Growing fast recovering fast.. Hm.. You do know that bonsai is about letting go of the concept of time, and speed and calming down to being in the now right?

in any case.. Without knowing your climate, it is very dificult to tell. In the tropics, ficus is one of the amazing fast growers, but in the temperate regions they are sulky for most people. Pine are very slow growers and slow to develop a trunk.

Elms, Maples, Ligustrum, Carpinus, Beech, Tilia all get thick trunks fairly quickly. If you are looking for a tree to get started on, I would probably look for field maple or trident maple (Depending on whether you are in a somewhat coller of warmer climate) and carpinus (hornbeam) those three are robust species.

All of them go outside, naturally.

I agree with cotoneaster, privet and elm, all relatively fast to develop. I would add, trident maple, hedge maple, bald cypress and crabapple.

Also, Japanese flowering quince - you won't get a thick trunk quickly but you can create a nice clump and enjoy the flowers.

The real trick is to start with larger stock and cut it down, not start small and grow it bigger.

Brazilian Rain Tree. My favorite I've grown so far.

From seed, I got the trunk to about an inch, inch and a quarter in less than a year. You can grow them indoors in the winter (have to cold will kill it). However, I killed mine by accident. It was very receptive to pruning heavy when healthy. Drinks a lot of water (surprise surprise) and easy to grow from seed. The little leaves open and close at night which is the coolest thing. I never got it trained, but I will again soon

Lonicera. Not really a tree, but their tiny leaves, bullet proof constitution and prolific growth make them the clear winners if you need instant bonsai. You can Chop off a thick piece of lonicera nitida, tie it into a bonsai pot and it will root and grow 90% of the time. When you have 5 or more pairs of leaves cut back to one pair and it will ramify in a season.

They produce a mass of fibrous roots. They cope with full sun to full shade.

And if you like to fiddle with your trees they tolerate the most abuse of any species I know. New growth is brittle and rubs off easily, so be careful. Old growth does not bend - it snaps. These are clip-and-grow unless you gently wire new growth as it is extending.

100% agree with lonicera. I havd a nice clum and had to sell as I could not keep up with it!

Hm... Raintree.. WHERE can oneget seeds!?

If you can do tropical, Rubber Trees and schefflara (sp) grow pretty well and fast in warm climates. The Norfolk Pine does well and I don't think I've ever seen it attempted as a bonsai except for Nigel Saunders on youtube.

TBolt wrote: If you can do tropical, Rubber Trees and schefflara (sp) grow pretty well and fast in warm climates. The Norfolk Pine does well and I don't think I've ever seen it attempted as a bonsai except for Nigel Saunders on youtube.

Unfortunately, schefflera & rubber tree are not so suitable for bonsai..

leatherback wrote: Hm... Raintree.. WHERE can oneget seeds!?

Here in Brazil. I can get some for you.

leatherback wrote:

TBolt wrote: If you can do tropical, Rubber Trees and schefflara (sp) grow pretty well and fast in warm climates. The Norfolk Pine does well and I don't think I've ever seen it attempted as a bonsai except for Nigel Saunders on youtube.

Unfortunately, schefflera & rubber tree are not so suitable for bonsai..

We'll see about that, already getting leaf reduction on the rubber trees. The dwarf shefflara I've seen used quite a bit, and I got a freebie, so I might as well try it.

TBolt wrote: The dwarf shefflera I've seen used...

Nice, I'm curious about your Schefflera progression, please post a picture whenever you can?