KARACHI: The only juniper bonsai in Pakistan was the star attraction at the 19th annual bonsai exhibition held at the Zamzama Park on Friday.

Of a stubborn and temperamental nature, and only agreeing to grow during wintertime, the Chinese Juniper (botanical name Juniperus chinensis), belonged to Xia Mujahid who has spent more than four years to shape it in an upright style and not be deterred by the impossible task it is considered by bonsai aficionados.

Mr Mujahid has been growing bonsai for almost eight long years, and is currently an executive member of the Pakistan Bonsai Society.

Speaking of the juniper tree and its particular properties, Xia Mujahid explained what makes a bonsai of juniper plant an arduous task to handle: “It is difficult because it is a mountain tree and at sea level the climate changes completely for it. This is a plant from one of the coldest environments and will grow from November till February. At the moment its growth is on standstill while it waits for winter. Also, if you touch its roots it will die.”

Apart for the solo juniper bonsai, 250 other bonsai were on display, some of which included the South African jade plant and ficus.

The consul general of Japan in Karachi was present to inaugurate the bonsai exhibition. He confessed that before coming to Pakistan, he did not know much about bonsai. “However, I never expected that the bonsai would be given this much love and garner so much interest in Karachi.”

He also expressed his surprise at how almost all the bonsai at the exhibition had been grown by retired military men. “This is such a stark comparison. First they used to fight, and now they grow bonsai,” he quipped.

Founding member of the Pakistan Bonsai Society, retired commander Khalid Suhail revealed the reason behind the success of the society. “We tried the art of growing bonsai on our native plants, instead of importing plants which are not suitable for this climate.”

Any tree, except for the palm, can be turned into a bonsai, he said. “We start off by visiting the nursery and choosing the oldest plant we can get and we cut and shape the plant. It grows again and for it to become a proper bonsai it will take around 10 years. It is also possible to grow the plant from a seed but that takes a lot of time.”

He also spoke about how the society holds weekly meetings to attract a wider cross section of society to get involved and become interested in the aesthetics of bonsai.

The 19th annual bonsai exhibition will be open to the public till Aug 27.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2017