Welcome Henry Basile, 2022 First Curator's Apprentice!

Courtesy of Henry Basile

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum would not be the treasured public accessory it is today without the dedicated team that cares for its collections. The National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) is pleased to introduce this year’s First Curator’s Apprentice, Henry Basile – a knowledgeable and dedicated individual excited to join an already deep bench of bonsai experts. 

The First Curator’s Apprenticeship honors Robert (Bob) Drechsler, the Museum’s inaugural curator who served in the position for more than 20 years. NBF established the apprenticeship in 2011 to pay homage to Robert’s decades of service to the national collection and to educate and train a new generation of American bonsai artists.

A recent Kansas State graduate, Henry said his introduction to bonsai was a pretty garden-variety experience: popular culture and mass-producing garden centers were his only exposure to the trees for most of his young life. 

“I vaguely knew about the historical significance and the horticultural prowess required to maintain the trees and held a significant amount of respect for the care and attention that curators and collectors paid them,” he said. “But I saw them as no more than ancient trees, valued only for their age.”

But then gardening gave Henry an escape route from an unfruitful year as a biomedical engineering major, sparking his near-instant switch into the horticulture tract. Having found his calling among the plants, a bonsai curation internship at the Denver Botanic Gardens piqued his interest. There he met his mentor, prominent bonsai artist and author Larry Jackel, who taught him about each facet of the Denver collection. 

“Larry spoke about the designs from an artist’s perspective – using the principles and elements of design to hammer in the concepts,” Henry said. “It was then I realized I had found something special.”

That internship blossomed from an intriguing career move to a flourishing understanding of horticulture and artistic expression. He delved into the works of notable artists like Bjorn Bjorholm, Michael Hagedorn and Bill Valavanis, and he studied the styles and techniques described in John Naka’s texts. Though Henry was first drawn to bonsai from a scientific standpoint, his internship in Denver helped him root his work in purpose and pride. 

“It is seldom that a career path can offer development of one’s understanding of nature and history, artistic capabilities, as well as one’s mindfulness,” he said. 

Henry first learned about the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum through acclaimed writer and former NBF Board Member Ann McClellan’s “Bonsai and Penjing: Ambassadors of Peace and Beauty,” available for order at the NBF bookstore. He picked Larry’s brain about the national collection and staff members involved in maintaining its prestige and vitality. When the apprenticeship opened, he knew he had to throw his hat in the ring.  

During Henry’s first trip to the Museum as an apprentice – during his spring break week earlier this year – he helped staff move trees from their winter accommodations to the pavilion display benches and in the courtyards, repot multiple trees and develop new bonsai using U.S. National Arboretum cultivars. He delved deeper into the design principles and horticultural needs – like sunlight levels and visual movement –  considered when presenting bonsai and penjing. 

One of the most impactful tasks, Henry said, was repotting and styling a cryptomeria forest planting by Eisaku Sato, one of the 53 bonsai in the bicentennial gift from Japan to the United States, which marked the start of the Museum.

“Though I spent much of the time analyzing the process, it quickly acclimated me to the gravity of the work I will be participating in during my apprenticeship,” he said.

Henry is eager to interact with Museum visitors and capitalize on any opportunity to share the nuggets of wisdom he receives as an apprentice with fellow bonsai lovers and artists. He hopes that offering insight even just for small tasks, like wiring or pruning, will increase the accessibility of bonsai and penjing – and horticulture in general. 

“Having a mentor that makes you feel welcome and connects with you as an individual is a deeply important part of the learning process,” Henry said. “I certainly hope to put myself in a position to be that mentor for others.”

Already, he has recognized the gravity that accompanies the role of a Museum staff member, serving as a steward of the historic trees. Henry aims to develop a more thorough understanding of the maintenance a bonsai or penjing requires throughout the year, not just during the growing season, and familiarize himself with the species diversity found in the national collection.

“The bonsai and penjing housed in this Museum are masterpieces that will cease to exist if under improper care,” he said. “It is now partially my responsibility to provide nothing but the proper care so these beautiful trees and landscapes will continue to exist for generations to come.” 

Henry said he is honored to have been accepted into the apprenticeship and is grateful for the experience he will gain as an artist and horticulturist. 

“I sought out the National Bonsai Foundation’s First Curator’s Apprenticeship to learn and grow from the knowledge and experience of the talented curatorial team and draw from the artistic vision of the numerous artists who have contributed their masterpieces to the Museum,” he said. “I have quite a long way to go in my bonsai journey, and the apprenticeship is a paramount step in realizing it.”

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​​NBF is pleased to provide complete financial support for this apprenticeship, thanks to the Foundation’s generous donors. Without your help, this one-of-a-kind apprenticeship that helps to usher in the next generation of horticulturists wouldn’t be possible. Make a tax-deductible gift today to support the future of bonsai artistry. 

