Bonsai Encyclopedia

A dwarf pomegranate, shorter than the species with smaller flowers and fruit. In early summer it bears crinkled scarlet flowers, and in pots or mini bonsai offers both blooms and fruit. Also sold as 'issai-zakuro'.

Deciduous tree with white spring flowers and red autumn berries. Perfect bonsai candidate with flowers, fruit, and autumn color. Thorns require gloves when styling.

An evergreen shrub endemic to Japan that hangs clusters of small urn-shaped flowers in early spring. White is the wild colour, but pink to deep red forms are popular for bonsai. The whole plant is toxic and must never be eaten.

One of the seven autumn flowers. Countless small purple flowers on weeping slender branches create exquisite charm. A quintessential grass-style bonsai capturing autumn spirit.

Popular grass-style bonsai. Large purple or white flowers capture waterside scenery in a small pot. Beautiful with moss, creating a seasonal display for early summer.

A small azalea that carpets volcanic uplands in Kyushu such as Kirishima, Aso and Kuju. With small leaves and dense branching, it covers its shoot tips with little flowers, mostly purple-red but also pink or white. Tough and ideal for shohin bonsai.

A deciduous shrub typical of Japanese coppice woods, bearing flat clusters of small white flowers in early summer and bunches of red berries about 6 mm across in autumn. In bonsai, small-leaved forms such as 'Kinkazan' are favoured.

Japan's typical wild rose, bearing sprays of small, strongly scented white flowers in early summer and red hips in autumn. One of the key species behind the world's garden roses, it is grown as bonsai for both flowers and hips.

Deciduous shrub blooming continuously from summer to autumn. Known as Korea's national flower. Individual flowers last one day but bloom in succession. Hardy and fast-growing.

An evergreen camellia that blooms white to pink from late autumn into winter. Unlike Camellia japonica, its petals fall one by one and the flowers carry a faint scent, making it a favorite flowering bonsai for the bare season.

The iconic flowering bonsai of Japanese culture. Blooms in May-June with thousands of cultivars. Huge variety in flower color and form. Star of exhibitions.

A satsuki bred from 'Kozan' × 'Osakazuki', bearing small plain purplish-red flowers with thick, pointed petals. The narrow small leaves colour in autumn. A popular, free-flowering and vigorous cultivar.

A satsuki found as a sport of the old cultivar 'Kozan'. Small flowers in pale salmon-pink with stripes and flecks, plus solid red, pink or white on the same plant. Small leaves, good branching and budding make it a bonsai staple.

Read 'Osakazuki', the classic satsuki—so widely planted that 'satsuki' often simply means this cultivar. Free-flowering with medium, deep pink-purple blooms, vigorous and tolerant of shearing, it is an old cultivar with handsome reddish bark.

Flowering bonsai covered in yellow blooms in early spring. Weeping habit suits cascade style. Bright yellow heralds spring when few flowers bloom. Hardy and easy.