This article from NBF officer and board member Ross Campbell first appeared in the March 2025 edition of Snippets, the Brookside Bonsai Society’s newsletter.

We were foiled by unusually cold temperatures in February and thus discouraged from starting our repotting checklist. But now the weather has warmed into the 60s, and our trees are beginning to respond. The forecasts look promising for the next week or so, meaning that it should be safe to repot. Keep in mind that newly repotted trees still need to be protected from a sudden freeze.

At the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, many of the trees are wintered in the Chinese Pavilion. The Pavilion is somewhat warmer than ambient temperatures because of the glass panels in the roof and the walls and doors. As a result, trees begin to break dormancy in the Pavilion a little earlier than they would otherwise. A recent stroll past the benches found several trees with buds that are starting to swell.

*Parsley Hawthorn (Crataegus marshallii)*

The buds on this Parsley Hawthorn are gratifying to see. Proof that Spring is close at hand. This native of the Southeastern U.S. was named in honor of botanist Humphry Marshall (1722-1801), an American botanist. (Not after Elvis Parsley, as you may have thought.) Marshall is known as the “father of American dendrology.”

*Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis)*

This Chinese quince is far ahead of the hawthorn, with some leaves fully open and flowers soon to follow. One of the original 1976 Bicentennial gifts to the nation from Japan, this quince has been in training since 1875. That means that the tree is celebrating its “Sesquincentennial” this year. ;)

*Drummond Maple (Acer rubrum drummondii)*

If you look closely, you can see not only the buds at the tips of this Drummond Maple’s branches, but also along the branches. It appears that pruning has triggered interior buds, a very welcome development.

On the other hand, this Chinese Elm forest is still in the depths of winter dormancy, at least to all outward appearances. Perhaps it is convenient that different species wake up at different times; that way we can schedule deciduous bonsai repotting in a sequential manner, starting with those that are showing bud swelling.

*Ross Campbell, NBF secretary/treasurer elect, pictured with his yew bonsai.*

At the National Bonsai Foundation, we are grateful to our Board of Directors for their support, ingenuity and bonsai knowledge. Get to know the directors in our spotlight series, The Bonsai Board, highlighting their bonsai experience and why they joined NBF.

Read about Board Chair Jim Hughes here and Chair-Elect Dan Angelucci and Secretary/Treasurer Jim Brant here.

For this edition, we interviewed Ross Campbell, who joined NBF in August 2020 and became secretary/treasurer elect later in the year. Campbell worked for 34 years as a senior analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, reviewing and evaluating programs at federal agencies. He has penned reports to Congress on topics like ecosystem management, invasive species control and honeybee health.

Campbell grew up in Detroit, Michigan, a Sister City to Toyota in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan. In an exchange program between the two cities, he traveled to Toyota to immerse himself in Japanese culture through tours, travel and staying with a Japanese family. He saw shrines, temples and examples of Japanese artistic hobbies, but he was most impressed by the combination of managed and natural styles in Japanese gardens.

“Just about everyone I came across, young or old, had some interest in a historical or cultural practice like ikebana or martial arts,” Campbell said. “They really put a lot of effort, energy and skill into each garden.”

He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1985 and encountered the U.S. National Arboretum. The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum rekindled his interest in the art and culture he saw in Japan. Campbell then bought his first bonsai, a juniper sold at the Eastern Market on Capitol Hill.

He joined and eventually presided over the Washington Bonsai Club, which met at the Arboretum. Campbell is a Brookside Bonsai Society member and newsletter editor and served as the Potomac Bonsai Association treasurer for many years.

He said he is most drawn to bonsai because bonsai artists connect with nature, forests and trees in their natural setting. Campbell prefers more naturalistic bonsai styles rather than abstract – he wants his bonsai to be more representative, not suggestive, of real trees.

“You can’t exactly play with or tinker with an actual forest, but you can do that with a bonsai and try to put that large forest experience into something you can hold in your hands,” he said. “I can’t draw, I can't paint, but I’m hopeful that through this bonsai hobby I can develop some artistic skills.”

*Campbell and his son Ian in front of John Naka’s Goshin. Campbell’s family took annual pictures in front of the tree to show how his son and the tree had grown.*

Campbell enjoys both the group activity of bonsai and the relaxing practice of working one on one with his own bonsai.

“I enjoy being with people and seeing or talking about their techniques, but ultimately it is most satisfying for me to be making progress just me and the tree at home,” he said. “It takes your attention and concentration but allows you to shut out stress and difficulties, slowly letting the process unfold and seeing things change over the seasons and years.”

One of Campbell’s most memorable experiences at the Museum was when Curator Michael James asked him to help perform some maintenance on John Naka’s famous “Goshin” on Campbell’s second day as a volunteer at the Museum.

“It’s not like I had a pruning saw or even concave cutters in my hand, but the fact I was able to perform even minor work on such an important bonsai was very unexpected, fun and a bit tense,” he said.

In winter 2019, Campbell became a Museum volunteer to improve his bonsai technique and help the Museum continue to thrive.

“People who don’t know anything about bonsai come through the Museum but are clearly captivated by the collections,” he said. “NBF keeps that opportunity available, and if I can do anything to help NBF or the Museum, then that’s what I want to do. I’m glad I’ve been able to support the Museum as a visitor and now as a board member.”

The First Signs of Spring

The Bonsai Board: Ross Campbell