Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023

Thank you to all of our supporters in 2023! You are the reason that the National Bonsai Foundation continues to thrive in our mission to preserve the history, protect the legacy, and prepare the future of the art of bonsai in America.

Whether you donated to the National Bonsai Foundation last year, visited the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in person, or simply shared in the admiration of bonsai – your contributions to and participation in this great art form are deeply appreciated.

Through the course of years, decades, and even centuries, successive caretakers cultivate and nurture these incredible living art works. During our own lifetimes, the great responsibility and immense honor to care for these timeless trees falls to us. There is more to be done if we want to sustain the resilient beauty and persistent hope of bonsai for generations to come.

That's why, with your help, we will continue to sustain the art of bonsai in numerous ways throughout 2024:

• We are proud to sponsor the National Bonsai Apprenticeship, the nation's premiere training program for up-and-coming bonsai artists. The renowned program prepares a new generation of American bonsai experts to ensure the future of the art of bonsai. Apprentices benefit from immersive education with professional curators and caretakers, hands-on experience with America’s national bonsai and penjing collections, and daily opportunities to hone their horticultural and artistic talents.

• We partner with the U.S. National Arboretum to help maintain the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, the first and finest museum of its kind in the world. We support new exhibitions of bonsai, penjing, and viewing stones, helping to share the magic of these art forms with the public. We also provide ongoing education and development for the curators, which offers expanded opportunities to keep current with the latest approaches and techniques to the art form, and allows them to gain learning to stay at the top of their field.

• We inform, educate, and inspire people at all levels about this breathtaking art form. Through initiatives like World Bonsai Day, exhibitions around the country, hands-on workshops, and national awards, we continue to share and delight in these awe-inspiring trees that give us so much joy, hope, and purpose.

We are so grateful that you have joined us to support these initiatives. Our dedicated community includes everyone from bonsai artists with decades of experience to new enthusiasts who have just discovered the awe of bonsai. Wherever you find yourself on your bonsai journey, we value you and we're glad you're here.

Thank you for helping to cultivate this incredible living art form. Together, we can ensure a vibrant and enduring future for the art of bonsai.

Warm regards and best wishes for the new year!

Visit the Museum to see these beautiful trees in person.

Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023

All photos courtesy of NBF Board Member and professional photographer Stephen Voss.

Click on any photo to see a larger version. You can then scroll through the gallery by clicking on the left-right icons or using your arrow keys.

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Ringing in the New Year, Literally

On New Year’s Day, the National Bonsai Foundation joined more than 150 visitors at the U.S. National Arboretum to hear the resonant tolls of a sacred Japanese temple bell. The bell, a gift from the National Bell Festival, was cast in 1798 at a monastery outside present-day Tokyo – which makes it 226 years old!

The bell was installed in the central courtyard of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, above the entrance to the Japanese Pavilion. The dedication included remarks from Arboretum Director Dr. Richard Olsen and National Bell Festival Director Paul Ashe, a traditional Buddhist blessing and sacred chants from All Beings Zen Sangha, and a ceremonial ringing of the bell. The ceremony also included four varieties of Japanese tea courtesy of local DC teahouse Teaism, including GenMaiCha (green tea with toasted rice), Hojicha (toasted green tea), Sencha, (very high grade green tea), and Soba Cha (Japanese buckwheat herbal infusion).

The event was covered by several outlets. You can read more at the links below:

ABC 7 (WJLA): Centuries-old Japanese temple bell installed at National Arboretum on New Year's Day »

WTOP News: How a nonprofit plans to preserve the sound of an ancient Japanese bell in DC »

The National Bell Festival: Japanese Bell Dedication Ceremony »

The National Bell Festival rings on New Year's Day across all seven continents, including eight handbells that are being played by two women on the ice shelf in Antarctica.

The bell is inscribed in classical Japanese across three ikenomachi, or panels, which detail the particulars of its casting. It includes the phrase: “One strike permeates all things. How could it be said the strike is slight, when it is heard without fail?”

