BONSAI PLACEMENT

   An outdoor bonsai tree will die if it is kept indoors. Although they can be brought in a couple of days at a time during the growing season for special occasions, they should never be brought in during the winter. The tree must have a dormant season, a time of rest or hibernation which would be disturbed if exposed to an interior climate.

   For maximizing the bloom time of a flowering bonsai tree, move them to the shade while they bloom and keep the flowers from getting wet by the rain or watering.

   During the hottest months of summer a bonsai tree may need watering several times a day if it is left in the direct sun and drying winds. Move your bonsai tree to a partly shaded position protected from the wind on hot, clear days.

   In the winter keep your bonsai tree in a protected area such as a southern facing wall or even a cold frame. Another good trick is to put it in with your landscape and mulch over it.

   So far as USDA Hardiness zones, they assume that your tree will be planted in the ground protected by the earth. Bonsai trees are very exposed to the elements in their shallow pots and small amounts of soil. I like to subtract two climate zones off of the actual zone I live in. The lower # the climate zone the colder it gets. I, being in Climate #8 consider it climate #6 with my bonsai trees. If I have a bonsai tree hardy to zone 7 or 8, I assume it will die without special care. Zone 8 plants should be kept in a cold frame to protect the delicate twigs as well as the roots from die back. Zone 7 trees I would mulch into the ground in their pots or just protect them from Northern exposure. And zone 6 plants I will assume are plenty hardy to handle the climate on their own even in a bonsai pot.