Hi All,
I posted this in the Fragrant Plants section, but it occurs to me that it may really be more appropriate here. Anyway, I recently ordered two Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus (apricot echo sweet olive). One will be going to my father for Christmas (the flowers make his favorite tea) and I am going to keep the other. I'm not sure of the actual size, but one is coming in a 2.5 in diameter pot and the other in a 4 in diameter pot, so I can't imagine that they will be very big. The plants themselves will be here next Thursday or Friday, so I'd like to be prepared before they get here. My dad has expressed interest in making his a bonsai, but neither of us are particularly experienced in that field (one book and several google searches does not an expert make). Based on my reading thus far, it seems like you could theoretically make any species a bonsai under the right conditions.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with keeping this species as a bonsai, and if you could make recommendations for successfully growing it? I've also seen several " bonsai starter kits" for sale, which usually include butterfly shears, wire, etc. Are such things worth the money or would it be better to track them down separately?

A little bit about the growing area: We live in Northern Utah, which falls under zone 4/5. I've made up a small batch of the 5-1-1, since based on my lurking around on GW it seems like the sweet olives like that best. They'll be going into the basic terra cotta pots until I get a chance to get a better "bonsai" pot if there are such things. The selection near me is pretty limited, especially in the winter and I hesitate to order them online without really knowing what I'm looking for. I'll try to remember to add pictures of the plants once they get here.

Thanks in advance!
-Kelsey