Visit the Museum to see this beautiful bell in person!

an old bell finds a new home

Courtesy of the National Bell Festival:

The hanshō, or Buddhist temple bell, was cast in the ninth month of Kansei 10 (1798) by Katō Jinemon from Yokokawa, who came from a family of bell makers in the area of present-day Hachiōji, west of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Their foundry was near the Zen monastery and temple Daisen (also called Daisenji in respect), for which the bell was cast. A monk named Myōdō led a fundraising campaign for the bell's casting. It stands 27 inches tall and weighs 80 lbs.

The Daisen monastery no longer exists. It was located in the Amema village in the Tama district of the province of Musashi. As is true of many Edo-period villages, the names of locations have changed, but the location corresponds to Amema, Akiruno City, Tokyo 197-0825. In 1868, the monastery was incorporated with another temple complex named Jōfukuji, which also no longer exists.

The bell is inscribed in classical Japanese across three ikenomachi, or panels, which detail the particulars of its casting. It includes the phrase:

One strike permeates all things. How could it be said the strike is slight, when it is heard without fail?

What is a Hanshō?

Courtesy of the National Bell Festival:

Hanshō are stationary clapper-less signaling bells hung in Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Like the larger bonshō, hanshō are hung mouth-down and remain motionless. A wooden beam or handheld mallet is swung to sound the bell, which indicates the time and calls monks to prayer. In earlier days, hanshō also gave service as fire alarms in village watch towers.

It is said the sloping shoulders and flat base of a hanshō emulate the seated posture of Buddha. As such, the bells are accorded utmost reverence. Casting the temple bell is also a sacred event, with sprigs of hallowed mulberry, gold offerings, and papers containing Buddhist prayers tossed into the molten bronze.

During World War II, an ordinance to collect metals was decreed throughout Japan. To feed its war machine and keep its armies outfitted, Japan needed vast quantities of industrial materials – and like plucking fruit from a tree, they turned to peaceable, defenseless bell towers. An estimated 70,000 bells (approximately 90% of the temple bells then in existence) were destroyed and smelted into armament.

Today, bonshō and hanshō maintain their sacred place in Japanese society and have become internationally-recognized symbols of peace and diplomacy.

Event Photo Gallery

Click on any photo to see a larger version. You can then scroll through the gallery by clicking on the left-right icons or using your arrow keys.

All photos courtesy of The National Bell Festival / bells.org.

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Bonsai By Night in Black and White

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If you've visited the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum, or if you've browsed through the photos on our website, you know how photogenic the bonsai collections can be. There is a special majesty to the trees on display, and the more time you spend with them, the more each one expresses its own unique artistic vision.

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At night, an essence of mystery descends on the stone paths and serene gardens of the Arboretum and the Museum. Since the grounds are open during daytime hours, visitors don’t usually have a chance to see bonsai under the moon. When its dark, and especially in black and white photographs, a glamorous mix of shadows and light emerges among the trees.

These black and white photos of bonsai by night are uniquely alluring. The nocturnal setting and the stark style converge to showcase beguiling details of texture and form.

Which is your favorite photo? Let us know your reactions in the comments.

Click on any of the photos to view fullscreen. You can use the arrow keys or click on the left or right of each image to scroll through the gallery in the lightbox slideshow.

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Photographing Bonsai with Stephen Voss: An October Morning at the Museum

By Stephen Voss

Stephen Voss is an accomplished professional photographer and member of the National Bonsai Foundation’s board of directors. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

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The fall bonsai is a tree in transition. In October and November, we see some trees that have held onto their vibrant green leaves and others that have dropped their foliage practically overnight. In between these two stages are the trees that I went looking for on a recent visit to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

That’s why I love this time of burnt oranges and dusky reds, of late afternoon sunsets, of growing shadows and that rich, autumnal scent of decomposing leaves. When I leave the museum after a morning of photographing, I know when I return the scenes will be different, irretrievably changed. It doesn’t take a photographer’s eye to appreciate the daily, even hourly transitions as a cold fall rain moves in, or a hard freeze strips a tree of its foliage.

