Delicate branches
Roots caress a simple pot
White blossoms shimmer
The essence of all forests
Lives here in one small tree.
-Mastuyama Mokurai
The art of bonsai is meant to suggest a tree which has grown naturally under specific conditions, for example windswept on a rocky shore, clinging to the side of a cliff, or standing undisturbed in the forest. 
The time and patience needed to train a tree in miniature form to look natural and mature is, perhaps, the foremost challenge of this horticultural practice.
A gardener studying bonsai is encouraged to study nature and get out and look at trees. Get under them and look up. Notice them. Get to know them so that you might create a representation of all of nature in one small tree.
Pics taken in the Japanese Garden at Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown, NJ. Other posts about Deep Cut are available here and here.
Post submitted to The Festival of the Trees.
I love bonsai. There is a whole room of them at the Conservatory in Cincinnati, and they have one that is over 100 years old.
I have tried bonsai trees, but I always end up killing them with kindness.
Wow! BONSAI!
That’s my country’s culture!!
I’m so happy that you like Bonsai!
I am the kiss of death to house plants. I can’t immagine the skill it takes to make those trees grow, and to grow so beautifully.
I love Bonsai – but geez if I could have all the money back that I have spent killing them :(((
They are fascinating to me though.
I’ve never tried bonzai – though I love to look at them. The collection at Deep Cut is young, I think, they’re not really shaped like some of the beautiful ones I’ve seen.