You know when you retire, well, you are always looking for something to do, a new hobby for instance, well, I saw that box, ( pictured above ) and thought, here we go, something new to do.

The box contained a wee plastic flower pot, a wee bag of pearlite, a wee bag of compost, a plastic pot with a cardboard lid and a wee packet of seeds, plus a leaflet, about 5000 words of full instructions, germination, the bonsai pot, pruning, more pruning, simple styles, preparing your bonsai for winter.

Place seeds in pot of pearlite, dampen, put on cardboard top and pierce holes in the top. Put the pot inside a plastic bag and place in the fridge for 6-10 weeks, at this point I realised that this new hobby would not take up a great deal of my time.

After this period place pot in a warm dark cupboard until germination, this will take from 3-12 weeks, when seedlings appear place in a warm light position.

The leaflet then goes on, in great detail, how to prune and wire branches to form the shape, (the fun bit ).

Twenty weeks, yes, 5 months later, these are my bonsai trees.

I will start pruning shortly.