In the scenes here, I became interested in isolating fall color to make it stand out more. I looked for brightly colored leaves that I could compose against the dark trunk of a tree or the cool white of the museum walls. A line of red leaves became a river of color. An opening in one tree became a blurry frame through which to capture another tree in sharp detail. For these sorts of photographs, a macro lens (or even a telephoto lens) is helpful in composing, and I made most of these images in the 90mm-135mm range. It’s an old photographer’s trick, but sometimes squinting your eyes a bit can attune you more to the lights and darks in a scene; this helps you create an image that acknowledges color as part of a photo’s compositional form.

On my last walk through the gardens on the late October morning when I made these photos, I was composing a close-up image of a fallen leaf in one of the large ceramic water buckets. Just moments after I pushed the shutter button, the waterlogged leaf sunk under the surface and slowly drifted to the bottom of the bucket. I left that day with my photo of that fleeting moment, and a reminder of the wonders of this beautiful place that gives us continual gifts of surprise and amazement, if only we give it the time.

Stephen

Scenes from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, October 2022. All photos by Stephen Voss for the National Bonsai Foundation.

Embrace Fall at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

With words from Stephen Voss and Andy Bello
All photos courtesy of Stephen Voss

The crisp crunch of leaves under our feet, the chill in the air and the return of pumpkin-flavored goodies are all telltale signs of fall. But one of the most gorgeous arboreal displays of a change in seasons can be found at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum on the grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum. 

As mid-October crowns, the colors that long dominated the spring and summer in Washington, D.C. appear in flux. The striking chlorophyll that defined the color palette of nature for so many months post-winter wanes, and brilliant yellows, oranges and reds emerge. 

There is no better place to experience this exuberant burst of beauty and vibrance than among the trees at the first and finest public bonsai museum in the world. 

As fall presses on, the dedication Museum staff and volunteers gave to the national collections throughout the growing season is rewarded with cool autumn breezes and show-stopping foliage. They will continue their best efforts on these premier trees to keep them healthy throughout the fall and prepare them for frosty temperatures come winter – many steps of which are necessary for any bonsai owner to observe around this time. 

First comes the tertiary structural pruning of the Museum’s deciduous trees, like the much-beloved trident maples and other non-flowering species. This pruning process includes spotting twigs that have thickened in the outer canopy, detracting from the idyllic delicate and finely ramified structure. 

The pruners will address areas where more than two twigs are growing from one location, known as a node. By reducing these areas to two twigs, they prevent unwanted swelling and promote a smooth transition of taper from the trunk to the tip of the twig. 

Then they distinguish areas where twigs have elongated too far and prune them back to scale with the design of the tree. This work may be completed after the leaves are done changing color, through late winter. If this type of pruning is done too early, it may stimulate new tender growth that will not harden-off before winter, resulting in damage. If the pruning is done after winter dormancy, sugars from the roots are transported to the emerging spring tips and that energy is cut off and wasted.

While pines, spruces and junipers don’t lose all their foliage, the Museum’s conifers also need some attention before the onset of winter dormancy. Pines and spruces are cleaned of old needles, and their designs can be refined with wiring. Weaker foliage on junipers can be removed, and adventitious growth can be eliminated from the crotches of branches.

Cleaning out old needles and growth allows more light to enter the canopy and stimulate interior buds, helping them more strongly develop. Cleaning trees this time of year can be tedious, especially on a large collection, but this intimate operation brings us closer to the trees and gives us an even better understanding of their health and growth habits. 

This is also an important time to take advantage of the last warm months to ensure all winter preparation and some spring preparation is completed, and those techniques vary greatly. First and simplest: Museum staff and volunteers arrange the area where trees will be placed on the ground out of the cold drying winds. Raised beds are constructed to heel trees into mulch to protect the delicate root systems, and cold frames are built and prepared to provide protection from wind and frost damage.

But in between these imperative steps for arboreal care, the trees provide perfect opportunities to engage in mindfulness. Whether you have a bonsai collection of your own or can set aside time to visit the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, it’s the perfect time to walk through nature to interpret its splendor displayed in the captivating colors of fall. 

