Ever get a weird response by someone viewing your Bonsai?

[shohin_branches]

My favorite club event to volunteer for every year is the Wisconsin State Fair. We have three large shows for the 11 day fair with judges and big ribbons. Club volunteers hang out by the trees making sure kids don't go under the ropes and try to touch them and we answer the questions from the normies. I always loved it as a kid.

I've gotten all of the questions you can expect from the Wisconsin State Fair.

"Which one is the oldest?"
Which one looks the oldest to you? What about it makes it look old?

"Which tree is yours?"
none of these

"Does it hurt the tree?"
Nah it's like a pet

"Why do you torture trees?"
They're not tortured

"How do you know how old it is?"
A fellow club member once responded to this question by saying that we cut them in half and count the rings. When the person asked if that kills the tree he responded, no it's fine we put them back together. The secret is wood glue. I just nodded in agreement and once the lady walked away I finally was able to let my undying laughter out.

"I had a ban-zai once and it died"
I'm sorry for your loss

"Have you met Mr. Miyagi?"
 Nope

"Why is that one so ugly?"
Hey, someone put a lot of work into that ugly tree

"I had one of those seed kits and it died"
sorry, those are scams

"How much is that one worth?"
tree-fiddy

"You some kinda plant weirdos?"
Obviously

"Oh I thought thought ban-zai was a type of tree" proceeds to point to every tree and ask "what's that one? What's that one? "

But it's worth it when you see a person that is suddenly struck with the realization that everyday people can grow bonsai and now they want to be a person that grows bonsai. One guy actually excitedly asked me that.

"Wait... regular people grow bonsai?"
Yep, the magic powers come with the club membership.
"You mean I could grow bonsai?"
Yes, we actually have a beginners class next month...
*watches bonsai addiction take hold*

 

[shohin_branches]

The best response was when my friends came over, while they were four hours into an acid trip, just to see my trees.
"Oh my God this is the best place to be"
"I'm so glad we came here"
"Are you a hobbit? "

 

[Srt8madness]

My dad

My favorite club event to volunteer for every year is the Wisconsin State Fair. We have three large shows for the 11 day fair with judges and big ribbons. Club volunteers hang out by the trees making sure kids don't go under the ropes and try to touch them and we answer the questions from the normies. I always loved it as a kid.

I've gotten all of the questions you can expect from the Wisconsin State Fair.

"Which one is the oldest?"
Which one looks the oldest to you? What about it makes it look old?

"Which tree is yours?"
none of these

"Does it hurt the tree?"
Nah it's like a pet

"Why do you torture trees?"
They're not tortured

"How do you know how old it is?"
A fellow club member once responded to this question by saying that we cut them in half and count the rings. When the person asked if that kills the tree he responded, no it's fine we put them back together. The secret is wood glue. I just nodded in agreement and once the lady walked away I finally was able to let my undying laughter out.

"I had a ban-zai once and it died"
I'm sorry for your loss

"Have you met Mr. Miyagi?"
 Nope

"Why is that one so ugly?"
Hey, someone put a lot of work into that ugly tree

"I had one of those seed kits and it died"
sorry, those are scams

"How much is that one worth?"
tree-fiddy

"You some kinda plant weirdos?"
Obviously

"Oh I thought thought ban-zai was a type of tree" proceeds to point to every tree and ask "what's that one? What's that one? "

But it's worth it when you see a person that is suddenly struck with the realization that everyday people can grow bonsai and now they want to be a person that grows bonsai. One guy actually excitedly asked me that.

"Wait... regular people grow bonsai?"
Yep, the magic powers come with the club membership.
"You mean I could grow bonsai?"
Yes, we actually have a beginners class next month...
*watches bonsai addiction take hold*

Great post! Chuckled a few times.
But I'll forever call it Ban-zai. If people can call a pecan a "pee-can", I can call my little trees ban zai

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

I never got any tree torturer comments, but I did get drilled by a weird guy when I was more active with my club. Someone walked up to me at an event and annoyed/snarkily said "why did Japanese bombers yell bonsai (he pronounced it banzai) before they blew up American ships?" Trying to deescalate the situation, I said that the art is pronounced "bone-sai," which means plant in pot. I am sure Japanese pilots were not screaming "plant in pot" before they committed suicide.

Looking at me judgingly like I was trying to pull a fast one on him, I continued to explain that one is a war chant, and the other is the art we perform. It is hard to explain in words, but it was like he thought we were WW2 sympathizers, or something? Thankfully one of the older members was a veteran, and told the guy to read a book and get lost, haha!

