A few months back I had the pleasure of being invited to give a talk for the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society by Ellen Veselenak, their new club VP and head of programming. Before my club presentation, I was able to stop over at her nursery - the Green Witch Gardens - which I learned is the largest bonsai nursery in Michigan. As it turns out, the Green Witch Gardens was originally called The Flower Market, and has been operating between Dundee and Monroe, MI for decades through different owners before Sara, Ellen, and Melissa took over most recently. Since assuming ownership, the Green Witches have learned bonsai quickly, traveled to countless bonsai shows to sell their trees, and they have also become even more of a staple of their local bonsai scene with many educational opportunities each month. Meanwhile, the Green Witch Gardens also do some of the typical nursery/flower store things beyond bonsai as well. To dive deeper into their histories and plans for the Green Witch Gardens and what it means for them to strive towards being a community hub, I sat down with Ellen and Mellissa while I visited to record an interview with them during my visit. Please enjoy our conversation over at the Bonsai Time Podcast Episode 38 - Behind the Scenes at the Green Witch Gardens and get a glimpse of their nursery through the trove of photos below.
In Vivo Bonsai Announcements/Upcoming Events in Columbus
- November 30th, 2024 5-7pm - Bonsai on Tap: Intro to Indoor Bonsai at Nocterra Brewing Audobon Park location. All participants get a free drink. Sign up here to reserve your spot. Only 10 left!
- CyberMonday sale: Now through 12/4/24 I am offering 25% off any purchase of $40 or more on my Etsy and my in-person bonsai nursery here in Columbus, OH. Contact me to visit in person or to discuss ordering/shipping any items mentioned below that are not yet in the webstore.
- My Etsy page currently has a variety of seeds along with my bonsai-from-seed printed guide to help you plan for the long term and a few bonsai books available there. In person you will also find trees, pots, wire, tools, soil, and more.
- January 19th, 2025, 2-5pm at Franklin Park Conservatory - Japanese Garden Design with Walter Reins
- January 25th, 2025 9am-11am - Intro to Indoor Bonsai with Upper Arlington Recreation. For details and to sign up, see here.
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| A row of larch bonsai at the Green Witch Gardens. |
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| Some Rocky Mountain yamadori (wild bonsai) species that Ellen has been collecting (with permits!) in the last year or two. |
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| Ponderosa pine and eastern hemlock |
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| Ponderosa pine |
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| Great natural deadwood |
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| Many lodgepole pines |
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| Fir or spruce and junipers too |
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| Pine probably from an avalanche zone. |
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| More pines |
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| Douglas fir |
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| Ground growing area. This is how you speed up the trunk thickness accumulation! |
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| Some nice boxwood bonsai. |
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| Literati boxwood |
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| Cascade privet, I think. |
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| Hophornbeam(?) slab planting forest |
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| This one is a rarely used bonsai species - Korean dogwood. |
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| Native ash |
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| Willow of some kind? |
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| Raw mountain laurel. Also rarely used. Difficult to collect large specimen from the wild. |
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| Larches |
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| Not sure what this and the next one were. |
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| Dawn redwood |
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| Ponderosa pine |
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| Juniper |
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| Eastern hemlock and another hophornbeam(?) forest |
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| Junipers |
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| Junipers and ponderosa pine |
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| Ellen's larch forest which she discussed in the podcast that she would display it at one or more bonsai conventions this year. |
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| Spruces |
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| Dawn redwood forest |
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| One of the few raw eastern white cedars they had. It grew very low to the ground. I took this picture as it was hard to see through the foliage in the front. |
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| A big dawn redwood. |
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| Another big dawn redwood. |
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| Anyone know what this was? |
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| Willow |
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| Ponderosa pine |
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| Juniper |
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| Junipers |
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| Juniper |
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| Ponderosa pine |
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| Juniper saikei |
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| Another rocky mountain pine, possibly lodgepole? |
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| Juniper |
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| Juniper |
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| Juniper |
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| Juniper? |
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| Juniper |
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| Junipers |
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| Juniper |
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| Pines |
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| Pines and possibly spruce |
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| Black cherry? |
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| Pine |
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| Ponderosa pine |
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| Pines |
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| Big ficus |
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| Big and little desert rose |
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| Dwarf jades galore |
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| Hawaiian umbrella tree |
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| Aerial roots! |
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| Some big old cacti |
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| Big ficus |
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| Big bougainvilea |
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| Big Hawaiian umbrella tree |
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| More big tropicals |
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| The long list of bonsai shows Green Witch Gardens planned to attend in 2024. |
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| Ellen working on a crabapple with one of her helpers in the studio. |
See you next time, Green Witch Gardens!
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