The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum @ the National Aboretum

One of the best kept secrets in the Washington, D.C. panorama of museums is the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the Naitonal Aboretum (another under utilized treasure!)

As the map shows, NBPM is not a traditional museum. It's not a sterile, climate controlled environment based on classical architectural symmetry. It's mostly an open air space, like a zoo for bonsai, if you will. And it's wonderful.

Today my first stop was the North American Pavilion. Here is one of the treasures I found there.

North American Collection #267: Foemina Juniper, Juniperus chinensis "Foemina". The plant has been in training since 1970 (for 40 years).

"In Training" is the constant status of a tree subjected to the Bonsai relationship.

From the North American Pavilion, it's a logical cross over to the Japanese Pavilion where I encountered these three Bonsai among so many others.

Japanese Collection #52: Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum. The plant has been in training since 1895 (for 115 years). This particular plant was a gift to the NBPM by Japanese Prince Takamatsu. The Trident Maple is also among the most popular/common deciduous trees for training in the art of Bonsai.

Japanese Collection #32: "Higo" Japanese Camellia, Camellia japonica "Higo". An example of a bush being Bonsai'd. This one has been in training since 1876 (for 134 years). It was simply stunning in reality. The trunk not only wraps itself around a stone, but provides a haven for a bed of bonsai'd ferns.

As you prepare to exit the Japanese Pavilion and enter into the intimate Japanese Stroll Garden, you encounter the crown jewel of the collection.

Japanese Collection #2: Japanese White Pine, Pinus Parviflora "Miyajima". This quintessential example of the art of Bonsai has been in training since 1625 (for 385 years). As a thing, this Bonsai is not overly impressive, and yet here you are; standing before a being that was alive 150 year before the found of the nation which it now calls home. Amazing is all I can think to call it.

Beautiful pink camellia blooming in the Japanese Strolling Garden.

Next I entered the Chinese pavilion through this beautiful circular entrance.

And the tree that first caught my attention was this Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum which was on display without any other pedigree--age unknown. Even the mongrels hold the power to thrill.

Chinese Elm, Ulmus parvifolia. In training since 2004 (for 6 years).

Further on in the Chinese Pavilion I encountered this absolute gem of the art of Bonsai and Penjing. Penjing is about the stone; Bonsai, the plant. They are placed on a platform that also allows for the inclusion of water. Altogether, the effect is that of an island, a miniature world in which the mind can escape.

As I continued to tour a little girl ran up to it and exclaimed, "Now, this is what I am saying is BEAUTIFUL!" How can you argue with that?

Here's a detail of the same Bonsai with a little statute of a fisherman.

My last stop was in the covered International Pavilion. This is the space in which they mount seasonal and/or topical exhibitions. Because it's an interior and the plants need natural light, the shows are usually brief and the space often empty. On the occasion of this visit, I discovered that a show was up: Fall Fruit & Foliage. And today was the actual opening!

Though only the poster let me in on this little fact. Lucky me!

Here are three of the trees in the exhibition.

North American Collection #214: English Hawthorne, crataegus oxycantha. In training since 1953 (for 57 years).

North American Collection #143: Pomegranate: Punica granatum. In training since 1963 (for 47 years).

Chinese Collection #141: Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum--age unknown.