about them...









MALLSAI

Whether you think it means 'Not bonsai' ( ) or 'nonsense bonsai' ( :huh: ) these definitely fall into the non-sai category. It's not just that they're bad, it's that people think that they're actual bonsai, and so get the complete wrong idea about the art, going so far as people thinking that only baby junipers classify as bonsai (I'm going to take a quotation from Adam's Art and Bonsai because there is no better source in the world) 'I’ve actually had a lady come to the nursery and I showed her all kinds of trees, elm, oak, ficus, tamarind…and she says “You keep showing me all these little trees in pots. Where are all the bonsai?”'

Ugh, makes me sick.
Ed

BonsaiLearner wrote: OK, I'm going to add a bit about them...

The first two are mallsai. The first one... the very recognizable left turn/right turn, left branch/right branch mass-produced S-shape.
It is possible to develop it into something better - as we have recently seen on this forum! This topic is not about mallsai though - that at least still have something to do with bonsai.

The last two... did you copy my thread about the various forms ficus comes in, from nonsai, to mallsai, to 'Ginseng', Ikea ficus, and finally real bonsai?

The fugly fat ficus is hardly usable for bonsai. The Ikea one... would need a drastic make-over. I've seen it done

It's not just that they're bad, it's that people think that they're actual bonsai, and so get the complete wrong idea about the art, going so far as people thinking that only baby junipers classify as bonsai

Yep... so true and so annoying. I have read somewhere that it is good for the art - as it introduces people to bonsai. I disagree. It has given people the wrong idea. If I start about bonsai, ANYONE I talk to think I'm talking about the plants of which you have posted photos - and they look at me in disbelief when I tell them I grow trees outside - as that's where they belong.

(I'm going to take a quotation from Adam's Art and Bonsai because there is no better source in the world) 'I’ve actually had a lady come to the nursery and I showed her all kinds of trees, elm, oak, ficus, tamarind…and she says “You keep showing me all these little trees in pots. Where are all the bonsai?”'

Thanks. I know that quote, forgot where I read it. So typical...