 

[leus]

Well, um, make the remark to me about my dog being "inhumanely" genetically selected to be a sick, weird, mistreated, short-live monstrosity and I'll smack you upside the head for being high-handed and mostly wrong That attitude about purebred dogs has unfortunately, become fashionable these days. Look to the left at the dog in my avatar...I've had purebred and rescue bull terrier for as long as I've have bonsai. Over the years, and particularly in the last decade, I've had people accuse me of having a "vicious," "deformed," "monstrosity," of a dog that is feeble and sickly because I can trace its lineage back 15 generations (which, BTW, provides genetic information that is now being used to limit health problems in breed) They imply, like the person accusing bonsaiists of torturing trees, that I'm somehow complicit in some sadistic practice. That view, like the view that bonsai tortures trees, is wildly inaccurate and ill-informed.

So, the take-away of all this is (and sorry to be harsh) don't offer a moralistic opinion on people's legal pass times when you have no real idea of what you're talking about.

BTW, standard poodles are pretty healthy dogs overall. The fact they have odd hair dos is just part of the territory. I don't like poodles much (gun dogs-and poodles were originally bred to be retrievers-- tend to have bland personalities and do everything you tell them to). I'm a terrier guy, but that doesn't make poodles poor unhealthy creatures that are genetically abused.

Nah I love purebreds, I still miss my rotty and has been over 10 years since she died.

But many races do have genetic flaws and poor doggies do suffer from them (bulldogs being the prime example). I was just pointing to a contradictory fact to their stance (even if big poodles do not, as you point out, fall in this category). It’s just funny to me.

 

[rockm]

I never got any tree torturer comments, but I did get drilled by a weird guy when I was more active with my club. Someone walked up to me at an event and annoyed/snarkily said "why did Japanese bombers yell bonsai (he pronounced it banzai) before they blew up American ships?" Trying to deescalate the situation, I said that the art is pronounced "bone-sai," which means plant in pot. I am sure Japanese pilots were not screaming "plant in pot" before they committed suicide.

Looking at me judgingly like I was trying to pull a fast one on him, I continued to explain that one is a war chant, and the other is the art we perform. It is hard to explain in words, but it was like he thought we were WW2 sympathizers, or something? Thankfully one of the older members was a veteran, and told the guy to read a book and get lost, haha!

FWIW, next time someone asks--Banzai is like 'yahoo' in english, as in "yay" (Yahoo's--or Yay hoo-- other meaning can be applied to the person making the assumption you're a Japanese imperial sympathizer ) :

"According to dictionaries, the word banzai literally means ten thousand years. The word’s origins comes from the Chinese word wansui and dates roughly to the beginning of the Meiji period, around 1890 (banzai, n.d.). Banzai is considered an interjection and related to unused English interjections like hurrah and yippee. Perhaps the best equivalent is the British shout “Long live the king/queen.” It can mean “Long live the emperor.” Today, banzai is just a shout of elation."

Banzai Cheer Explained

For most Americans, World War II footage acts as their introduction to the banzai cheer. The cheer remains closely associated with militarism and the atrocities of the war. Footage of kamikaze pilo…

www.japanpowered.com

"Bonesigh" is little trees. There are folks who say it's not pronounced bonsigh, but I use that term to avoid the entire Banzai thing.

 

[rockm]

That’s fair and I’d agree in part. I’m no dog (or bonsai) expert. I’d wager many “purebreds” have a range of genetic diversity from the cross breeding that introduced the traits to make that breed specific. The harm I’m thinking of is the self crossing to amplify recessive traits that also brings deleterious ones (pugs and mastiffs are the same ‘species’). We unwittingly adopted a mutt puppy that is still growing at an alarming rate. Not a purebred, but the size alone may give it problems as it ages.

Edit: “unwittingly”, but as soon as I saw its paws in the shelter I told my wife that it was going to be huge. But alas the puppy eyes had already gotten us.

True that some genetic diversity across purebred breed does bring some advantages, but it also brings issues as well. There have been independent studies that show purebred dogs as a whole, are really no less healthy than "mutts." Yes, some individual breeds have issues, brachycephalic breeds English and French bulldogs, pugs, Pekinese etc. do have significant health issues. But the AKC recognizes 200 breeds. Other registrations like the UKC recognize a hundred more...Genetic faults and genetic diseases can be traced and observed and acted upon when the lineage of a dog is known. Not so with mutts. Responsible breeders don't use stock where genetic deficiencies/diseases are known. That effort has made bull terriers more sound as a breed. All bets are off, however, for puppy mills and backyard breeders.

 

[leus]

I, for one, collect mutt bonsais.

 

[Bavarian Raven]

Trees are natural systems but they don't feel anything. Dogs, on the other hand, are sentient creatures and having them genetically selected to display unhealthy traits and reduced life expectancy is way more inhumane than cutting a branch, so the contradiction was strong on that couple.

