2024 Complete Guide to Indoor Bonsai Tree and Plant Urns

When a loved one or pet passes away, many families look for unique and beautiful ways to remember and memorialize them. This may include making a picture book, visiting their favorite place, or eating their favorite meal. In addition, for loved one's who are cremated, there are now many unique ways to memorialize them with a memorial that includes some or all of their ashes. This can include traditional memorials with a metal, wood, or ceramic urn that's placed indoors, or a unique memorial that can include scattering their ashes at one or more special places, burying their ashes with The Living Urn or other burial urn, or keeping them in the home with a living urn planter with their ashes.

Indoor Living Memorials Including Trees and Plants with Ashes

One unique memorial option that is gaining a significant amount of interest is a "living memorial" with a tree or plant.

The Living Urn is a patented bio urn and planting system that has been used in over 30,000 memorials worldwide. The company offers over 70 tree options that can be planted outdoors to honor a loved one and grow a living memorial. However, what if you want to plant a tree memorial but live in an apartment, condo, or plan on moving soon?  Good news is that you can still do this and there are a number of great options available to you - this includes:

• Contact a Memory Forest near you to find out what Living Urn tree burial options they offer;

• Reach out to your local city, parks and recreation department, church, golf course, or other special place to get permission to plant a living tree memorial on their property; or

• Honor a loved one with an indoor living memorial option - this can include  The Living Urn Indoors / Patio, a wonderful high quality ceramic urn that provides you with a beautiful living memorial which can be placed inside a home or on a patio.  A second option is The Living Urn Planter - a beautiful urn made from hardwoods that can include a small plant or succulent on top. 

What is The Living Urn Indoors / Patio?

The Living Urn Indoors / Patio is an attractive cremation urn constructed from high quality porcelain and is currently available in 3 colors - White Pearl, Sunshine Yellow, and Celadon Blue. This proprietary tree or plant urn includes a special compartment to hold a loved one’s ashes and can either be planted with one of the five beautiful and hardy bonsai trees offered by The Living Urn, a houseplant provided by The Living Urn, or a bonsai tree or houseplant of your choice from a local nursery or hardware store. In addition, the new flower vase attachment gives families the ability to place cut flowers in the center of the urn - providing an array of color year-round! 

There are many reasons why families choose to honor a loved one with The Living Urn Indoors / Patio. Below we’ve highlighted some of the more common ones.

• Appearance - after a person is cremated, the resulting cremated ashes are typically placed inside a standard or more traditional urn (typically made from metal, plastic, or ceramic). These sometimes remind people of death. While many gradually do accept the passing of a loved one, we may not want the daily reminder by having a traditional urn and urn shape. The Living Urn Indoors/Patio is a unique option that does not look like the standard cremation urn. Its unique shape resembles a lovely pot and fits easily on a table or counter where your bonsai tree or houseplant will grow and be on full display!

• Portable - the patented indoor plant urn makes it easy for people to take a loved one's memorial with them wherever they go. Measuring 9” tall and 9" in diameter and hand cast in beautiful porcelain, it is a great way to honor a loved one and provide lasting memories.

• Variety of Tree and Plant Options - The Living Urn offers a number of bonsai tree and houseplant options that can be grown indoors or, depending on the plant, on a patio or balcony. The bonsai trees and houseplants are planted in the center of urn and can grow and thrive for many decades with proper care. In addition, many families choose to use the urn with cut flowers. These can be placed in the center of the urn with our special vase attachment.

• Flower Option - if you love the appearance and beauty of flowers, you now have the flexibility to use the center of the indoor urn as a vase for flowers. You can place your favorite roses, orchids, tulips, lilies, daisies and other flowers of your choosing providing an array of color year-round!

• More than One Memorial - many families choose to divide up the ashes of a loved one and grow multiple bonsai tree or houseplant memorials. These can be in a single home, or at the home of each family member, and provides even more loving memories with multiple living memorials growing in honor of a loved one.

Bonsai Tree & Plant Urn Options

There are hundreds and hundreds of options available to plant with The Living Urn Indoors / Patio. Below we highlight some of the more popular bonsai trees  that The Living Urn offers with its special indoor/patio urn.