Spring Flowering Bonsai

Prunus mume 'Kobai' flowers blooming at the entrance to the Dr. Yee-Sun Wu Chinese Pavilion at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Photo by Steven Voss

It is peak cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C., and the beginning of a new growth ring. The birds, the bees and the humans are all swarming at the National Arboretum. The flowering cherry tree is the pinnacle angiosperm– that’s a fancy word for “flowering plant.”

The United States National Arboretum is a Clonal Germplasm Repository for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Let’s just say it is a plant DNA library, but instead of books on shelves there are collections of plants in Arboretum gardens. 

The U.S. National Arboretum has more than a thousand cherry trees in their prime for viewing. While their twigs are still naked of leaves, hard wood branches are covered in delicate blossoms. Bees wiggle between the petals and pull out clutches of gold pollen. Humans put their backs against the flowers, smile at cameras, and click. Eagles are soaring and songbirds sing above it all! 

One exceptional specimen of cherry tree DNA is in the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Check it out by strolling past the masterpiece bonsai and penjing in the Museum’s central courtyard, behind the massive red doors of the Yee-Sun Wu Chinese Pavilion. Rising from the corner, with branches that partially eclipse the moon gate entrance, is a cherry tree named Prunus mume ‘Kobai’. Less than a month ago icicles were dripping from its hot pink petals. 

This spring, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is displaying collections of flowering plant DNA in the form of bonsai and penjing. The Museum’s azalea bonsai special exhibit will be May 21st to June 5th. Some other spring flowering bonsai to admire are quince, maples, crabapples, firethorn, pomegranate and privet. The maple flowers will be small and subtle. They are often too high to see in the wild, so they are overlooked in the landscape. When viewing the blossoms in the Museum’s Japanese Pavilion, they are accessible, a perfectly sized ornament for miniature trees. There is nothing subtle about the flowers on azalea bonsai. Branch pads are pruned to such exaggerated forms that individual plants sometimes appear to be dancing for attention. Within the John Y. Naka North American Pavilion, when the breeze is right, perfume from privet bonsai flowers may be smelled before they are seen. 

One reason bonsai trees appear to be so small is because the size of leaves can be reduced by human intervention. Humans may withhold water or fertilizer to decrease their size. Or large leaves may be plucked and grow back smaller. Roots are constrained by high fired glazed earthenware, but the size of flowers cannot be reduced. Their function is to make future plants. As reproductive elements of plants, where and when they form on bonsai is controlled by reproductive hormones. 

In 1920, two United States Department of Agriculture essential employees named Garner and Allard discovered that many plants flower in response to changes in day length. So, some of the bonsai flowers being adored this spring first began to grow almost a year ago. Last summer and autumn when the days were getting short, spring flowers were microscopic. They were hidden within sheaths of dormant buds for their protection. Growth slows in the winter, but it rarely stops. As flower buds endure the chill they swell faster with every increasing degree. 

Specimens prepared for the Museum’s spring flowering bonsai displays receive countless judicious pruning sessions between flower formation last year and peak spring bloom.  Established silhouettes have been preserved with care not to revert century old bonsai back into a flower-less juvenile state. The common bonsai technique of pinching, or as an arborist would call “header cuts,” are used with reservation. The resulting branch ramification may not allow enough sunlight into canopies to disinfect the diseases flowering trees are prone to. The culture of masterpiece flowering bonsai by pruning is both selective and reductive. The strongest branches are often removed while leaving the little phototropic lateral ones. Those lateral branches, or “spurs,” as an orchardist may say, are where flowers are born. 

With all the help they are receiving from birds, bees, and humans at the U.S. National Arboretum the flowers are sure to be pollinated this spring. Another growth ring will form, flowers will become crabapples and exhibitions will change. This year, the Museum’s fall fruit and foliage special exhibit will be held from October 29 through November 13th. It will highlight bonsai and penjing from the collections at peak autumn color and ripeness. The seasonal nature of bonsai ensures that there is always something to look forward to.

NBF Board Member Glenn Reusch Passes at 78

The National Bonsai Foundation mourns the loss of long-time NBF Board of Directors member Glenn Allen Reusch who passed on Oct. 26, 2021 at 78 years of age. 

An avid stone collector, Glenn dedicated much time to spreading the beauty and history found in the suiseki collection at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum on the U.S. National Arboretum’s grounds. 

He was one of four founding members of the Potomac Viewing Stone Group in 1999 and remained their secretary from the group’s inception until his death. Glenn also participated on the NBF Board from 2002 until his passing. 

He served as co-chairman for the 5th World Bonsai Convention held in Washington, D.C. in 2005. Glenn also was the registrar and one of six organizers for the International Stone Appreciation Symposia held in Grantville, Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2012.  

