Beginner Gardening: Bonsai tree; but no nametag or instructions, 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
With tongue only partially in cheek, I'd say one of the very the hardest things for budding bonsai artists to deal with is separation anxiety. Most new to the art feel like they need to constantly nurture their plants, and relinquishing them to the primary care of Mother Nature for winter's duration seems something tantamount to abandoning their firstborn at first frost to the care of wolves. Temperate plants, like box, need a cold rest in order to do well in the subsequent growth cycle, and in many if not most cases to survive. While it is possible to maintain some temperate plants indoors under controlled conditions, a dry room with poor light can generally be counted on to set the plant up for a weak spring performance with little chance of ever catching its counterparts (in growth and o/a vitality) that were allowed to do what temperate plants do in the winter, which is to go dormant & then pass into a restful state of quiescent torpor until spring temps send the signal that awakens them, batteries fully charged and preconditioned for a running start.

Patience is a part of bonsai. You either come to bonsai with it or soon learn it. There are no accomplished bonsai artists not possessed of a large measure of patience. If you find yourself overly concerned about the well being of your woody charges, you need something, or a few somethings tropical you can keep indoors and fuss over just enough to make the angst over the resting box tolerable. So sayeth one who has been through it ....

Al