Bonsai @ Salon de la Maison et du jardin 2014

Today was the last day for the exhibit for home and gardens in Mauritius. Lots of interesting new stuffs mingled with the usual old stuff at the exhibit. This year I got the impression that there were more nurseries than before and mixed in the lot there were various "bonsai", "pre-bonsai", "mallsai" and "potential bonsai" mixed in.

There were at least 6 or 7 nurseries present but only the three below had bonsai related stuffs.

Serre de Palma
Serre de Palma has been importing mallsai and providing them on the market for several years now. The prices are pretty low compared to other nurseries.
Prices starts as from around Rs900 upwards.

Species sold as bonsai were privet (Ligustrum) and chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia).

There were flaws typical to mallsai ( bad cuts, poor ramification, poor branches ) and I don't even care to think of the roots states. But the trunk's taper (taper = thicker base getting thinner towards the top) was present and the trunk's movement was already interesting with good movement.

All in all its a pretty decent price for a starter material for beginners.

There were other plants that could be used as bonsai though, like this beautiful Juniper.

There were also lots of other garden plants including bougies, orchids and cactus on sale.

La Main Verte
La Main Verte located in Curepipe has been specializing in conifers and evergreens for several years now.
There's a huge variety of false cypress (Chamaecyparis),various thuja, dwarf holly (Malpighia coccigera) and bamboo for sale.

The prices were relatively steeper here. Rs2000+ for the bonsai ( plants in bonsai pots ) and similar plants in nursery pots were around Rs1500+

There's a huge potential here but I find the plants pretty much shrub like. There's no taper, no branches/ramification work done here. It's pretty much a normal plant placed in a bonsai pot for me but I could be wrong.

Pépinière Exotica
Pépinière Exotica had a huge variety of plants on display (as usual) and price tags for garden plants in general were affordable. There were several adeniums that looked ready for a bonsai pot.

There was this one massive adenium plant for a record price of Rs 19,500.

There were several bougainvillea at Rs 2,500 on display at the entrance of their stand that I though had lots of potential as a pre-bonsai material. The taper was there, the ramification was acceptable. A few wires here and there and you could get some nice bunjin or informal upright bonsai out of them.

The only unknown criteria would be the roots. If the plant was grown in those large containers for a long time and without any root training, I might end up with long lateral roots instead of a compact feeder root system. This part might need some work but overall that looked like a huge promise as a pre-bonsai or starter material.

There was this little plant that also got my attention.

A Scouring Rush or Barred Horsetail (Equisetum japonica).

I'm not sure of its growing habit, but I'm wondering if it could be used as a kusamono ( Kusamono are the equivalent of grass in a pot, as compared to bonsai which are trees in a pot )

Vaneron Garden Center - New pots and other bonsai related stuffs

Some exciting stuffs arrived at Vaneron Garden Center last week and I was able to have a look during the weekend and managed to get some shots for you with permission from the nursery.
Several new pots as well as antique mini figurines or mudmen (made of ceramic) are now available at there.
Apart from those new arrivals, there is also various horticulture components that can be used to prepare your own bonsai mix, as well as several bonsai materials in various stages.

Contact Details

Usual disclaimer: I'm listing some of the places that I know you can buy pre-bonsai and "bonsai".
I am not endorsed or sponsored by any of those nurseries mentioned in the article.
I am just sharing places that I have seen selling "bonsai" for anyone who want to get into this hobby and would like to buy one.

Vaneron Garden
Marbella Road, Trianon,
Quatres Bornes, Mauritius

Tel : (230) 466-7108
Email : vaneron@intnet.mu
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Vaneron.Gardens

Open Mon - Sun (incl. plublic holidays)
8:30am till 5pm

Types of species available there : Tropical species, Junipers/Conifers, Flowering species, Fruiting species

Bonsai Pots

Various new bonsai pots are available, as well as a range of older ones.
The pots varies from plastic pots, to glazed pots to terracotta pots.
There is also a huge variety of shapes and sizes.
Bonsai pots will range from Rs. 120.00 (plastic bonsai pot) to Rs. 3,000.00 (Biggest Terracotta Bonsai pots).
The average price will be around Rs. 450.00 (for a ceramic bonsai pot).

Before showing the various pots available, I'd like to draw special attention to the new arrival, a green glazed bonsai pot with a pond.




Ok, now with the other pots on sale at Vaneron Garden Center.

Some of the pots with a real context to give you an idea of the possibilities:

Rectangular green glazed "Shohin" or "Mame" pot :

Not an identical pot, but close enough to give you an idea of the potential.


Round green glazed pot

Similar pot with a literati ficus benjamina in training.


Flat oval terracotta pot

Mudmen ( Antique Mini figurines )

Those tiny figurines would be ideal to highlight your bonsai and enhance the illusion of a tree minituarized.
I specially like the old man fishing, the small house as well as the old man in his bamboo boat.
In addition to bonsai, those mudmen would be ideal in making a penjing, which literally mean "tray scenery", as opposed to a bonsai which is a tree in a tray rather than a scenery in a tray.

Bonsai materials, pre-bonsai and bonsai available too

In addition to the pots and mudmen, there is also a wide variety of bonsai and pre-bonsai at various stages of development. You will have to contact the nursery directly for the prices.

Bonsai soil components

Bonsai soil is a really misleading term. Generally speaking bonsai soil is a mix of various components instead of actual pure gardening soil.
There are various reasons for that and loads of articles on the net on that topic.
I made a generic introduction to the topic previously on Bonsai Soil Demystified

The point here is that there are loads of "bonsai soil" components that you can get at Vaneron Garden Center. Here are just a couple of the various components that you can buy individually and combine at home.

Perlite : inorganic medium, water retention


Pine bark : organic medium, water retention


Coconut peat : organic medium, water retention


Some sample soil mix that you can create:

Perlite = White stuff [ Matrice structure - Retains water and dissolved nutrients ]
Tiny rocks = Black stuff [ Inorganic structure - Does not retain a lot of water ]
Pine barks = Wood pieces [ Organic structure - Will slowly decompose over time and release nutrients ]
Fired clay = Brown stuff [ Matrice structure - Retains water and dissolved nutrients - lower water retention than perlite ]



Or a mix with pebbles, pine bark and coconut peat


There are also some new components that Vaneron Garden Center received recently : Lava rocks, Vermiculite and Zeolite among other things. Those three are inorganic mediums with various water retaining features.
Sample mix made up of Lava rocks (left), Vermiculite (right) and slow release fertilizer pellets (center) being prepared and used during the repotting of a juniper.






There are loads of other bonsai related stuffs available there, such as pumice, soil-less organic mixes, manure, fertilizers, pest control chemicals, raw bonsai materials (a.k.a. nursery plants)
But I won't be able to develop those topic here and now, so that will be for another time.