I read with interest the outline of a contest posted last month on The Bonsai Enthusiast Online Magazine_where readers were encouraged to submit methods to prevent 'unethical and inept vendors' from hijacking the hobby. _The winning entry, which you can read above, suggests designating some type of certifying body that would provide a rating of approval for various vendors.

What struck me as odd at the time I read about the contest, and even more so in seeing how it all played out is: why is it a foregone conclusion that Bonsai needs protecting?

Do Turkish rug gallery owners rise up against the purveyors of latch hook crafts? _Do professional artists (or competent amateurs for that matter) see a threat in paint-by-number, sidewalk "art" sales, or the sale of fingerpaints to toddlers? _Probably not. _

What is disturbing to many bonsai folks about the public perception of their hobby is that many in the general public can't tell the difference in the quality of trees, because they lack the education and experience to do so. _Long-time bonsai fans are aghast at the comparisons between their collected California Juniper and the rooted cutting some guy bought at the Kmart last weekend under the electric glow of revolving blue light.

With the public perception of bonsai shaped by movies like the Karate Kid, mallsai, instant gratification and the disposable society we live in, the two questions most often heard at a typical bonsai show are the following:

• How old is it?
• How much does it cost?

What can we do to raise the awareness of quality bonsai art?

1. _Strive to develop and grow the best trees we can to enhance the distinction between the garbage that gets passed off as bonsai in many malls, garden centers and the real thing. _

2. Display that art. _Exposure is foremost to understanding. _Answer the questions and dispell the myths. _Two of the top questions we hear on this forum are pretty instructive:

• Why is my bonsai dying?
• How do you keep the moss green?

The average mallsai owner just wants to be able to maintain the plant in the condition in which it was purchased!

3. Judge the shows. _Identifying standards of excellence and rewarding achievers is critical in developing and advancing our own perception of quality.

4. Recognize that Quality is, in essence, the meeting or exceeding of expectations. _If those expectations are low, they will be easily met. _If it is high, one may be disappointed by inferior design or unhealthiness. _

5. Recognize that everyone has different expectations of quality. The majority of mallsai buyers want something pretty to adorn the coffee table. _ If a mallsai fits that requirement, then let them have a mallsai. _That's my opinion on the subject. _Most of the bonsai enthusiasts I know were introduced to the hobby through some type of mass-produced commercial tree, anyways. _Everyone starts somewhere.

Your opinions are welcome!

Matt

Well Matt,
thanks for an interesting and stimulating article,
let me be the first to venture a reply.
I was intro duced to bonsai thru a 50th birthday present,
Ihad hinted that I was interested in bonsai beforehand,
the result was a chinese elm which I cooked over a
warm radiator for a few weeks.
the local library gave me the information to keep
it alive alittle while longer.
The store it was purchased from were no help at all.
In hindsight, should the store be selling a product
they know nothing about?
there was nothing wrong with the tree,
looking back, from what I have seen since then
It was a good quality specimen.
THEN AGAIN,
Most seaside towns have shops that sell fishing tackle
without any knowledge of angling to complete begginers
which again horrifies seasoned anglers!!!.
My local garden centre has a poster above their "bonsai"
advertising our local club.
maybe this is one way of educating the general public
( get the whole world in a club!!!!!)
personally I would like to see more on television.

i believe tha poor mallsai has brought many to the art of bonsai.
angling?isnt that what you do when you go out to pick up chicks?

Hello Everyone,

Well I am new to the Bonsai scene and I think that I may have a mallsai but I am not sure. There is a label on it that says CA Bonsai. Could anyone fill me in and if so perhaps maybe fill me in on the best thing to do as far as mantinence.

thanks,

Casey

I've always loved plants and gardening. Back in the 70's I heard about bonsai, but thought it was something too difficult for me to even consider trying. (a secret, ancient art.) Then in the late 80's I was in Hawaii and bought one of those schefflera's planted on a rock. I wanted to keep it alive, so I checked around and found you could plant the tree with the rock in soil and that was the beginning of bonsai for me. In the course of researching I learned that bonsai is something anyone can do. An obsession was born, much to my husband's dismay. Anyway, I'm glad there are mallsai out there. It introduces the world of bonsai to people who may otherwise never learn about it. And if all they want is an adornment for their coffeetable that eventually dies, isn't that what freedom is all about. Art can't be regulated. It wouldn't be art. Let us all enjoy bonsai at whatever level we are capable of enjoying it. A mallsai can bring as much enjoyment to one person as a old juniper can to another. Just my humble opinion.

Casey, please check out the article Beware the Mallsai.

You'll also find useful information in the ***FAQ*** and under bonsaiTALK Links* ->Beginners.

I would like to keep this particular thread focused on the subject at hand, but feel free to raise any specific questions about your tree in the Ask Dr. Bonsai forums below.

