Finally! A new Tropical Bonsai book. By Pedro Morales, long-time professional bonsai grower, teacher and author.
If you live in the tropics or sub-tropics (much of Florida and southern California are sub-tropical), then you can enjoy a whole range of trees that the rest of us can enjoy only if we own a greenhouse, or if we have enough light (natural or artificial or both) and other positive conditions for growing indoor plants (good air circulation and some humidity don’t hurt). The best way to do this is to keep your tropical trees outdoors when temperatures allow and bring them indoors when it’s cold outside. I’ve been at it for years, with a whole range of varieties and have been especially successful with certain Ficus varieties and Kingsville boxwoods (not really tropical but highly adaptable). I’ve also have had some luck with several others, both tropical and some that most definitely are not tropical.
Because there are so many environments, both outdoors and indoors, the best approach might be to experiment until you find what works for you. Pedro Morale’s new Tropical Bonsai can, among other things, offer you some ideas to help make your bonsai experiments successful. You can purchase Tropical Bonsai and a whole range of other bonsai books and supplies at Stone Lantern.
Pedro Morales is no doubt one of the better known tropical bonsai mavens in the Americas, if not in the world. We won’t go into the entire list of his accomplishment, but it’s worth mentioning a couple high points: Pedro is one of only three people who have lectured at four of the six World Bonsai Conventions that have been held to date (he was also the Chairman of the 2009 World Bonsai Convention). He has also won a number of prestigious bonsai prizes and has traveled extensively to share his wisdom with bonsai lovers around the world. In addition to all this, Pedro owns and operates his Tropical Bonsai School and his nursery in Puerto Rico.
This will give you some idea of what to expect.
And another peek inside.