I always enjoy the sight of the FedEx truck coming up the driveway. Who knows what it’ll be this time?
This time I received a mysterious box.
"What on earth could this be?", quoth I.
On further inspection I noticed the print on the side:
LIVE PLANT
Hmmm…
As long time readers know I have a little pen jing back in Roma. It provided a wonderful contrast in the bright and lofty chamber. I enjoyed it very much.
Here at the Sabine Farm, I had no pen jing, so, quite a long time ago, probably shortly after my return Stateside one time, I put a bonsai tree on my Amazon wish list.
Ta Da!
This is a Carmona microphylla or Indoor Fukien Tea Tree.
I believe it may blossom.
I am not quite sure who sent this little tree, but I suspect blog reader LB, who wrote not long ago and mentioned bonsai.
Here is the pen jing back in Rome.
I love Bonsai trees. Sadly, I can’t seem to keep them alive. I have wondered about shipping Bonsai trees. Looks like yours made it without any damage.
Geoffrey: It is fine! None the worse for wear, as far as I can tell.
My only worry is that I am about to leave home for a couple weeks.
I am amazed that they would deliver a live plant at this time of year in your climate!!! How nice to receive a beautiful plant in the dead of winter. . .I have always admired bonsai but are they difficult to care for? Do you prune it yourself or do you have to hire an expert? I suppose that here in N. Calif. I could have one outside year round since our climate is like the climate in Rome.
Dove: Having had a bonsai for a couple years, I learned how to do if from the guys in Rome I bought it from.
That’s your view in Rome?! You know, I’m never going to feel any sympathy for you, again, when you talk about how cold it gets in Minnesota.
Fr. Z said: “It is fine! None the worse for wear, as far as I can tell. My only worry is that I am about to leave home for a couple weeks.”
Interesting. I’ll have to take a look at some Bonsai tree websites and see if I can’t keep another one alive. Is there a patron saint of Bonsai trees? ;-)
Leaving your new tree for a few weeks could be tricky… At first I would say leave it in a sunny window, but it would need water… Perhaps a damp basement?
How is your pen jing in Rome?
Please keep us amateur-Bonsai-enthusiasts up-to-date! :-)
It was indeed I. ;-)
I was going to send a book, but decided on the tree entirely because I didn’t know live trees could be sold on on amazon.
In addition, I imagined how surprised I would be after opening up a box (expecting a book) only to find a tree (which is like a book, but in infant form)! I was also going to send a copy of Chesterton’s “SURPRISE!”, but couldn’t find a way to add it to the order.
Geoffrey: I will ask someone to mind it for me.