WESTSIDE — For my birthday a few years ago my wife surprised me by giving me an odd looking shrub. She couldn't have been more excited, but I have been. She explained that the weird bush was the ...

Bonsai is an art form that requires years of training and centuries of dedication. At the 2012 international bonsai convention, a tree was on sale for 100 million yen, just under a million dollars.

The art of bonsai (bone-sigh, not bonzai, says one local expert) has been practiced in China and Japan for thousands of years and has a thriving audience of aficionados nowadays in Marion County. Next ...