Thanks,

Matt

I agree with everything you said but would speak to #5. The article you mentioned reminds me of professional painters that decry the amatuer artists. I used to do some painting and can still remember the same arguments--one from a person who led a class I took. He railed on and on about people who traced trees or people onto canvas and then painted them! He thought it shouldn't be allowed. But I still hang many of my paintings in my house, even though a "real" artist would shake his or her head in disbelief. The plain and simple fact is that few of us will become a great bonsai artist. But I dare say I enjoy it just as much as the great artist, maybe more because I don't think I'm as pretentious as those who want to limit or grade our work.

Mallsai is no different than those framed prints you can buy at Wal-Mart. Sure, it may not be "real" art but if it pleases somebody, let it please them. All of us will not become highly trained artists, but who cares?

I think the true bonsai enthusiast will encourage bonsai in all forms from my bumbling attempts to mallsai to truly great works of art. I certainly agree that many people will buy a tree and not take the time to learn how to care for it, but people do that with ferns and palms and philodendrens, too. If they get some enjoyment for a short time, maybe it will stimulate a few to go to the next level. Maybe not. Either way is fine with me.

One last thought. You said *"Long-time bonsai fans are aghast at the comparisons between their collected California Juniper and the rooted cutting some guy bought at the Kmart last weekend under the electric glow of revolving blue light." I have read of bonsai artists who would rather see that cutting nurtured and trained from infancy than see that collected juniper cut, drilled, chain sawed and Dremeled into something that only faintly resembles a traditional bonsai! It's all in the eye of the beholder so lets accept traditional and contemporary bonsai and mallsai and 200 year old junipers and especially, let's not see a group of "experts" begin to try to grade and number and control our hobby and art.

Hi Matt, I think you can remember back to the discussion Andy and I had on the "bonsai on the internet" thread some time back. This had to do with bonsai as an artform also, and how "we" need to weed out all the people that bring the artform down with all their inferior trees. I e-mailed Andy as soon as I read the article about the submission from Mr. Berrish. Now while Mr. Berrish has some good ideas about an "American Bonsai Society" I feel that they would be responsible for furthering the hobby or "artistic endeavors" whatever the case may be. They could be the sanctioning body to produce a USA type show. They would be responsible for public inlightenment about bonsai, learning in the classroom by making a school curriculum available, and furthering the idea that bonsai is an artform. Notice I said artform, not always art.

The anology about toothpaste is ludicrous. The AMA just makes sure it meets minimum conditions as far as floride, and that it will not kill you when you accidently ingest it. They never gaurentee that it will give you the whitest smile. They leave that to us to experiment with.

I think I said this somewhere in a post on this forum, " have we reached a point in bonsai that we have to take our trees to a gradeing service to give us a certificate saying that our tree has passed all the design elements and now can be considered ART". I think they have to do this with sports cards. All I know is when you buy the Nolan Ryan rookie card from the dealer, it is in mint condition, when you have it graded it somehow can only muster a very good, due to microscopic blemishes that can't be seen with the naked eye. Art has always been a subjective science, and will always foster an argument from the persons that don't agree with the critique.

I agree with you 100%. I don't think anything is wrong with mallsai, or poorly designed trees. I say live and let live.
Best regards, Al Keppler

Ho hum here we go,
I enjoy looking at trees, I always have, Iserved an
aprenticeship in carpentry so it probably follows that I
will at least take an interest in trees.
big trees , little trees, old trees (old methusela,,wow !!!)
tree is art, a seedling, a sapling, a shrub, an old oak,
giant redwoods, acherry in blossom, it is art from nature.
it do not matter what we do to our trees, plant them out
in a field and mother nature will do a 1000% better
job on them than we could ever do.
we should do to our trees what is right in our hearts
for ourselves, not for someone else to judge whether
we have done it according to a set of rules.
why do we have to be like dog breeders, if the tail
is not a certain length,then it is not a pedigree?


let us just pinch and prune , and if anyone else likes the
result, great , if not,so what? did van gogh give a damn
what anyone thought of his own pictures?
most if not all of the great painters ,painted commisions
for a wage and art for themselves.(so I thought)

Matt - a very provocative question. I think there are a lot of us who were introduced to bonsai by a "mallsai" - I was. I bought 2 - I was so jazzed by them. Welll - that was 5 years ago and they are long since dead - but they got me interested. So - for me - they served a purpose. As you get involved in bonsai - you find out about the clubs, the suppliers, the books and magazines, etc. - for many people - a mallsai is an entry way. Why is that wrong??

What I have found interesting over the years is that what I was attracted to - the little trees in the beautiful pots - is not really what it is about. You find out that it takes years before most trees are ready for the pretty pots - the growing pots are not so pretty. You learn this the hard way - first you pot up a bunch of seedlings - then you find out - wait a minute that is not bonsai - it's a long road of learning.

The one thing that I am finding right now - and I suspect that many others may be here too - is the paralysis. I now understand what should happen - I read the books. go to the workshops, attend the shows and I work with the sensei's in the area..... And I hesitate to work on my own trees - because now there are so many "right ways' - note the views expressed in this forum. I am trying to get back to enjoying my trees and enjoying working on my trees - right or wrong - isn't it about enjoying the process??