Bonsai basics

[mkr5000]

I have a coleus plant that I brought in for the winter and put in a south window

-- I've done this before and coleus do really well like that.

Ok, so I cut back the plant considerably and it's now about 8" tall with what has become a woody stem about 1/2" diameter with a LOT of new growth starting to pierce out of that woody stem.

So, I guess, in essence what I created by my cutting back the plant and not letting it flower, is bonsai?

I know the process can be complicated in it's technique but can it also be as easy as what I just described?

I did google "coleus bonsai" and yes, it's a plant that will work.

I wonder what other plants (not bonsai trees) will do this? Other colorful annuals for example. ?

[David E. Ross]

Most bonsai hobbyists want plants that not only look old but are actually old. You can't do that with an annual.

Furthermore, they want to create a dwarf from a plant that is not naturally a dwarf. It seems like cheating if you use a plant that does not grow large, such a coleus.

However, if you are pleased with what you have, it's okay.

I have thought about making a bonsai from a seedling dwarf myrtle (Myrtus communis 'Compacta'), which actually grows to over 6 feet in the ground. If I can get it to mature at less than 1 foot, that might indeed be a true bonsai. I won't live to see it truly old since I am already over 70.

[mkr5000]

so, I wonder what the word is (if there is any, for what I've done?

that is, cheating the plant from flowering and I guess, just basically extending it's age?

I suppose I thought it was a part of the "bonsai thing" just based on it's appearance.

never thought a coleus could get such a woody stem -- treelike in appearence, really.