Repotting the World-Famous Yamaki Pine

Yamaki Pine at the Museum (Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service, US National Arboretum)

National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and U.S. National Arboretum staff have repotted the Yamaki pine, one of the world’s most eminent and symbolically powerful bonsai.

Almost 400 years old, the Japanese white pine has survived generations of travel and travesty, most famously the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima where the tree sat in late bonsai master Masaru Yamaki’s garden. Yamaki donated the pine in 1976 as part of Japan’s bicentennial gift to the American people – the gift that created the Museum.

Museum Curator Michael James alongside former First Curator’s Apprentice Andy Bello worked with Patrick Lynch and Bradley Evans, two Arboretum staff members, to repot the magnificent tree on March 26. James spoke to NBF about the logistics of the repotting.

Last repotted in 2015, the tree’s soil had compacted so much that water had begun to run off the surface of the soil and barely soak in. Sometimes the water might take up to 15 minutes to infiltrate the pine’s root ball, which is a sign that repotting is needed, James said.

The particles of Akadama, or the granular, clay-like type of soil used to plant the Yamaki pine, had compacted from their usual ball-shaped structure to very small, clay-sized fines, blocking water and air from traveling throughout the root ball.

“When the soil gets that dry, it becomes almost like a brick, and then there’s no oxygen in the soil for the roots to breathe and they rot,” James said.

Finding dead roots and compacted soil could derail the repotting plan, raising issues that have to be dealt with on the spot instead of the intended process. 

“It’s hard to do everything you want to do in one repot,” James said. “This one went really well and pretty much as expected. We found healthy roots all around and a really strong mycorrhizal network of beneficial fungal surrounding the roots.” 

Yamaki Pine’s exposed roots (Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service, US National Arboretum)

The process

In preparation to remove the pine from its pot, James, Bello and the staff members pushed the tree off of its pedestal and onto a hydraulic lift cart. 

The tree and container weighed somewhere between 200 and 300 pounds, requiring the group to use straps – cushioned with a towel to distribute the pressure point and weight of the pine – to secure the tree to a beam on the roof of the Japanese Pavilion.

The group then carefully cut between the rim of the pot and the edge of the soil ball a few times to release the ball from the pot. Because the Yamaki pine is so large, the group couldn’t simply lift the pine from the pot. They had to lower the hydraulic cart from under the tree and carefully catch the pot as it fell away, freeing the tree, James said.

“The tree looked like it was floating, especially when you’re not looking up to see the strap and the root ball is suspended from the bottom of its trunk,” he said. “It’s a very surreal image because trees don’t float this way and they’re never positioned like this.” 

Tools used during the repotting (Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service, US National Arboretum)

James said that, during the winter, the pot had been enclosed in a mulch box, which buffered the pine’s roots from cold temperatures over the past few years, so the bottom and sides of the soil were in good shape. The surface soil, which the mulch did not cover, contained the least healthy roots, so the team used awls, small hooks and brushes to slowly break up that compact area. 

“It's a little bit like art restoration and a little bit like archeology,” James said. “It’s slow, a little tedious and you have to be really careful that you are removing soil and not roots.” 

One challenge the group faced was clearing away old roots that had died without removing healthy new roots or disrupting “essential” symbiotic relationships the tree had formed with other organisms. 

James said mycorrhizal fungi, a white cottony material found among tree roots (see last photo below which shows the white mycorrhizae), feeds off of sugars the pine’s roots created. The pine then benefits from moisture and nutrients the fungus pulls into the roots, so the team had to ensure that some of the fungus remained.

“When you break up that soil, you destroy or hamper that relationship, and it has to regrow,” James said. “The relationship between the roots and the fungus has to remain intact for the pine to stay healthy.” 

He added that no specific date is set for the next repotting, but the process could happen again between the next three to seven years, depending on how the pine recovers from this repotting, how well water drains through the soil and the tree’s overall health. 

“You want to do these repots few and far between on an old tree like this,” James said. 

