Attila

Al,

For starters, bonsai being more popular would create a self-sustaining, efficient bonsai market. I would be able to find some decent quality material to work with, so I wouldn't have to spend half of my lifetime growing my own material.

Just an example, right now I am looking for quality black pine material to work with. I have plenty of future material planted in my backyard, but nothing advanced. I am willing to pay hundreds of dollars for raw material that I like. Started looking last week in the L.A area, and guess what: I can't find anything I like. It doesn't have to be a 3" or thicker trunk, but I want to see something that grabs my imagination.

The only place so far where I found good stuff was Roy Nagatoshi's nursery. After I spent an hour selecting two pines I really liked, he said that those are not for sale. He said that he just lost about 40 pines that he grew himself for decades in the ground because of transplant shock (said he didn't root prune them every 3 years like he should have).

So, you see, I have the money but there is no market, no selection. It's really frustrating when this happens.

Attila