PLANTS FOR SINK GARDENS
Unlike bonsai, these plants are not to be dwarfed, they are dwarf by nature. Miniature perennials, such as Calceolaria biflora, never top two inches, nor do some of the tiny narcissus species. Some trees have never been known to grow taller than six inches. And if you can’t find trees that are small at maturity, you can find many that grow so slowly they’ll stay in proper scale (even without pruning) for five years or more. There are miniature garden plants of all habits and shapes—stiffly erect, tufted, bush-like, sprawling, creeping, hanging, climbing—and even pinhead-size water plants for tiny pools.
Actually, there are miniature plants in every horticultural category—annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs, shrubs, trees, aquatic plants, and wildlings—and most of them are suitable for sink gardens. You have only to select those that are in scale and sympathy with your design, and that are culturally compatible, one with the other. You can grow many of them from seeds or cuttings. Miniature perennials are available in widest variety from growers of alpine and rockery plants. Trees and shrubs can be bought by mail from suppliers of small plants for bonsai work. Native and aquatic plants are plentiful from mail-order wild-flower houses.