September 13, 2012 | 10,942 notes

Picture-Perfect Bonsai Bonsai, meaning “to plant in a tray,” is a tradition that originated in China about 2,000 years ago and later traveled to Japan. To cultivate a bonsai, a horticulture artist starts with cutting, seedling or small specimen of a woody-stemmed tree or shrub and then trains the plant to grow in a certain way, by pruning leaves and wiring branches into a desired shape. The goal is to create a miniature tree that looks natural, despite the artist’s constant manipulations. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Singer Ed note: Singer’s Botanica Magnifica features beautifully photographed flowers and even earned a place in the National Museum of Natural History’s rare book room.

Picture-Perfect Bonsai

Bonsai, meaning “to plant in a tray,” is a tradition that originated in China about 2,000 years ago and later traveled to Japan. To cultivate a bonsai, a horticulture artist starts with cutting, seedling or small specimen of a woody-stemmed tree or shrub and then trains the plant to grow in a certain way, by pruning leaves and wiring branches into a desired shape. The goal is to create a miniature tree that looks natural, despite the artist’s constant manipulations. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.

Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Singer

Ed note: Singer’s Botanica Magnifica features beautifully photographed flowers and even earned a place in the National Museum of Natural History’s rare book room.

July 9, 2012 | 478 notes

The Tallest, Strongest and Most Iconic Trees in the World Baobab (pictured): Its bark is fire resistant. Its fruit is edible. It scoffs at the driest droughts. It shrugs, and another decade has passed. It is the baobab, one of the longest-living, strangest looking trees in the world. Photo: Courtesy of Flickr user prezz. Ed note: Cork trees, the soft-skinned monarchs of the Mediterranean.

The Tallest, Strongest and Most Iconic Trees in the World

Baobab (pictured): Its bark is fire resistant. Its fruit is edible. It scoffs at the driest droughts. It shrugs, and another decade has passed. It is the baobab, one of the longest-living, strangest looking trees in the world.

Photo: Courtesy of Flickr user prezz.

Ed note: Cork trees, the soft-skinned monarchs of the Mediterranean.