The Reusch family is holding a celebration of life on Sunday, Oct. 31 at their home in Rochelle, Virginia. Some of Glenn’s exquisite viewing stone collection has previously been on display at the Museum: 

Coastal Rock Stone, Shenandoah River, Virginia (left) Human Object Stone, Basalt, Boise River, Idaho (right)

Please join us in celebrating his life in the comments section below. 

First Museum Curator Robert Drechsler Passes at Age 88

Affectionately known as “Bonsai Bob” in the bonsai community, Robert F. Drechsler of Cheltenham, Maryland passed away on Oct. 20, 2021, at age 88. Bob Drechsler was the first curator of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum, the first museum of its kind dedicated to the public display of the art of bonsai.

“The Museum is such a vital component of our desire to connect people to the value of plants in their everyday lives,” U.S. National Arboretum Director Dr. Richard T. Olsen said. “Clearly, Bob was touched by the wonders of bonsai and saw to it that this joy was shared through a career spent in service to these trees and the National Arboretum.”

When the U.S. government received 53 bonsai from Japan in 1975 for the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976, Bob was tasked with the care of these living gifts. Bob enthusiastically began studying and learning what it would take to nurture and train these potted plants. Scant information was available at that time. He had no internet or YouTube to teach him. In 1977, Bob traveled to Japan to learn how the Japanese had been caring for the bonsai. He learned first-hand from Japanese bonsai masters and nurserymen.

“Bob laid the groundwork for the Museum,” Head of Horticulture and Education Scott Aker said. “He always insisted on keeping the artist’s intent for each tree in mind when styling decisions were made. He never tried to impose his own aesthetic and served faithfully as caretaker for the trees in their critical transition to our growing conditions.”

Bob held the position of curator until retirement in 1998. He oversaw the construction of the Japanese Pavilion in addition to the North American and Chinese Pavilions. Bob also established the tradition of using local bonsai enthusiasts, whom he managed and trained, to help maintain the bonsai collections. 

Bob held many interests, including freemasonry, which led him to be the Grand Master of the D.C. Freemasons. But in retirement, he also regularly spent time at the Museum continuing to care for the trees. 

"Throughout his career and retirement, Bob was also a faithful supporter of the National Bonsai Foundation and its efforts to provide financial and programmatic support to the Museum, which he helped shape in its infancy,” NBF Board Chair Jim Hughes said.

Former Curator and NBF Co-President Jack Sustic said Bob’s generosity and dedication helped mold the Museum into what it is today.

“Bob was very humble and quick to falsely claim that he knew nothing about bonsai, even after 20 plus years of successful stewardship,” Sustic said. “Bob eagerly shared his wealth of knowledge, insight and experience with the Museum's history and care of the trees.”

In 2012, the First Curator’s Apprenticeship was established in Bob’s honor to train the next generation of bonsai artists. The scholarship has since been awarded to nine up-and-coming horticulturists. Former NBF President Felix Laughlin said he is glad to have the apprenticeship to pay homage to Bob and his legacy. 

“When I think of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, in my mind’s eye I see Bob Drechsler,” Laughlin said. “Bob personified all that the Museum represents: a national center inspiring multitudes of annual visitors with the beauty of bonsai, celebrating the legacy of all those who have made the Museum possible and assuring the health of the living collections for future generations.”

Bob (second from left) with three other Museum curators

Bonsai is Best of D.C. 2021

You voted, and the results are in! Washington City Paper has published this year’s Best of D.C. with promising results. We sincerely appreciate all of our supporters who worked to recognize the National Bonsai Foundation, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the U.S. National Arboretum in so many categories. 

The results show that the Museum, the Foundation, and the Arboretum were recognized in a total of ten categories! Thank you for demonstrating the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the National Bonsai Foundation’s value in the D.C. community for yet another year. The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum has now been recognized as one of the best places to take an out-of-towner for four years in a row! Take a look at the total awards and honorable mentions below.

The National Bonsai Foundation:

• Best Arts & Culture Nonprofit — Finalist

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum:

• Best Place to Meditate — Second Place

• Best Tour for Out-of-Towner — Second Place

• Best First Date Activity — Finalist

• Best Museum Tour — Finalist

• Best Outdoor Venue — Finalist

• Best Place to Day Trip — Finalist

• Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner — Finalist

The U.S. National Arboretum:

• Best First Date Activity — Winner

• Best COVID-19 Silver Lining — Second Place

Bonsai is Back: Words from PBA’s President on the 2021 Fall Show

Chuck Croft hard at work.