I've never used the "do you eat plants?" retort, is just too good so I'll just resort to that one, thanks.

Actually plants can /do feel pain in their own way. Just an fyi.

 

[Cajunrider]

Actually plants can /do feel pain in their own way. Just an fyi.

For me, I consider things as responses to stimuli by living systems. Since our systems are closer to those of animals we can observer similar responses in animals and project that animals feel pain as well. Plants as living systems are different enough from us that we cannot make that projection. I don't know and won't project that plants can / do feel pain.

 

[penumbra]

You know, I have been watching this thread and had no idea what I might possibly add..................
but then I thought, I get plenty of weird responses from me.

 

[Emeraldtarpon]

Was on one of my nursery hops and discovered an old, ratty looking nursery...first thought YES!
Was greeted by a very cheery, Italian fella who reeked of Galliano or something similar.
The dude was hilarious and i had a good laugh with him for over an hour.
He finally asked me what i was looking for and when i said stock for bonsai, the heavens clouded over and lightning bolts started firing from his eyes.
I thought shit, this guy's having a ceasure or something, as i got ready to grab him in case he started to fall.
And out it came...some of the worst profanities you could possibly imagine. He even picked up a potted pine and slammed it into the ground as hard as he could while proclaiming, "this is what you do".
I thought f**k, this guys having a serious meltdown and i got in my car but as i drove out, he threw a plant at the car which just missed.
I thought f**k this and stopped,got out of the car and threw the damn thing back at him.
Well, it was on. Two idiots stood in a nursery yard throwing potted plants at each other.
I suddenly cracked up laughing when i realised how insane this would look to someone passing by, flipped the bird and i got in my car and drove out (i also got out of there before this guy realised how much stock we had just destroyed).
Moral of the story...NEVER go to a nursery run by a pissed Italian.

 

[leus]

Actually plants can /do feel pain in their own way. Just an fyi.

That’s false according to the actual definition of “pain”. If you want to use “pain” as a metaphor that’s fine but it’s like saying trees have eyes because they react to light.

 

[misfit11]

Actually plants can /do feel pain in their own way. Just an fyi.

What is this statement based on? Plants don't have a central nervous system, and therefore cannot feel pain. What do you mean, they "...feel pain in their own way"? Can you point to a peer reviewed scientific article that confirms this statement? I'm not saying that you're absolutely wrong, but I have never come across any kind of legitimate study that confirmed plants feel anything.

 

[August]

Maybe they are talking about "stress" but even then stress is more of a metaphor or misnomer, more appropriate I think plants experience a "pressure" to adjust to situations that might threaten their survival.

Pain is by definition a "physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury". I think science is a long way from proving plants can experience discomfort let alone suffering.

This would be a good thread on it's own, but I worry that the discourse might tear this place apart.

 

[Linn01]

* Oh I have the same tree in my garden *
* Can u still eat fruit that comes from a bonsai tree? *
* Why bending a tree when trees in fact always grow upright? *
* Why wasting so much money on specialized fertilizer when the next thing you do is chopping every branch? *



My father (insurance/banking background):

* Can a bonsai truly be a good investment? *

 

[Gabler]

Can a bonsai truly be a good investment?

No.

 

[rockm]

* Oh I have the same tree in my garden *
* Can u still eat fruit that comes from a bonsai tree? *
* Why bending a tree when trees in fact always grow upright? *
* Why wasting so much money on specialized fertilizer when the next thing you do is chopping every branch? *



My father (insurance/banking background):

* Can a bonsai truly be a good investment? *

* Can a bonsai truly be a good investment? *

This is, unfortunately, not an uncommon belief. I get asked "so what's that tree worth?" sometimes. We also get an occasional post here from newbies, or folks unfamiliar with bonsai, asking about the value of the trees they inherited from a recently-deceased relative. Sotheby's put a Chinese collector's trees up for sale a decade or more ago, after another one ten years earlier of a western collector's trees. I don't think either sold all of the trees listed, though, although I don't really know. The Chinese trees were listed in the five figure range...

Bonsai is most certainly NOT a good investment for money, unless you're dealing with the extreme high-end trees. Even then, it can be shaky in getting a decent return. It IS a terrific investment if you like being outdoors, working with trees and seeking peace of mind.

 

[ShadyStump]

If you're in it for the fun, you're a fool.
If you're in it for the money, you're damned fool.
If you're in it for the people, you have my deepest sympathies.

 

[MSU JBoots]

"How much is that one worth?"
tree-fiddy

Oh man this one is pure gold!