one of my advisees came by for a thesis meeting today and ended up staying for an hour telling me about the art of bonsai and showing me all these photos and forums for bonsai enthusiasts ahaha. she was like “yeah i mean i’ve been researching and these bonsai forums are really intense.. there’s like, a lot of bonsai gatekeeping.” i now know so much about bonsai -- like, did you know that pretty much ANY TREE can be grown in miniature?? including redwoods and flowering jacaranda trees and apple trees that will grow real full-sized apples from their tiny branches?? did you know that trees will grow roots out from the side of their trunks when they’re thirsty and not getting enough water, but the experienced bonsai gardener can gently 'train’ them back down to the soil? did you know that there are bonsai competitions and that bonsai aficionados have certain ideal curvatures for the shape of the tree? did you know that you should never buy a kit that starts the bonsai from a seed, because you will have to invest 5-6 years in caring for it before it even becomes a sapling? she has also decided that since she is studying abroad next semester she can’t start learning the art of bonsai yet, bc it would be ‘too much pressure’ to ask her boyfriend to take care of it while she was gone (if he killed it or failed to prune it properly it might put strain on their relationship). ahaha what a wonderful way to start the day.
