On the same day last August that Annah and I had traveled to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, we also visited the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at the Como Zoo.

"The Bonsai Gallery honors a Japanese art. Bonsai, pronounced bone-sigh, means “tree in a pot.” It is an art form with origins that go back more than 2000 years to the ancient Orient.

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory houses the largest Bonsai collection in the upper Midwest. The collection represents donations and loans from companies, individuals and organizations." ¹

It was delightful to see so many wonderful bonsai specimens on display and they even allowed us to photograph them. Below are photographs of each tree with their name and age listed.

Bonsai Exhibit at the Como Zoo Conservatory in August of 2007
Acer Palmatum "Japanese Maple" (26 years old)
Punica granatum "Pomegranate" (25 years old)
Thuja occidentalis "White Cedar" (47 years old)
Juniperus chinensis "Chinese Juniper" (25 years old)
(Ulmus parvifolia "Chinese Elm" [80 years])
Carpinus coreana "Korean Beech" (35 years old)
Ficus benjamina "Weeping Fig" (50+ years old)
Juniperus chinensis "San Jose Juniper" (50 years old)
Chamaecyparis obtusa "Hinoki Cypress" (55 years old)
Taxodium distichum "Baldcypress" (20 years old)
Ulmus parvifolia "Chinese Elm" (30 years old)
Ficus nitida "Fig" (30 years old)
Juniperus Chinensis "Juniper" (26 years old)
Juniperus virginiana "Eastern Red Cedar" (35 years old)
Ginkgo biloba "Ginkgo" (40 years old)
After seeing all of the wonderful bonsai on display, we visited the gift shop and found two beautiful Serissa foetida 'Pink Princess' for sale. I purchased a 5-year-old tree and Annah purchased a 4-year-old tree (see pictures below). They grew beautifully for about three to four months, but then Annah's Serissa got sick from some sort of pest or disease and perished rather quickly. In an effort to nurse it back to health, I brought it to the same room as my Serrisa (for what reason I'm not entirely sure) and my blooming beauty soon perished as well.

(My Serissa foetida)
(Annah's Serissa foetida)
In addition to this purchase, I had also purchased two Pachira aquatica ("Braided Money Tree") bonsai, and a Murraya paniculata ("Orange Jessamine") from the online store Bonsai Boy with all of them looking wonderful upon arrival. My Money Tree is a healthy and vibrant plant, but it seems as though spider mites have attacked Annah's Money Tree, so it has been quarantined and is going through the process of being nursed back to health. We will see if it survives. Added after the original post: The Murraya paniculata did not adjust well to the conditions I was giving it and died within about eight weeks and so we unfortunately never got to see the flowers bloom on it.

The only other "bonsais" that we own are two Ficus retusa ("Ginseng Ficus") from Walgreen's and another from Wal-Mart. (See our post on them to see pictures and some information.)

Growing true bonsai is rather difficult and requires a great deal of skill and knowledge about how to take care of them properly. Apparently Annah and I do not yet have that kind of skill or knowledge, but we can still admire the beauty and magnificence of the bonsais at the Conservatory and elsewhere.

Sources:

¹ http://www.comozooconservatory.org/cons/index.shtml

Photo Credits: Jordan and Annah

Here is the second part of the post on the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I identified the plants I had not seen before. Enjoy!

(Sedum 'Neon')


(Impatiens auricoma 'Jungle Gold')




(Magnolia acuminata or Cucumber Tree)

(Rhus aromatica or Fragrant Sumac)




The next post will be about our visit to the Como Zoo Conservatory from last August with pictures of some more wonderful plants and some fantastic bonsai trees.

Photo Credits: All me

(This is one of my favorites...)
Last August, Annah and I ventured up to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to see what kind of flowers and plants were growing up there. This was before our bonsai and houseplant obsession really began, and we had a wonderful time. I'm not sure why we did not post about this in the early days of this blog. My recent addiction to the Gardening website Blotanical, and all the wonderful blogs I found there, has made me realize how our blog was lacking beautiful photos from outside, since all we had were pictures of our somewhat boring indoor plants. So, below are some photos from our visit to the Arboretum last August. Unfortunately, we did not take not of the names of each of these plants so you will just have to admire the beauty of the plants and let us know if you can identify any of them. There will be two to three posts due to the amount of photos we have. Enjoy!









The next post should be up in the next couple of days!

Photo Credits: All me

(Our new and lovely Ficus elastica in a very bright red pot)
This past weekend Annah and I traveled up to the Twin Cities once again and stopped by Linder's Garden Center where we purchased a few more plants. We purchased a new and very vibrant Ficus elastica ("Rubber plant").

(Philodendron 'Moonlight' )
We bought this Philodendron 'Moonlight', although I'm not positive of this ID since the tag only said "Philodendron Hybrid", so if any of your readers can help us verify or correctly identify this plant, we would be very thankful. Edit: Numerous people have confirmed that it is indeed a 'Moonlight'. Thanks!

(Our Sansevieria zeylanica.)
We also purchased a new Sansevieria, which according to the helpful folks at the Sansevieria forum at Gardenweb, and this link, this plant appears to be a Sansevieria zeylanica and it is a very delightful plant.

We were also able to purchase some sprouting seeds, including alfalfa, chickpeas, adzuki, and mung beans. We enjoy these sprouting seeds because they only take a few days to grow and they provide a tasty and nutritious addition to any type of food we are eating! The first batch of seeds that we sprouted were left to grow maybe a day or two longer than they should have, as you can see in the picture below, but the new seeds should turn out better and taste even greater!

(Our new sprouting seeds that we purchased at Linder's Garden Center.)
(On the top are Mung Beans and on the bottom is a "Zesty Mix" of Alfalfa, Broccoli, and other seeds.)
(About a month ago we grew our first batch of Broccoli Sprouts and Mung Beans which both grew a day or two too long.)

Photo Credits: Annah and Jordan

(My parent's Syngonium podophyllum)
I was first exposed to a Syngonium podophyllum in December of 2001 when my parents received one as a gift from a mourning family member after my grandmother died. The plant had been doing just fine with weekly watering and it had enjoyed the spot where it was growing above our entertainment center. My parents nor I never knew what type of plant it was until I started getting interested, and addicted to, houseplants last fall. After doing some research, I found out the identity of the plant and proper growing conditions. We noticed that it had been getting a little leggy and that it wasn't looking as healthy as it could be, so I placed a wooden stick in the dirt and tied the stems to the stick. The plant has been doing a lot better since we did that and it now is a fuller, healthier looking plant that resides next to the thirty-year-old pothos.
(My Syngonium podophyllum)
I purchased my own from Walmart (not the best store in the world for plants...) in December and the plant has been doing well and will hopefully continue doing so.

Annah and I have seen several other neat looking Syngoniums with pink, white, and burgundy colored varieties, but we have yet to add any more to our collection. If our plant addiction continues, we will likely add a few more Syngoniums to our collection.

Care: We have been watering the plant once per week, it gets indirect, curtain-filtered and reflected sunlight, and the temperature of the rooms are usually around 70 degrees for my parent's Syngonium or in the upper 70s or lower 80s for my Syngonium.

If you haven't noticed, in previous posts I have linked to other blogs for more in-depth care instructions, including Plantsarethestrangestpeople (PATSP), and DamnPlants because their posts on these plants are far better than anything Annah and I could write. Therefore, if you want to read an extensive post on Syngonium podophyllums you should read Mr. Subjunctive's post at his website Plantsarethestrangestpeople.

Photo Credits: All me