Well yes it does. First might I again recommend a book called Ficus The Exotic Bonsai by Jerry Meislik. Jerry used to frequent this forum but because of various policy changes here I believe he moved on. But it is a very good book for Ficus'. According to him he believes this to be the best species of ficus to grow indoors for a number of reasons. It isn't as tempermental as other ficus' and tends not to suffer from leaf drop nearly as bad as most ficus' also he mentions that when these trees are healthy and growing they are apparently one of the most vigorous growers. The only down side he mentions is that don't make for really good small bonsai because of their larger leaf size but over all his favorite. Yes these trees can produce aeriel roots, but the there are some things about growing a banyan style you will need to consider. Aeriel roots tend to thicken up much more than the rest of the tree as soon as they hit the soil and can start taking in nurishment for themselves. As these trees age it can be difficult to tell which is the main trunk and which is the "banyan roots". If you are cool with that then it is just a matter of picking the right time to focus on growing them and do it. It takes high humidity and low light conditiions under the canopy to produce aeriel roots. It also takes a healthy tree and a tree that is growing vigorously. Since you are not in a tropical climate it will take some timing and patience to get them going because your growing season is not as long as the ficus' natural ideal growing conditions and this is your first time doing it so it may not be succesful the first time around. If this were me we're talking about for the rest of this year I would focus my efforts on reading and caring for the tree. It sounds to me that you recently picked this tree up so you really may not know the over all condition of this tree. That mostly being the kind of care it recieved before you had it and where it is at in it over all growth. Is it root bound. Has it been fed properly. Was it growing indoors or outside under full sun..... Once you have established that the tree is doing just fine and you see the tree really taking off in it's growth then is the time to act. You see banyan roots take alot of energy away form the tree's efforts to grow a healthy canopy. If you try to grow banyan roots and fail it can be a bit of a set back in the over all health of the tree in that it has just wasted that energy of growing upwardly and out to growing back to the ground. So if that is the case you may want to take a year off let the tree get back it's vigour and try the following year. I know this was a lot to read and I didn't exactly tell you how to grow them but that is really to encourage you to read more for yourself. Can I also suggest to look for any local bonsai club in your area. If you have a club in your area that has been there for any time I can guarantee you will find a wealth of experience and information. Good luck again. -G

Must be naivety that keeps me from being worried. It is sooo easy to find information on a person (right Bluestephen?), with many more important things to be concerned about. Potted plants have already been stolen from our yard (the sheriff thought it was all a bit strange). A lock cut to steal farm diesel from the tank. Garbage dumped on the vineyard paths. Stolen vehicles torched in the middle of the night. Ahhh, bucolic country life...good thing the poodles are here for protection! That said, I have done a few precautions: No sensitive or revealing pictures on Photobucket. Email address hidden on 'My Member Page'. The link below is to the "mail box with the pink flowering bush next to it" that Marshall found. Our parcel is the land left of the driveway...19.5 acres total with 1 acre for residential use. The vineyard is proudly certified organic. The yard...well...is too, except for Roundup and ant killer. The best way I can describe our business is to say we sell wholesale to a winery, with my husband's job a utility company being known to subsidize the vineyard. For a tour and history of the Lodi wine region visit lodiwine.com Happy holidays to all! The kids are all home, making this mom very very happy. Barbara Here is a link that might be useful:

OK,first of all,I am not up a tree. I am just leaning on my fence above the garden. I walk up here on my paved driveway,and walk over to where I can see down between the Dogwoods,and take the pics. What I mean by the last pic is,this part of the garden is not going to change any time before the end of the season. I don't go in and dig up rearrange my garden every year like some of you younger folks. These plants are going to stay the way they are,because it's a garden,not just another collection of plants,that just happen to be hostas! The main thing is,you all have seen all of my garden for years now,and though you may think so it's not a huge garden! Phil

I live here and Lake Superior, Canal Park, the Aerial Lift, and the ships never get old. Thanks for the pictures. The ship, Edwin Gott, is one of the Great Lakes Fleet's "thousand footers" and arrived today to take on a load of iron ore pellets. The armada of "Tall Ships" should be arriving here next weekend along with about 250,000 tourists for the duration of their stay! Hope you enjoy our beautiful city!