Yamaki Pine at the Museum (Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service, US National Arboretum)

Andy Bello with the Yamaki Pine during the repotting (@bellcraze).

Species Spotlight: Cypress (Taxodium distichum, ascendens, mucronatum)

This month’s Species Spotlight (by our First Curator’s Assistant, Andy Bello) turns the light on three different species that constitute the genus Taxodium: Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum). All three species are located in our collections at The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. 

Old Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) at Lake Drummond, VA (Photo by Andy Bello)

Taxodium are extremely flood-tolerant, deciduous conifers in the cypress family Cupressacae. These trees can reach heights of about 100-150 feet and trunk diameters reaching more than 37 feet. A distinctive feature of taxodium is the formation of pneumatophores, also known as “cypress knees.” Some bonsai experts debate whether the knees aid in the uptake of oxygen or if they support the trees in wet soil conditions. 

Species history and general facts

Bald cypresses are mainly found along rivers with silt-rich flood deposits throughout the Southeastern United States and even up the Mississippi River into Southern Indiana. 

Pond cypresses live within the Southeastern Coastal Plain, from North Carolina to Louisiana, and grow in more stagnant blackwater rivers, ponds and swamps, rather than silt-rich flood deposits. 

Montezuma cypresses are found between the lower Rio Grande Valley down to the highlands of Guatemala. This cypress is a riparian tree that grows along streams and rivers. This species tends to be evergreen and not deciduous, given its distribution in a consistently warm climate. Montezuma cypresses on average have the largest trunk size, with some reaching about 37.5 feet in diameter.

Take a look at some of the cypresses we have at the Museum!

Bald Cypress

This bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) #269 is located in the North American Collection. It has been in training since 1972, and the late Vaughn Banting donated the tree in 2000. Banting originally purchased the tree as a nursery plant. This bald cypress, along with one at the Pacific Bonsai Museum, are the first two trained into a configuration Banting championed called “Flat Top Style.” The flat top style with knees protruding from the soil is a very distinctive trait of bald cypresses.

Read more about the history of this bald cypress, Vaughn Banting and the flat top style here.


Montezuma Cypress

This montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) #274, now located the North American Collection, was donated by Mike Naka in 2004 in honor of his grandfather and bonsai master, the late John Y. Naka. 

John Naka purchased this bonsai from a nursery in Los Angeles after traveling from Denver in 1946 and began training the tree in 1948. The bonsai is trained in the formal upright style to invoke the massive height and girth often seen in the species. By keeping the primary branches short and closer to the trunk, Naka provided an even grander image of the species’ height. 

Montezuma cypresses are evergreen in their native warm climate, but their seasonal beauty can truly be appreciated when they are allowed to thrive in Northern climates.

Pond Cypress (with bald cypresses)

This group planting of a pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and multiple bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) #250 is located in the North American Collection. Jim Fritchey and Dick Wild donated the planting, comprised of trees collected from the wild Floridian swamps, in 1990 after arranging the original planting in 1988. 

As the forest in this planting evolved, a number of trees were removed after some trees couldn’t keep up with the competition for light – a common phenomenon in natural forests. The composition was rearranged to ensure the longevity of the planting.

The photo above is how the planting appears at the Museum today. The large pond cypress on the left with a strong lean provides directionality, while the group of bald cypresses on the right provides depth. The seven-foot stone slab, which weighs about 1,500 pounds, evokes a natural look compared to the typical ceramic container. 

Come and visit The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in all four seasons to experience the beauty of Taxodium in the collection. The lush bright green spring growth and the brilliant red and orange fall foliage is best to appreciate in person. I hope that these trees inspire everyone to work more with native species and create bonsai in a meaningful manner.

Species Spotlight: Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)

The interesting pattern which gives Lacebark Elms their name.

The Chinese Elm, also known as Ulmus parvifolia or Lacebark Elm, is a deciduous tree species native to China, Korea and Japan. The name Lacebark Elm refers to the interesting pattern created as parts of the tree’s bark flake off with age. This elm is a very hardy species that can grow in moist or dry soils – these trees can survive in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 through 9 – and thrive in hot urban environments. 

