Mary's Personal Bonsai HistoryThis is about as brief as I could make my bonsai history.In 1977, my hobby turned into my first business. Bonsai etc. was a small retail shop, with just enough space for classes. In the 70's, it seemed few people knew what bonsai was; within two years the shop closed. It was a learning experience for my future ventures.
It was perfectly suited for a nursery business! Local residents and guests from all over the world visited The Bonsai Bench. We soon added a five acre wholesale location, not far away (The Big Five). My brother Tom Stoute joined me. Today Tom is creating bonsai in Oregon. My daughter Angela Quinata also came on board. I'm sure her accounting and administrative abilities kept us out of trouble. No doubt my bonsai history would have been very different without either one of them. During those years, the days were long and the work was hard. We created, grew and shipped plants all over the United States; to Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. But there was always time to try out new possibilities. After a little experimenting, Tom found one of our 'weed trees' to be an excellent subject! It wasn't long before we were growing this Leucaena glauca weed for bonsai. Since its scientific name was such a mouthful, we called it Tropical Mimosa. (It's not really a Mimosa as grown in temperate areas, just looks like one.) I discovered another winning subject and proudly introduced the tropical Nashia inaguensis as a new plant for bonsai consideration. We called it Bahama Berry. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew all but destroyed our home and both business locations. The devastation was too great and the experience too traumatic to begin again.
After Hurricane Andrew, I continued teaching at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. Adding to my bonsai history, I started a newsletter titled Bonsai with Tropicals and for many years traveled giving talks and demonstrations.
I spoke at many conventions over the years. In 2002, I was a guest artist at the 25th annual Golden State Bonsai Convention in Sacramento, California. Here, I was speaking at the Ocala, FL bonsai group 2009. At the 2010 Bonsai Societies of Florida convention, I was honored to receive their Lifetime Achievement Award.
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In 1984, I moved to a home on one acre near Homestead, just south of Miami. 
