Unlike the annual vegetable seeds that (be warned) I’ll be relentlessly promoting for anyone who wants to grow container vegetables, these perennial seeds were not considered easy to germinate or grow. But, to make a long story short, although it’s a little late for that already, I was eventually successful and from then on – totally hooked.

I have a new project that I’m starting this year and if I’m lucky, I’ll be working on it for the rest of my life. I have an online bonsai store and I’ve basically given up on finding outdoor bonsai trees in Canada. There are a few very limited sources, but they aren’t offering much depth in their online inventory and other than the odd Trident Maple, outdoor deciduous trees are not available. I’m going to change that and start growing outdoor stock and to get the variety I need, my only option is to start them all from seeds.

We’re not talking the easiest of seeds to start here (nor the hardest) since they all require extra steps like scarification and stratification. One of them – the Korean Hornbeam, Carpinus Koreana – requires about two months of warm stratification, followed by three months of cold, before anything like germination can be expected. I timed the start so that my seeds will be sprouting around April, which is when I’ll be set up to deal with them.

My delight was heavily mixed with surprise and a light sprinkling of dismay when I checked on the seeds a full 4 months before I expected to be dealing with little trees, to find that two have already sprouted. I had no pots in the house, which is hard to imagine, but true and nowhere set up to put them.

So now, I have two Korean Hornbeams, the first two trees in my outdoor bonsai nursery, growing in converted plastic water bottles on my office window sill. I check them out a few times a day. To my delight I find they remind me that that new beginnings are always possible although they won’t necessarily appear when or how you expect.

A bonsai tree is an all-natural, ecologically friendly gift.  And maybe best of all, every single bonsai is unique to start with and will become ever more so the longer it is kept. It’s true that some bonsai are worth thousands of dollars, but no one needs to spend that kind of money. It’s easy to find many lovely trees from specialized greenhouses or online for less than a hundred dollars.

The best news is that you don’t need the emerald green-thumb voodoo gift to keep a bonsai alive although it is true that there are some trees that are rare and incredibly valuable and difficult to care for.  Some trees require a considerable amount of attention and expertise and if you’re living in a cold climate, preparing an outdoor tree for the winter can be a challenge. But there are also many, many bonsai  that are easy to care for.

For the uninitiated, an easy to care for bonsai that will survive inside during the winter like any other “houseplant” is probably the best place to start. All you need to know for sure, if you’re buying a bonsai as a gift, is that your friend has somewhere to put it where it will get bright but not direct light. A big south or west facing window is, in my opinion, a necessity. If you’re thinking of buying a tree for your spouse, I’m hoping that you’ll be able to see if there might be a spot for it.

That’s pretty general information and it might not seem very helpful when you’re looking a list of trees with their botanic and common names.  So, let me help you narrow it down to some of the best beginner bonsai trees.

1. Juniper

2. Schefflera Arboricola

3. Ficus

4. Mini or Dwarf Jade – Portulacaria

5. Fukien Tea

Juniper – (juniper procumbens “nana”) The most popular bonsai in North America is the Juniper and if you buy one as a gift, unless you’re buying it for someone who already has a lot of bonsai, you need to stick with Juniper Procumbens. This is a specific type of Juniper that is ideally suited to bonsai, very easy to grow and can be brought indoors. There are some Junipers – for example the Chinese Juniper – Juniper chinensis- which cannot be brought inside, so don’t be fooled.

Schefflera Arboricola – Whether you realize it or not, you’ve seen this tree as a houseplant, or in a restaurant or office. There are a lot of them around.  Most usually known as the Dwarf Umbrella Tree, this small version of the very popular houseplant is an interesting and easy to care for bonsai. Unlike the Juniper, this bonsai doesn’t look all that Japanese, but it does look very tropical- almost jungle like and any friend you have, particularly one who likes houseplants, will be thrilled with this unique exotic version.

Ficus – There are many different types of Ficus, more recognizably known as Figs. My favorite as a bonsai gift is the Tiger bark Fig, because it’s easy to grow, with a very interesting trunk shape and bark and – well – it looks like a bonsai. Other well known fig bonsai that make good gifts are the Benjamina and the Ginseng Fig (especially good for friends with a taste for the unusual). As a first bonsai gift I should warn you that both the Green Island and the Narrow Leaf Figs are a little trickier to grow. The one thing that everyone should know about figs is that they tend to drop leaves when they’re stressed and they can be stressed very easily. However, they will grow back! Don’t give up.

Mini Jade/ Dwarf Jade – This is my personal favorite bonsai gift for people who have never grown a bonsai before. The correct name is Portulacaria afra and it’s a South African native, but since so many are familiar with Jade trees as houseplants, the Mini Jade or Dwarf Jade is probably a better name. Here’s another bonsai that will drop its leaves if it gets too stressed, but again they easily grow back and this might very well be the number one easy-to-grow bonsai. Mini jades – like their full sized namesake are also very attractive in an exotic and quite unique way. Their rounded, very fleshy leaves look like something a dinosaur would have hidden behind, although in the case the mini jade it would be a very small one. While you cannot ever let any bonsai completely dry out, I’ve found jades to be among the more forgiving of little watering slip-ups. That alone would qualify them for this list, but you’ll find that with their tiny leaves and remarkably tree-like appearance for something so small, the mini jade bonsai makes an outstanding gift bonsai.

Fukien Tea – I add this tree to the list of great gift bonsai because as far as tropical trees are concerned, Fukien Tea (sometimes called Fujian Tea) is among the classic bonsai. It needs to be kept warm and never allowed to dry out and for some reason it is very attractive to insect pests. But with its tiny-perfect, shiny, dark green leaves, white flowers and red berries, this tree is a bonsai for bonsai lovers. For anyone who treasures the classics – in anything – this is a gift they will never forget.

I said Five Bonsai, so I have to stop there, which is a shame because already I want to add in the Chinese Elm and the Zelkova and the Sweet Plum and then move to the slightly more advanced “winter outside” group of bonsai, but where you live strongly influences just how difficult an outdoor wintering tree can be. But with this list, you’re off to a spectacular head start on the gift list to end all gift lists!

If you’re looking for another great bonsai to add to your collection, check out the Chinese elm bonsai. The tree, categorized as the Ulmus Parvifolia, is a small evergreen tree that is quite hardy. It will survive just about anything, making it a great bonsai for a beginner or for someone who has a history of killing their plants. The Chinese elm’s twisted trunk and its exposed upper roots make it look like the bonsai is very, very old, even if it’s a relatively young tree. One of the really nice things about the Chinese elm is that it can be grown indoors or outdoors. It can exist in many different climates, so you can use it as decoration on your kitchen table, in your office, or put it outside on a patio table to act as a centerpiece during a summer cookout. No matter what you do with this little tree, it’s sure to look great anywhere.