Suitable Plants for Pinoy Bonsai

Every plant can be turned into a bonsai, as they say but there are species in the Philippines that are very suitable and yes, beautiful specimens. Here are some:

• Balite tree - if you look at this one, you can feel the eery and horrific feeling because of the urban legend, and yes local folklore, that it is the home of the "enkantos", "anitos" (the beings of the underworld) and the un-restive souls of people who doesn't want to leave the earth. If these specimens are trained enough to the extent of manipulating even its root, it will be a rare find and of good value. It needs a lot of water to survive though.
• Sampaloc (tamarind) - This is the most beautiful of the Pinoy Bonsai and one of the hardest specimens to propagate and train. Even though it will consume more of your time, after training and much work on it, it will be worth the while.
• Akasya (Acacia) - It will take years to train this one, but it will turn out to be very beautiful because of its barks, leaves and branches. It also needs a lot of water and time to grow its roots and leaves to maturity.
• Bougainvilleas - These are the easiest to propagate bu it is preferred if it is very old in age. It has it's natural bonsai beauty in it.
• Sagat - It is the hardest to propagate but the beauty of its trunk and branches even with very litter leaves makes it elegant and beautiful.
• Narra - It is prohibited to cut these trees but it is permitted to grown into a bonsai, but all I can say is, good luck if you want to try this one.

There are other species of trees but you should try them out and tell us a story about these. You can email us and share a photo and its story.