V for Viburnum
Consisting of a massive genus of about 175 species, Viburnum isn’t an everyday name you’ll hear spoken in the bonsai community. It’s part of the Moschatel family, Adoxaceae. While it was once classified as part of the honeysuckle family, that has since been amended. With species that vary between deciduous and evergreen, some of them make splendid bonsai trees.
Most of them grow in the Northern Hemisphere, but there are a few in South America and South Africa. The leaves are mostly toothed or with lobes, which gives them a striking appearance as bonsai trees. You’ll need to train yours to keep the foliage small and bushy, but you’ll have a pleasant surprise when the berries appear. Just be careful, as not all of the species’ fruits are edible.
Viburnum isn’t a name I’ve come across as a bonsai in my area as yet. It fascinated me when I was looking through my list of possible trees to include in this A to Z documentary. I learned that there are many people in the Northern Hemisphere that have some of these species as bonsais. Now you also know, which means I’ll need to see how I can get my hands on one.
