SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST....

.... Acclimatization n Adaptability to Change!

Have you ever wondered why some plants seemingly take longer to adapt and get acclimatized to their new home environs, while some thrive and flourish from the start word ‘GO GREEN’? Still many others simply don’t adapt themselves and hence perish.

I guess Darwin might just have the answer to this particular wondering question at hand. It indeed is ‘SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST’ in terms of gradual Acclimatization and inherent qualities of Adaptability to Change.

From time to time, I like to visit the local Plant Mart here, for different n newer varieties of plants. Even when I travel, I almost always try and visit a local plant nursery and buy a plant or two to carry back home with me as souvenirs.

Elucidating with a few examples and my personal experience with plants :-

Few years back, I had brought four Mame Bonsai’s with me, all the way from China ~ a Ficus retusa; Chinese Elm; Pepper and Cypress. While I thought the Cypress wouldn’t survive the extreme climatic variations of N. India, it adapted and acclimatized itself well and lasted the longest.

Here’s a picture of the Pepper Tree :-


Notice the ‘S- Shape’ curved trunk line, which is quite typical in many of the Chinese styled Bonsai.
.
Though a hardy plant, it didn’t survive long.
Too Bad! I really liked its teeny- tiny green leaves.

Then again, I brought Pre-Bonsai material….i.e. a Eucalyptus, an Indonesian Premna, and Boxwood from Mumbai last October. Somehow, I lost the Eucalyptus in less than a month’s time; however the Premna and boxwood are doing fairly well, in their new home with us.

More recently, my bro & sis-in-law bought back two plants from their visit to a hill station in N. India. These plants look like a bunch of beautiful GREEN COLOURED FLOWERS. It’s been a little over a month now, and I am afraid to loose this single one on the left hand side, as it is not doing too well, in spite of having kept them both under the shade with other healthy green plants ensuring adequate and timely watering.

From EverGreen Tree

A Cousin once presented us with some of the most Exotic Caladiums, with bright and colourful foliage in vivid garden shades. She had got them for us from Pune or maybe from a nursery in Bangalore. But again none of the 5-6 plants survived here..... Nonetheless, I would definitely like to buy a few Caladiums and give it another try, ensuring that they adapt well and get acclimatized to their changed environment.

From EverGreen Tree Here's a cute little plant (American Karunda)...

I added to my Collection few weeks back.....

It is doing well as off now, but keeps loosing a leaf or two n more - Enough to give me a scare. Keeping my Fingers Crossed n hoping it Survives n last me through the years.
Dear Readers, Looking forward to reading your similar experience n stories which you might like to share here with me.....

Selection of Bonsai Material

Almost any ordinary garden plant can be trained, according to the rule set for designing of a good bonsai plant; however, selecting the right plant material from amongst the choices available at a nursery is very important.

A lot of time and effort can be wasted while trying to train a wrong plant, into a potentially & commercially viable designer Bonsai. To avoid such a situation, one needs to bear in mind the following point while selecting a Plant.

First and foremost, the inherent qualities of a given nursery / garden plant should uncompromisingly mimic the Plant / Tree of the same genus commonly found in nature.

Elucidating the same with the help of an example:-

The plant in this photograph below is called Poplar.
(Populus fastigiata)
Visible Characteristic Features of the Plant:
As one can see, this plant has a mature, short & bent main trunk line, which abruptly ends and then branches out into four almost straight and parallel branches of the same length, girth and one eye poking branch pointing towards the viewer. Some aerial roots are growing as extended stubble from the tree’s bent main trunk line, which accentuates the beauty of this plant. The leaves are gradually diminishing in size, healthy, bright green, heart shaped with alternate branching pattern.

Characteristic Features of Poplar Trees Found in Nature:
In Nature, these broad-leaved deciduous trees have rounded contours, whilst some conifers, at least when young, present a conical, or rather pyramidal, outline. They usually have a remarkably erect or fastigiate habit of growth of its branches, to which it owes its specific name “fastigiata.”

Critiques Point:
The under training Bonsai plant, bears ‘no inherent similarity’ nor does it ‘mimic’ the other plants of its genre found in nature, therefore, under no circumstances, it can be considered as a suitable Plant Material, to be trained into a futuristic Bonsai.

Concluding Point:
The plant has been wrongly shaped / trained by the Nursery Grower and unfortunately wrongly hand picked / selected by a naïve Bonsai collector / beginner.

However, the plant is healthy and presentable, and therefore, can be used only as a ‘decorative plant’ but not as a good BONSAI.

Point To Ponder:
It is of utmost importance to study and then SELECT the RIGHT Plant Material to be trained into a good Bonsai, which, in essence is merely a ‘Miniaturized Representation’ of commonly found Trees of the same Genre, growing ordinarily in there natural habitats.