Bonsai tree: Is All Forgiven? Well… Not Quite

Is all forgiven when a bonsai flowers? In this case, after the brilliant white dazzle (with soft touches of pink and yellow), there’s the strong trunk with a nice flaring base. But still, my eye keeps going back to the scar and the messy little stuff underneath it, and the somewhat clunky pot. Is it just me? From Jose Pañeda’s Photos – mis bonsáis.

Those magical few days…

I remember the first time I saw a what I thought was a so-so bonsai displaying gorgeous flowers. It was in Bonsai Today (long before I became the publisher) and the photo was from Japan. After some puzzling, it became apparent that the tree had been styled to display the flowers. Everything else was secondary. So secondary, that I imagine the tree would find a home out of sight on a back bench somewhere for most of its life. Except for those few days or weeks of magic each year, when the flowers appeared.

Gorgeous flowers, okay tree. This Camelia appears on the cover of Bonsai Today issue 66. Without the flowers, you’d probably never see it in the pages of a quality magazine, let alone on the cover.

Gorgeous flowers, excellent tree; the best of all possible worlds. No need to hide this gnarly old Ume on a back bench when the flowers are gone. This photo which appeared in an earlier post on Bonsai Bark, is from the Bonsai Guest House in Osaka Japan.



Absolutely unforgiven. This mess is from a commercial site (not worthy of link). It can be yours for only $150. No shame.

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Bonsai tree: In Training Since 1795

Here it is. It’s a Pinus densiflora (Japanese Red Pine) that was donated to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum by The Imperial Household of Japan. It has been in training since 1795.
The Japanese Collection
It’s right here in North America and it’s one of the best collections of bonsai anywhere.
Here’s an excerpt from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum’s website:
“The Japanese Collection began with the gift of 53 bonsai from Japan on the occasion of the American Bicentennial in 1976. The trees, which were from private collections, were selected by the Nippon Bonsai Association with financial assistance given by the Japan Foundation.”

Not 1795, but not exactly yesterday either. This striking Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Higo’) with its full display of remarkable flowers has been in training since 1875. It was donated by the Kyushu Branch of the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.
Does the reverse taper on the camellia (above) jump out at you? When it comes to flowering bonsai, Japanese growers don’t seem to mind features that would be considered flaws in non-flowering bonsai. As long as the flowers themselves are beautiful and well displayed, all is forgiven.



This old Japanese Black Pine was donated by Saichi Suzuki. It has been in training since 1895.
All the bonsai in this collection spent a year in quarantine before they could be displayed.

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