It was around 1992 when I became irrevocably hooked on growing plants from seed. I was the proud, often exhausted and overly ambitious owner of a large perennial garden and far too many gardening books (Yeah I know, “Not Possible!”) and I took it into my head that life would not be complete without one or two Crambe cordifolia (of Vita Sackville-West “White Garden” fame) and some rather finicky Himalayan blue poppies – both of which needed to be started from seed.

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.

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.