They're also called Peepul trees, more often Bo trees, and a lot of people grow them from seed (very easy!) that you can get from a dozen online seed places (I've done it). Their care and feeding is quite similar to that of any other ficus, though they tend to be a bit more hot-housey when young and need a little more water and very good light. If you've heard they do badly, it might be from people trying to grow them like house (rubber) plants rather than bonsai, and not very knowledgably. Go to www.bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html and scroll down about 2/3 of the way to 'Ficus', where you'll find loads of terrific info. on growing ficus in general, and tropicals of any kind (from the top). There's really nothing very diff. about F. religiosa vs other ficus - they just need a little more attention and understanding at times and you won't likely find them for sale at Wal-Mart!

Dear Lucy,
Thank you for your help. Growing a bonsai tree from a seed seems like a very ambitious and long process. What is a realistic time table for a seed to grow into a bonsai?
Thank you.
Tom

Years of course; how many depends on the tree (ficus grow fast), but then you can work on all kinds of things while you're waiting, and not planting now won't give you anything at all to look forward to, will it :-). It's not something I'd advise doing as your only access to bonsai in your life, but certainly there are thousands of other trees out there to try and who knows, maybe you'll run into a Bo at some point along the way.

Tomslick,
There are a couple of bonsai clubs in the chicago area that you may be interested in checking out. I believe the one is called the Midwest Bonsai Association, they meet in glenncoe at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Another one in the area is Prairie State bonsai they meet at the College of Dupage in GlennEllyn. I'm sure if you google each one you'll find that each club will have a wealth of experience and knowledge among it's membership. And I'm certain you can find someone in each club growing or selling just what you're looking for. -DLKSR

Thank you all for your help. Lot of nice folks in the Bonsai community.