ABOUT 30 YEARS AGO, we went to an estate sale and found a group of ceramic bonsai pots. A shallow rectangular tray looked particularly nice, with a beautiful shape and subtle dark gray surface. It had drainage holes in the bed and four short, round legs to keep it above wherever it would be set.
We bought it and began to look for a young plant to turn into a bonsai. We had no expertise in the traditional Japanese art but thought that we’d just