FEATURES

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His bonsai purchases, most of which were 20 to 50 years old, had to be shipped bare root since U.S. regulations prohibit them being shipped in soil. A further trauma ensued when two boxes of precious cargo fell off the truck en route from the airport. Amazingly they were found and his bonsai nursery began in earnest.

Thanks to Saeko Oshiro, a bonsai expert who has been with them since 1999, Shanti Bithi is successful and respected today. When she moved to Massachusetts from Japan in 1997, having married an American, she spoke no English so bonsai was one thing she could do in Japanese. Oshiro's arrival at Shanti Bithi in 1999 was something of a miracle. Her husband had been transferred from Massachusetts to Connecticut and by chance they happened to drive by the nursery. Oshiro saw the bonsai logo and so they stopped. It was February, a critical time for bonsai as this is exactly when they need to be pruned and repotted.

Jerome remembers her being very shy and letting her husband do all the talking. "But," he says, "we hired her that very day." Nine years later, Oshiro has five helpers and the nursery ships bonsai all over the country. Best sellers are the maples, junipers, and Korean hornbeam. Prices range from $45 for a small indoor bonsai and can go up into the thousands, depending on age.

Over the years, the Rocherolles have imported plants from Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan although since 9/11, importation has become very difficult. Should the Agricultural Department find even one insect in a shipment, they now throw out the entire lot, whereas before only the affected plant would be denied entry. Other than a very few specimens that Oshiro brings back on one of her frequent visits to Japan, the bonsai at Shanti Bithi are created from homegrown cuttings and seedlings.