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With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

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Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
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..... Author unknown.

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
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Friday, July 23, 2010

Putrajaya Floria 2010 P7 - Acerola Cherry Bonsai


This year's Floria 2010 is the third Putrajaya Flower and Garden Festival. At the Outdoor Themed Gardens, I was very much attracted to the Bonsai Garden where the exhibitor SanFong Bonsai and Art Garden had put up an impressive array of bonsai specimens, some of which are from priceless private collections.

You can read more about SanFong Bonsai, the nursery here.


There are labels in almost all the exhibits displaying the name of the tree, author and / or collector. Just look at this ceramic pot. These are intricate carvings of beautiful mountain and lake (shan shui) scenery.


Looking into this one, I feel like a Giant in the land of Little People.

Scientific name: Malpighia emarginata
Common name: Acerola Cherry, Barbados Cherry, West Indian Cherry, Wild Crapemyrtle
Origin: Tropical America



It is unbelievable that these miniature trees are real and living and they go through the normal cycles of leaf fall, blooming and fruiting. Just look at this tiny red cherry. Do you think it can be eaten?

It is captivating and amazing, almost magical to see big trees and shurbs shrunk to one twentieth or less of their normal heights and sizes. I could imagine all the hard work, patience, preseverence and painstaking efforts that had been put into each bonsai. As I know, it takes many years of labour and attention to bring a bonsai to perfection or near perfection, not to mention the detailed horticultural knowledge one has to gain about a particular tree before the masterpiece finally takes shape.



Finally, I would like to dedicate this post to 2 Blotanists who are bonsai lovers and from whom I have learnt a lot about this fascinating hobby from their blogs. They are Ms Radhika of Every Green Tree blog and Ms Sandy of Cloud 9 blog.

Recently, I also had the chance to meet up bloggers, Keats The Sunshine Girl and M.Kate of La Vie Est Belle blog. This was our first time meeting in real life and it was fun. We chatted over tea and coffee at a cafe in Kuala Lumpur.

Coming next..... The Heliconia Garden

“Putrajaya Floraia 2010 P7 - Acerola Cherry Bonsai”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on July 23, 2010.

14 comments:

  1. Wonderful shots! I wonder if I'd ever be able to grow a bonsai successfully, but I'm trying all the same. Hope I make at least in my lifetime...

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  2. Wow!Autumn Belle, you're our great roving gardener for this Floria! Such wonderful posts. How our flora beauties shine:) Happy to have met up with you and Kate.

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  3. Bonsai are a world of their own.
    Something where time and size matters greatly.
    I tried to train my hibiscus plant into a bonsai - not really working out well but its just an experiment.

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  4. These are lovely bonsai. I just wish they placed them in a different area, where only bonsais are displayed. That way they are just placed in a pedestal. And there is no mess-up in the photos, they will come up lovelier. My only bonsai in the province, a forest hardwood tree which was already 5 yrs old died this long summer. A day neglect from my mother and it died, am so sorry but my mother is 80 yrs old. hahaha!

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  5. I like the twisting and turning of the trunk. It is very beautiful and unique!

    Bonsai is a mystery to me. Just as beaver, chicken and goat envy will have to be a mystery to you. I cannot even explain the answer...too explicit.

    Have a marvelous weekend, Autumn Belle.

    Rosey

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  6. Dear Autumn Belle, Although I greatly admire and respect the artistry of Bonsai, I have to confess that it is one area of gardening which has never appealed to me. That said, I have enjoyed looking at your very splendid photographs of Bonsai specimens.

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  7. Hi n Thx a ton for the dedication n sharing snippets n snaps frm the floria. Feels great! These teeny tiny plants are such a delight for a bonsaists n plant lovers. Truly inspirational. (Have fractured my R-arm, which will b in a PoP cast for the nxt 4 wks.... Will be away for a while again) Meanwhile Happy Gardening N Happy Blogging!

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  8. Dear Autumn Belle,

    The little cherry plant is called Barbados Cherry. Helen of The Rustic Bajan Garden helped me to id this plant. I have a pot of it in my garden. Didn't know that it could be turned into bonsai! The fruit tastes tart and is very high in Vitamin C. The fruit looks beautiful when it ripens.

    I love the bonsai plants that this San Foong Nursery featured during the Floria Fest. Did you join the demonstration by Mr. Sim of San Foong? He did a demo on how to create bonsai out of Wrightia Religiosa plant.

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  9. Chandramouli, Keats, James, Andrea, Rosey, Aaron, Edith, Radhika, JC. Hi!

    Chandramouli,
    I hope that one day I'll have more spare time to take up this hobby too.

    Keats, now our friendship has gone 'real' :p

    James, I am trying to train my bougainvillea (10 yrs old), ixora (20 yrs) and champaca into a big bonsai if you can call growing in a flower pot a bonsai. However, I do not know how to trim or wire up the branches to shape the plant artistically ;P

    Andrea, you are right. If the bonsai were exhibited indoors against a white background, it will make them stand out. In the outdoors, they have to worry about thunderstorms too! My long live wishes and warmest regards to your dearest mom.

    Rosey, I wonder if I can use the word 'bonsai envy'? I can't find the meaning of 'chicken envy or goat envy or beaver envy from the dictionary that I have.

    Aaron and Edith, I think that bonsai growing is a time consuming hobby too but I guess the rewards are worth according to the bonsai enthusiasts.

    Radhika, I'm very sorry to hear about your R-arm fracture. My hugs and get well soon wishes. May you have a smooth and speedy recovery!

    JC, you have have a treasure in your garden. Yes, Barbados Cherry and acerola cherry share the same common name. I didn't attend the bonsai talk. Perhaps I was too distracted by all the gorgeous 'models' around me ;P

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  10. Dear Autumn Belle, I find bonsai very fascinating and clever. I sometimes see the little trees for sale, but I am too nervous to try. Love your pictures. Pam

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  11. Nice bonsai pictures! I also visited one outdoor bonsai exhibition in China. They look so amazing, but this is one area that I think I won't touch. It takes too long and lots of patience and care, which I am lacking :)

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  12. Dear Autumnbelle, your description of being like a giant in the land of the little people is a good way of putting it...one can only admire these masterpieces....

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  13. It has been awhile since I stopped in on your blog. I have missed so much! I really enjoy the Bonsai photos. It is so amazing to me how people can manipulate the plant into looking just as a large tree or plant would look. This is very difficult to do and takes one with patience and many years practice to achieve plants of this caliber. Thank you for sharing such amazing work.
    Carla

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  14. Thank you Autumn Belle for dedicating this great post to me. This is very thoughtful of you and encouraging for me to keep up sharing what I know and love about bonsai with everyone :)

    Cheers!
    ~s

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