Today while perusing the Gardening Directory Blotanical, I stumbled upon a post about bonsai trees, How to Get Started in Bonsai from the Matsu Bonsai gardening blog. I think like a lot of people I first learned of Bonsai by watching The Karate Kid - I can still hear “Daniel-san” asking Mr. Miyagi what’s up with those “little trees.” I tried unsuccessfully to keep some bonsai alive and I believe now I never succeeded because I was too focused on making them look perfect - rather than keeping the pour plant alive. Above is a picture of a bonsai that was part of an amazing exhibit at the Epcot Center - Aprilish of last year. I was lucky enough to go for hubby’s work, and the bonsai exhibit was the most memorable. I still have the desire to unlock the magical secrets of the “baby trees” - maybe if I keep my square foot garden going long enough I’ll get the courage to try again. 
On another note, the strawberries I found at Kmart - the Ozark Beauty ones - have been ripening (see post about growing strawberries). They are seriously tasty - sweet but tart little strawberries that never make it a day or two past ripening without someone snatching them up. They are all the more tasty since there is usually only one ripe at a time. My other strawberries are getting along pretty slowly and I’m considering using something called blossom set spray to help them along - anyone used this stuff?
My window seedlings keep growing - the squash and cucumber ones just popped up today.
All for now - would love any suggestions about getting tomato seeds to germinate, comments very welcome!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve never used blossom set spray. Let me know how it works out. I just planted two strawberry plants, so I’m eager to see how they turn out. How long did it take your plant to produce fruit? I don’t know much about growing strawberries, so I’m eager to find out how yours turn out!
DP - just ordered the blossom set spray off amazon - the weather is being so erratic I want my strawberries to produce before it gets super hot. I’ll be posting my progress here - thanks for visiting
If you look at my hubby’s blog
http://oklahomegrownveg.blogspot.com
and back track to his very earliest postings, you’ll find info on growing tomatoes from seeds. It could be a little late to get them started for this year now, you may be better buying established plants - but you’ll have to check with him on that.
Jan - I’ve been thinking about that - I may end up using these seedlings for fall, as I have special insulators for tomato plants (and love tomatoes!) - there is a nursery close by with some really awesome heirloom, cherry and other tomato varieties.
Thanks for commenting
Hello Plantgirl,
Gorgeous bonsai picture, what a great bonus to your business trip.
About tomatoes: I confess that since I, too, am lucky enough to have growers in the area who grow heirloom and interesting plants, I usually just buy them. Tomato seeds are tricky. Heat seems to be the key, but that’s not telling you much. A great place to get very specific seed-germination advice for many many kinds of seeds is: href=http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/
Sorry about my bad coding, I will try this one more time:
JLHudson Seeds
Pomona - html can be tricky - I liked your link for JLHudson Seeds looks like a great resource
Thanks for visiting!
me too is reminded of karate kid everytime i see bonsai. im a fanatic too. i am inspired of the picture yo have posted here. i’ll try to raise up a bonsai like that in my hydroponics garden. if i’ll be successful, i’ll send you a copy of it.
hydroponics -
bonsai are such magical trees - I feel enchanted every time I see one. I love the tropical varieties - first saw them in Hawai’i and now they are turning up everywhere.
thanx a lot, I like that.
wah bhai wah, khhub maja padi bonsai ma.
good yar
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