Sunshine Miniature Trees began in 1970 when Dallas native Richard Sunshine decided to leave his law profession and follow in his father’s footsteps to open a plant nursery. He first purchased one of the last remaining home’s on Dallas’ famed Greenville Ave. which was at the time a two lane street. Richard converted the home into a welcoming plant retail store, the garage became a room for pottery and he added on a 6,000 sq. ft. greenhouse. Since then, Sunshine Miniature Trees has been grown to be a Dallas legacy business which is considered North Texas trusted plant and bonsai store.

Richard fills the shelves and aisles with the most lush, green tropical plants from around the world. He creates the most unique combinations of plants and pots. Also, Sunshine Miniature Trees takes pride in offering the healthiest plants you will find and whether bonsai or houseplant, we will help you select a unique pot to grow your plant in. We welcome customers from 9 – 6 everyday of the week and we love to help however we can with choosing the right plant for the right spot, whether for your home or office or for a special gift.

We also offer a plant delivery service, as well as plant maintenance for homes and offices and we can ship plants nationwide.

Sunshine Miniature Trees sells only the highest quality at the most reasonable prices. Our goal is 100% customer delight. Unusual plant varieties and hard to find plants are emphasized. Sunshine also sells the traditional and very popular lines of plants and pots.

All transactions are handled with the highest standards of integrity. Customers and employees are treated with the greatest respect.

Open daily from 9am – 6pm

214-691-0127

Bonsai

Offering a huge selection of indoor and outdoor bonsai varieties. Prices range from $19.95 to $2500 based on age and type of plant. Sunshine’s also offers an incredible selection of bonsai accessories including the highest quality bonsai soil, tools and pots. You are welcome to call us and set up a time to bring in your own bonsai for repotting and trimming.

BODHI TREES

HISTORY OF THE BODHI TREE

Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting in meditation beneath a Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya more than 2,500 years ago. Later, when his followers asked where they could offer homage when he was away, he pointed them to the Bodhi Tree.

In the Buddhist scriptures, it’s said that the Bodhi Tree has long been revered as an object of worship. Both its heart shaped leaf and the tree itself are Buddhist and Hindu religious symbols. Bodhi is a Sinhalese word that means “enlightenment,” and both the Bodhi Tree and its leaf represent awakening, supreme knowledge, the ultimate potential within all of us, and peace.

The Bodhi Tree has many common names. In Asia, it is called the Bodhi Tree, Sacred Tree, the Tree of Enlightenment, Buddha Tree, Beepul Tree and Sacred Fig. 

Bodhi Trees make small red flowers in February and have edible figs in May and June. These small figs grow to be about 1/2 inch across. When they first appear they’re green and then mature to a dark purple. Sometimes the mature fruit will have small red dots. The fruit is a delicious treat for forest animals and birds.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

The Bodhi Tree grows well either indoors in a well lighted area where it gets a little direct sun or outdoors in the warm months in the shade or partial sun. Give it a thorough watering when the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch of soil dries to the touch and a monthly feeding with a good houseplant food in the spring and summer. A care sheet with historical and background information comes with every tree.

GUARANTEE

We guarantee that our trees are 100% healthy. We want you to be 100% satisfied. We guarantee that we will replace any tree that exhibits harmful insects within eight weeks after you receive it.

A Little Sunshine in the Secret Garden

One of my favorite Secret Gardens is in a little yellow house at the top of a driveway just off of Greenville Avenue, Sunshine Miniature Trees: greening Dallas in Asian sensibilities since 1965.

A wonderland of bonsai trees, jade plants, lucky bamboo and, recently, the rare Bodhi Tree (the tree of legend Siddhartha Guattama sat beneath when he reached spiritual enlightenment–and became the Buddha). This very special and delightful place is a dreamy circuit of rooms and walls of plants. The plants are imported from Asia, Central America and other regions and are potted in pots of whimsy, elegance and simplicity — there is a plant and a vessel for everyone.

The curatorial-like customer service pairs beautifully with the journey to this Secret Garden: the staff is impressively versed in the special maintenance these little works of art beget. An instruction sheet (creatively adorned with drawings) goes home with you and your new plant. You’re expertly brought into an up-sell to have exactly what you need to have this plant thrive: and that’s OK because this is a place where you want to give this new plant as much if not more love than Mr. Sunshine and his team. The responsibility is a privilege.

I hope this little shop stays around for a long, long time. Dallas needs more purveyors of an Asian aesthetic. We need green corridors in shaded light, a humid mist moving around a grove of small but mighty bonsai trees. We need to be able to get lost in these miniature worlds, to learn the painstaking art and joy of bonsai, to know the luck of authentic Lucky Bamboo. We need more places that slow us down. Sunshine Miniature Trees is a place to take your time, go deeply into this grove and leave with a miniature slice of nature.

In Asian philosophy nature and art cannot be distinguished. Sunshine Miniature Trees is a place to feel this, these trees are art and they are nature. Two artists are at play: the doting gardener and Mother Nature. In this wonderland behind the yellow door, venture in and meet them, and your big world on the outside of the yellow house will never be the same again.

Amy Lewis Hofland

Executive Director of the Crow Museum of Asian Art