We mostly sell what is referred to as field grown pre-bonsai or poten-sai. These are plants that are grown outdoors in a field, not pots, resulting in healthy plants that are not pot bound. They have the potential to be trained into bonsai. Not only are they less expensive than finished bonsai, they give you the chance to style them the way you want them. They, for the most part, still have somewhat flexible trunks.
Everything has a season. Dug out of season these plants can die. They may only be dug while dormant. This usually occurs after a few weeks of weather below 45 degrees F. The plants we sell for bonsai are hardy outdoors here year round even as bonsai. In fact, they will not live well at all indoors any time of the year. So, if you're thinking about getting "a cute little Christmas tree" for indoors, forget it. That's not what bonsai is. Prepared properly, they enjoy well below 0 weather. I compare the growing season to the equal of a hard days work for us. The winter dormancy season is a well deserved, and required, good night's rest.
We do "finished" bonsai by request only. A bonsai is never really finished though. A real bonsai is more than the so-called bonsai that have been made on an assembly line and have glued on rocks you may find at the supermarket or department store. A real bonsai is a woody tree or shrub that has been worked on and maticulously dwarfed and pruned for years, decades, or even centuries.
One can not simply put a plant in a pot and call it "bonsai". There are specific criteria that one such life form must meat to be worthy of being called "bonsai".
Lets start off with the basic requirement: the plant must be woody. Any tree, shrub, or vine capable of being styled into a tree-like form fits this requirement.
What does not fit into this requirement? The biggest misleading bonsai we see commonly are palm trees, pony tail palms, air plants, and the dreaded "Lucky Bamboo" which is no more a bamboo than I am. So, what's up with these plants not being bonsai. The problem lies within the "trunks". Palms are actually not true trees. The "trunks" are formed by leaf bases and stems. The heart of the plant that new growth comes from is in the middle of this bundle. If you trim this off to keep the plant short...there goes the plant.
You can check out some books at your local library or check out some of the vast resources about bonsai on the net for more in depth information.
Below are plants that make great bonsai and will never reach their stated mature heights as long as they are kept dwarfed. Of course one could set them out in the yard and let them grow naturally too, acheiving their full heights. Pictured at the left are examples of what these trees will approximately look like when older.
