Lantana Bonsai
This lantana is one of several bonsai plants in the Science Playground. Bonsai is the art of growing ordinary trees and shrubs in miniature by carefully pruning branches and roots and controlling their growth in containers. The plants are not genetically dwarf — they are trained to remain small while developing the character of mature trees.
Lantana is well suited to bonsai because it branches readily, develops a woody trunk and can flower even at a small size.
Additional Information
“Bonsai” is Japanese for “planted in a container,” and the technique traces back over a thousand years to Chinese penjing traditions.
Regular root trimming, done without harming the tree, is what keeps a bonsai small for decades or even centuries.
Some bonsai specimens have been kept alive and trained for well over 100 years, passed down through generations of caretakers.