When eight miniature trees disappeared from the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland in mid-January, a sense of despair descended on the volunteer-run exhibit. The trees were living masterpieces, ...

For a few hours every afternoon, when the roar of the 405 Freeway becomes a murmur, Miguel Hernandez can hear the results of his work from the small shed at the edge of Yamaguchi Nursery on Sawtelle ...