• Ficus Retusa Bonsai Tree Urn - the Ficus Retusa bonsai tree, also commonly called the Banyan Fig, displays its small, dark green leaves that alternate up its beautiful stems. The bark of this unique bonsai can be grey to a red color and it has small markings, which some say resemble a tiger. The Ficus Retusa bonsai is known for its large trunk that has a traditional curve found in many other bonsai trees. This tree is one of the easiest bonsais to grow inside the home and also can be placed outdoors when it's above fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

• Braided Money Bonsai Tree Urn - the popular 'Money Tree' is a stunning bonsai tree that is believed by many to bring good luck and good fortune. Many people also believe that this special tree generates positive energy (“Chi” or “Qi”) throughout the home and, therefore, it is a popular tree for “Feng Shui”.  The Braided Money is one of the most tolerant and hardy bonsai trees and can live and thrive for years to come!
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• Hawaiian Umbrella Bonsai Tree Urn - did your loved one enjoy the islands? The Hawaiian Umbrella Bonsai can add a tropical flare to your home and serves as a beautiful memorial for a loved one! Its leaves display a glossy dark green and are shaped like an umbrella which provide a thick canopy. The Hawaiian Umbrella tree is another great indoor option to grow a living memory of a loved one! 

• Traditional Windswept Juniper Bonsai Tree Urn - the Windswept Juniper Tree is a dwarf form of the juniper that originates from Japan and has become a common evergreen in the U.S. This unique bonsai tree is extremely hardy and long lived. It can be planted with the urn on a patio or in a garden. 

• Trained Tiered Juniper Bonsai Tree Urn - the Trained Tiered Juniper Bonsai Tree is arguably the most famous bonsai in the world! When many think of a traditional bonsai, they think of a Trained Tiered Juniper. This special bonsai tree can live for hundreds of years and will tolerate a variety of conditions. This is also an excellent tree for the beginner or for people without a 'green thumb'. Plant the Trained Tiered Juniper Bonsai outdoors on a patio or in a garden and create a beautiful memorial for a loved one! 

Houseplant and Flower Urn Options

In addition to bonsai trees, the Living Urn Indoors / Patio can also be planted with a houseplant or used with cut flowers in the center of the urn.

• Houseplant Urn - growing a houseplant from the center of The Living Urn Indoors / Patio is an option that's growing in popularity. Most people don’t have experience with bonsai trees, but almost every family has had a houseplant. Houseplants are widely available at nurseries, hardware stores, and even grocery stores and The Living Urn also offers select seasonal options including the Flamingo Flower, Lucky Bamboo, and Sago Palm, among others. A houseplant memorial is a beautiful option that can grow and thrive in the urn for many years to come!

• Flower Urn - placing cut flowers in the center of The Living Urn Indoors is an option that's also growing in popularity and can add an array of color to your home. Replace the flowers every once in a while and continue to enjoy their beauty year-round! 

Indoor Urn for Both, People and Pets

While many families have heard of this unique indoor urn option for people, many don’t realize The Living Urn also offers an indoor plant urn for pets. With this, you can place your beloved pet’s cremated ashes in the urn and grow a beautiful bonsai tree or houseplant from the center of the urn! Grow a living memory and cherish this special memorial honoring a pet for many years to come!

How an Indoor Tree Urn or Indoor Plant Urn Works

Planting a bonsai tree, houseplant or flowers indoors or on a patio with The Living Urn Indoors / Patio is simple and straightforward. Step-by-step instructions are provided with the urn and our website provides additional information on this: The Living Urn Indoors Frequently Asked Questions. If you have additional questions, our Denver-based customer service team is happy to help and be reached Monday through Saturday at (800) 495-7022, ext. 0.

The Living Urn Planter Combines a Wood Urn with a Succulent

Another indoor urn option that's growing in popularity is The Living Urn Planter. This unique urn is made from recycled hardwoods, stores a loved one's ashes inside of the urn in an all natural cotton bag, and can be planted with a beautiful succulent or small plant on top. 

The Living Urn Planter has a stunning appearance that looks more like a piece of art than an urn. Handcrafted from skilled woodworkers, this beautiful urn shows off its rich wood grains and is secured together with embedded rare earth magnets. Inside is an area where cremated remains can be placed and stored. Many families will also keep mementos or other personal items in the urn as well. This is truly a unique piece of art that a family can cherish and honor their loved one for generations to come.