Bonsai artist, expert, and donor Bjorn Bjorholm with Little Lonely Doug outside the North American Pavilion at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum.
RECENT Donations to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
Part 2/6
In 2024, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum welcomed five remarkable new additions—four exquisite bonsai and a striking suiseki. Each piece tells a unique story, reflecting the artistry, history, and evolving traditions of bonsai. Carefully selected for their cultural significance and artistic merit, these new acquisitions highlight the diversity of bonsai and its growing influence in North America. Join us as we explore the fascinating origins, creative vision, and horticultural mastery behind these latest treasures.
In 2016, in the nooks and crannies of the Rocky Mountains in the greater Denver area, Richard Le discovered “Little Lonely Doug”.
Little Lonely Doug, 2024.
The tree – unique in its scale, taper, age, and character – represents one of North America’s oldest and largest conifers, the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). It was named in honor of Vancouver’s iconic, 230-foot “Big Lonely Doug,” the last Douglas fir standing in the Gordon River Valley, after intense and devastating logging deforestation.
Le, who spends time hunting for large yamadori, or “bonsai from the wild”, sells the trees he collects for use as bonsai or ornamental landscape trees. Little Lonely Doug, which was one of Le’s most compelling discoveries, ended up at Eisei-en, the well-known bonsai artist Bjorn Bjorholm’s nursery, garden, and school in Nashville.
Little Lonely Doug was the first tree to arrive at Bjorholm’s nursery upon its opening in 2018. There, the Eisei-en team repotted the fir in a more suitable container. In the spring of 2020, the tree went through another repotting and styling, while it finished out its term as a centerpiece at Eisei-en.
Staff from the U.S. National Arboretum position Little Lonely Doug in the North American Pavilion at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.
The fir was one of the last trees to leave the nursery when Bjorholm moved his business to Kyoto, Japan, where as a student he had completed a study abroad program and met his future wife. He also spent 16 years as a bonsai apprentice in Osaka. Marianne Duhamel, Montreal Botanical Garden’s penjing curator, rewired and styled the tree again under Bjorholm’s direction, just before its arrival at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. In March 2024, Le and Bjorholm donated this striking specimen to the Museum.
Staff from the U.S. National Arboretum, including Director Dr. Richard Olsen, Museum Curator Michael James, and Assistant Curator Andy Bello, were on hand to welcome the bonsai to the collections. They were joined by NBF board members Stephen Voss and Ross Campbell, as well as Executive Director Bobbie Alexander.
Left to Right: U.S. National Arboretum Director Dr. Richard Olsen, NBF Board Member Stephen Voss, NBF Board Member and Officer Ross Campbell, bonsai artist, expert, and donor Bjorn Bjorholm, Museum Curator Michael James, Assistant Curator Andy Bello.
Also joining the welcome committee were Aaron Stratten, immediate past President of Potomac Bonsai Association, and Roberto Coquis, President of the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society. Our local clubs do so much to support the art of bonsai, and we are grateful for their presence. Everett Miller, the Diplomatic Associate for the Economic Section of the Embassy of Japan, attended the ceremony as well. We greatly appreciate their partnership and friendship.
Left to Right: Museum Curator Michael James, NBF Board Member and Officer Ross Campbell, immediate past President of Potomac Bonsai Association Aaron Stratten, bonsai artist, expert, and donor Bjorn Bjorholm, President of the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society Roberto Coquis, Assistant Curator Andy Bello.
These esteemed guests helped Little Lonely Doug find its home in the North American Pavilion, where it proudly represents an American species of evergreen conifer with a rugged appearance, hardy resilience, and uniquely “wild” look.
You can see more about the tree’s life and journey to the Museum’s North American Pavilion in Eisei-en’s beautiful tribute.
Little Lonely Doug also found a spotlight as the star of the National Bonsai Foundation’s limited edition World Bonsai Day 2024 clothing line, designed by Aaron Stratten.
The Museum is open daily (see hours), if you want to help Doug feel a little less lonely!