The elms typically have an upright trunk with a wide round canopy, and the average height is about 70 feet. This species is also resistant to diseases and pests, like Dutch elm disease and Japanese bark beetle. Three different Ulmus parvifolia are located at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

This Chinese Elm, a penjing donated by Dr. Yee-sun Wu in 1986, resides in the Chinese Collection. The elm has been in training as a penjing since 1956 and was planted in the “rock-clinging” style. In this composition, a beautiful piece of Ying Tak Stone was placed vertically and two Chinese Elms were set in the natural contours of the stone. 

The trunk line of the tree on the left moves leftward up the rock to a wide, rounded canopy. The smaller tree on the right provides foliage mass and adds directionality to the overall composition. The beautiful blue antique container contrasts with the orange-red fall foliage, which can be seen in the late fall months at the Museum. 

Our second Chinese elm, also from the Chinese Collection, was donated by D.C. Metro native Stanley Chinn in 2002. The training age of this tree is unknown, but based on the trunk diameter the tree appears to have grown in the ground for decades before being put into a container. 

The style of this tree is “windswept” or “wind blowing”. The elongated branches on the left and the short branches on the right create the illusion of a powerful wind blowing on the tree from the right side. The interesting and exciting windswept style simultaneously depicts gracefulness and denotes strong environmental conditions.

The last Chinese Elm composition is a wonderful landscape planting, which is part of the Chinese Collection. Penjing Master Yunhua Hu donated the composition in 2004 after he created it earlier that year at the U.S. National Arboretum’s Penjing Symposium. This is an excellent example of penjing in which not just a single tree is displayed, but a combination of trees, understory plants, stones and figurines. The intricate design demonstrates how using multiple smaller trees can create a large and pleasing display. 

The movement of the whimsical trees guides the viewer to settle their gaze on a small stream with a gentleman fishing. The stream pulls the viewer in and provides a nice break between the larger and smaller groupings of trees, adding to the overall directionality of the whole composition. 

Ask to see the outstanding examples of Chinese Elms in our collection on your next visit to the Museum!

The National Bonsai Foundation Announces Retirement of Dr. Johann F Klodzen

Dr. Klodzen to step down after nearly 20 years as Executive Director

Johann Klodzen at the U.S. National Arboretum (2020)

As of February 1st, 2020, Johann Klodzen will step down from her role as Executive Director of The National Bonsai Foundation (“NBF”). All of NBF’s officers and members of its Board of Directors are sincerely grateful to Johann for her nearly 20 years of service guiding NBF’s work in support of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum (the “USNA”).

During her tenure at NBF, Johann collaborated closely with several Directors of the USNA, most recently Dr. Richard Olsen; supervised NBF’s involvement in numerous projects at the Museum, including the complete rebuilding of The Japanese Pavilion and most recently the development of a master plan for the future renovation of the rest of the Museum; oversaw NBF’s efforts to give NBF and the Museum a significant online presence; oversaw the inauguration and publication of NBF’s Annual Report in 2016, which received several awards for design; and worked tirelessly to give the Museum an increased recognition in the United States and across the world of bonsai enthusiasts. Her passion for and knowledge of the artform was infectious to all of those who had the privilege to work alongside her. Though she is leaving the position, we know Johann will continue to be a part of our bonsai family.

While we conduct a search for a new Executive Director, we are delighted to announce that Bobbie Alexander will step into the role as Interim Director of Administration. Bobbie has served as Chief of Staff and Managing Director of Governance for the American Diabetes Association, as a Senior Administrative Consultant for The Food Allergy Research & Education Association and most recently as Chief of Staff and Operations for the National Health Council. We are confident that during this transition period, we are in very good hands.

Though we begin 2020 on a note of bidding farewell to our esteemed colleague, there is much to look forward to in the new decade ahead. Our next Executive Director will be tasked with the exciting planned renovations of the Museum, overseeing NBF’s efforts to make that project a reality, thereby ensuring the continuation of NBF’s mission of preserving a history, protecting a legacy, and preparing a future.