Okay, I'll admit, I learned this a few weeks ago but I just remembered it so I'm
going to share it with you...
One day my cousin Laura and I were at the Frederick Mejier Gardens and they were having a Bonsai exhibit going on. Do you know the image you get in your head when I say "Bonsai Tree"? That is what I thought all Bonsai Tree's looked like. I didn't know that a Bonsai Tree is actually just a full grown tree in a pot. Sometimes they are tree's that carry the dwarf gene (similar to say, oh, a miniature horse).
Wikipedia definition: Bonsai (help·info) (盆栽 Japanese) (lit. tray cultivation) is the art of growing trees, or woody plants shaped as trees, in containers
I went to the East Lansing Art Festival (one of my three places of employment) and I decided to purchase a little Bonsai for myself to commemorate my year as the ELAF Intern. Mr. Lee helped teach me about how to trim the leaves of my little guy. With some Bonsais you need to prune, trim and even wire them to get them to look the way you want them too - but luckily mine is beautiful just the way it is. :) So thanks to the Frederick Mejier Gardens and Mr. Lee I now understand that Bonsai's come in all shapes, sizes and species!