Frustrated and need advice

rockm

Jeez, Jay, the company lost your respect because they're selling something that people buy?

If not for making some money, this company might have to cut back on some of their roses--the bonsai bone is connected to the rose bone in a nursery business, often funding other activities. The roses you value this company for don't spring from the ground and package themselves. The company has to pay the bills and make money--crass and unappetizing as that may seem. Have you been satisfied with the roses? Do they bill themselves as bonsai specialists? Respect them for their roses, not for their bonsai.

Nurseries are always on the lookout for little ways to pump up sales. Bonsai is but one of these. I once ran across an old newsletter published by a relatively well-known bonsai person in the Southern U.S. a while back. It basically outlined how to incorporate bonsai sales into a larger nursery. Let's just say that alot of the advice given--put bonsai in very visible specifically shelved areas, sell LOTS of trees, but sell even more bonsai junk, like pots, mudmen, "special fertilizer" Superthrive, etc. --wasn't really in the "bonsai frame of mind" most of us are used to. It was nakedly aimed at marketing bonsai to the masses.

It's not mentioned very often, but the crass commercial side of bonsai more often than not pays the freight for the more specialized "artistic" side of things. For every Walter Pall working with astounding collected specimens, there are hundreds of people working with $40 junipers, killing them and buying another, along with a mudman, Superthrive, a $20 blue Japanese pot and contemplating beginning his bonsai tool collection with the $40 "bonsai shears." Which is more attractive to someone selling bonsai?

That larger market pays the bills to import decent pots, grow upscale stock, and all the other stuff that supports the "high end" of bonsai. Some nursery businesses do this better and more attractively than others, but alot of them do it. Even bonsai nurseries do it--some better than others. Take a look at the Brussels catalogue --online or the paper version. The vast majority of those trees are "low end," yet Brussels hosts a big bonsai rendevous for higher end bonsaiists every spring. Where do you think the nursery is making the most money? I'd bet it's not the rendevous.

Mallsai may be unattractive to you now, but was it ugly to you your first year doing bonsai? Bet it wasn't. If you're like a majority of bonsai folks, you probably started with a mallsai. Mallsai also offers an entry point to better things.

Does that make mallsai a good thing or a bad thing? It's both and neither really. Alot of it is horrendous and sometimes dead--which is reprehensible. Some of it is healthy, a bit mishapen. Is your gift tree healthy? I'd bet it is. The nursery from whence it came should be given some credit for selling a healthy mallsai at least...

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Ralph

Just a thought, from cruising the internet for more about bonsai, I have seen that western nations specifically the USA are not the only one who market "mallsai". In fact, they seem to be at least as popular on some Japanese web sites I have found.

__________________
Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


-Paul S.

John Dixon

Well,

You have to learn to stand before you can walk, and walk before you can run. this is just a natural phenomenon of the human being's learning curve.

Starting with "mallsai" is perfectly okay, and yes, some are appealing even when you have been in bonsai for a while. I find no fault in this whatsoever. The one caveat I have is that the bonsai be given a fighting chance for survival. To throw a juniper cutting (and yes, they can be successfully done) into potting soil in a non-draining pot is NOT a fighting chance, it's a pre-death burial. That is just "making a buck" philosophy and is not acceptable.

If you receive or give a "mallsai" that has a "fighting chance", you should be satisfied with the circumstances surrounding the gift. If it was well-meaning, be content with that.

For the record, I still have a mallsai from about twelve years ago.

John

__________________
John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

John Dixon

I have a good friend who is probably thirty plus years in the bonsai business and he refers to these individuals as "punters" not players.

The inference is from American football, and no offense to the "punters" out there, but I know exactly what he means. Nothing wrong with it, but the differences are telling between the two.

I hope to be back on the forum next week. goodbye 'til then.

John (former nose guard, and now bonsai "player", albeit 2nd string )

__________________
John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

Adam_MA

John,
I would love to see what 12 years in caring hands can do for a mallsai!

Adam

John Dixon

Adam,

I happened to catch this before I left. Well they are caring hands, but I don't know that they're "gifted". Anyway, I found a picture that had the specific juniper in it. I cropped it, but it's not very good since it was a wide-angle shot. It's the one on the front pedestal. In spring I'll take a photo if you like.

Here it is for what it's worth. It was purchased on US17 (Kings Hwy.) in Myrtle Beach in front of the old Air Force base. It was a guy who used to sell out of his van on weekends. He was a tall white guy with long hair and, I think, a parrot. He wasn't a pirate though....maybe. I haven't seen him for a few years.

John

Attached Images

mallsai juniper.jpg (3.5 KB, 28 views)

__________________
John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.