OK here's what happened. I was walking through the market when I hear these teeny tiny voices calling to me. I looked over and there were about 12 little juniper cuttings that are being sold as bonsai.

One of the more bolder junipers pled the case for all of them. He said to me and I quote, "Even though we are labelled as bonsai, we know we are just little juniper cuttings. We are suppose to be outside but here we sit until someone purchases us. You would think it would be good for us to be bought but the majority of the time we get put on a desk, shelf, table. We get over watered and that is not a good thing if you see the soil we are planted in. We don't get to feel the sun and wind. The worst of all is when we are inside, we do not get the yearly rest we so desperately need. After a short time, we are exhausted and then we perish.
We long to be tenderly planted in the ground to grow big and strong from the loving care we receive. Then, maybe, someday we might become magnificent bonsai. That is our dream, to be bonsai.
Lady, we know you can't buy us all, but can you please give some of us a chance?"

What was I to do? I put three little cuttings in my cart. As we walked away I could hear the teeny-tiny voices wishing their departing friends good luck. A wave of hope spread through the rest of the little cuttings. Maybe someday they too might get taken to a home that knew there was potential written all over everyone of them.

Honest to gosh, it happened like this. Little junipers are like puppies and kittens, they need good homes. Hopefully they will all be gone the next time I go to market or the little voices will be calling to me again, especially after writing this little saga.
Please meet Shadrach, Meeshak, and Abendigo. (No i really don't name my plants, I just bought three and those names came into my brain)
Thanks for putting up with my nonsense.

Glad to know I am not the only one they talk to....most of my talkers come from the half price section....they seem to have the saddest story.

Believe me I seriously would have purchased them all but I'm trying to pay the cc off and not keep adding to it. I have 5 juniper cuttings now. I need to be successful with their little lives before I get more. The first two I got early in the summer are still kicking and growing, this is even after I trimmed and washed the roots of one of them before I learned that was not a good thing to do. I am amazed it is still living and growing.
Ruth, step away from the junipers at the market.

I actually made a purchase myself today...it is a round container about 2 gallons...it has 4 bougainvillea plants in it fo $12...I justified it by saying I was getting 4 for the price of one!

I bought a grouping of p.afra from bonsai boy.....I wouldn't recommend it. When I studied the branches they did everything the bonsai guidelines say not to do. I put them each in their own container and now I will let them grow. I also got some crassula....5 in one planter. They all have a long way to go but it felt like a bargain to me. I need to go to a bonsai expert that is about 1 1/2 hrs away that I found. I guess I've bought the little inexpensive ones to learn on and when I am more confident of my abilities I will invest in an older bonsai. I would just feel horrible if I hurt a tree someone had put time and care into to make it beautiful.

I am the same with the inexpensive trees...how do you learn skills by just putting the trees in the ground for 5 years.?..if you just wait your five years older and still no skills.

rtmann wrote: I am the same with the inexpensive trees...how do you learn skills by just putting the trees in the ground for 5 years.?..if you just wait your five years older and still no skills.

No, You will gain, the most needed skill of them all.

As for Ruth's junipers, in the pretty pots. There's still time to put them in the ground, if you hurry. If not, keep the roots from freezing (and wait for spring).
You can't expect much to grow in those pots.

they'll work, they're junipers

rtmann wrote: I am the same with the inexpensive trees...how do you learn skills by just putting the trees in the ground for 5 years.?..if you just wait your five years older and still no skills.

Perfect explanation why many people will never grow good bonsai - they're not willing to invest time, but want instant results.
Why not do both? Practice AND let trees grow. Patience needs to be learned and practiced, so it is a skill too, you know.

I hear you Auk...you will be glad to know I have 3 plants in the ground and 9 plants in 15 gallon buckets....and 4 mallsai that I am training on. And those are just outside

I ditch the pretty pots as soon as they get home. They are in bigger pots and so much happier, less cramped ya know.
With our winters here I am planning on waiting for next spring to put them in the ground since they are so little. My mom has a patio that is enclosed but not heated. I am going to winter all my little trees there. They will get the cold they need but still get light for those who need it.
I'm a bit fearful of cutting and wiring at this point with some of my nursery stock so I am doing a lot of reading.