Chinese elm ranges across eastern China, Korea, and Japan, where it grows as a hardy deciduous tree of plains and low hills. Fine twigs, small serrated leaves, and mottled bark of gray, cream, and cinnamon give even a young specimen the look of age. In Chinese penjing gardens, especially around Yangzhou and Suzhou, growers have long trained Ulmus parvifolia into living landscapes, a tradition that later shaped Japanese bonsai practice.
Find a plantWatering
Water when the top half-inch of soil is dry. Shallow bonsai dishes dry out fast, so check often.