The weekend of Oct. 8-11, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum hosted the Potomac Bonsai Association’s 2021 Fall Show (PBA) at the U.S. National Arboretum. In anticipation for the event, the National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) spoke with Chuck Croft, President of PBA and ex-officio member of the NBF Board of Directors. He shared with us his expectations of the Fall Show and what to look forward to in future bonsai events.

PBA was founded by a group of bonsai enthusiasts in 1970. The Association has a long history of contributing Museum volunteers and has maintained a close relationship with both the National Bonsai Foundation and the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum over the years. In fact, during the Museum’s conception in 1976, volunteers from PBA helped to maintain Japan’s bicentennial gift of 53 bonsai to the U.S. National Arboretum, which constituted the Museum’s original collection.

“NBF, as I'm sure you’re aware, is the primary stakeholder for the Museum and PBA provides the vast majority of the volunteers at the Museum,” said Croft. “So we work with NBF in that respect and many of us are NBF members.” 

PBA currently oversees seven local chapters dispersed throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. They prioritize bonsai education and community building by connecting mentors with bonsai practitioners at all levels. 

Chuck Croft’s history with bonsai began over 30 years ago. He has been elected President of the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society twice since 1999 before eventually taking on the PBA presidency a total of four times. His long track record of leadership in bonsai is bolstered by a commitment to educating others.

“The first few years I was in bonsai I tried to learn by reading and that didn’t really help much,” Croft said. “You learn so much more and at a rapid pace as a member of a club where people can mentor you and teach, rather than trying to do it by yourself.”

Outside of his presidential duties, Croft works to mentor others through in-person study groups, some of which last years. He also teaches classes and workshops such as the ones he was invited to do at Merrifield Garden Center.

Croft is looking forward to the Fall Show as an exciting in-person opportunity to gather bonsai enthusiasts and reinvigorate local bonsai activity.

“This fall show is an effort to get things moving in the bonsai world locally again,” he said. “We are going to show trees and have people there to answer questions and teach - socially-distanced - about the trees.”

For those who couldn’t attend the event, Croft has some practical advice.

“Learn about the horticulture of your tree,” Croft said. “Different species of trees have different requirements, as in watering and sunshine and so forth. Learn the horticulture of your tree and you will increase the chances of you keeping your tree alive.” 

Croft acknowledges that perseverance and reflection, beyond community engagement, are necessary to become a better bonsai practitioner.

“If you lose a tree, know that we all have,” he said. “Don’t get discouraged. Learn from how you lost it. Everybody in bonsai has lost trees.”

Despite the losses, Croft continues to maintain the legacy of bonsai through his work at PBA and his generous commitment to hands-on teaching. 

“I enjoy it,” Croft said. “It helped me when I was in a very stressful situation. I think the trees are beautiful and I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors. It brings me back to my roots in a lot of ways.”

The Potomac Bonsai Association’s Fall Show will be held Oct. 8-11 at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum located at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Join us this weekend to admire the work of fellow bonsai enthusiasts from the D.C. metropolitan area. 

Thank you to the PBA volunteers and Museum staff that made this event possible. Event staff estimate that over 1,000 attendees came to admire the work of fellow bonsai enthusiasts from the D.C. metropolitan area. 

Readers interested in joining a local PBA chapter can visit potomacbonsai.com to learn more.

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. 

An Experience at The National Bonsai Exhibition: NBF Board Chair-Elect Dan Angelucci

Though the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and staff did not formally participate in this year’s National Bonsai Exhibition due to federal COVID-19 guidelines, a few National Bonsai Foundation board members attended of their own accord. Museum staff sent in an enlarged photo of a Mary Madison buttonwood in the North American collection to honor Mary’s memory at the show. Please enjoy this short recap from NBF Board Chair-Elect Dan Angelucci, who was in attendance along with NBF Secretary/Treasurer-Elect Ross Campbell. 

The National Bonsai Exhibition is held biannually in Rochester, New York.  It is organized by former NBF Board Member Bill Valavanis and his wife Diane, who are owners of The International Bonsai Arboretum. The exhibition displays more than 200 bonsai of various species and sizes along with a sales area of vendors from all over the United States.

This year’s (the 7th) exhibition was held Sept. 11 and 12. There were more than 50 volunteers from the bonsai community, primarily from the Rochester area and the Upstate New York Bonsai Society.

To display a tree in the exhibit, one had to submit photos of their tree to the committee along with information about the species, size, age and pot. Entries had to be submitted by early May, with acceptance notification coming in June. This means that if your tree was accepted, you had to maintain its health and appearance all summer until the exhibition!  

Needless to say, I was very excited to receive an acceptance for my Cotaneaster!  I’ve named him “Jack” after his original owner, my friend and teacher Jack Wikle. I had the task of keeping my tree safe, healthy and styled through the summer until September.

My wife Rose and I drove more than four hours from our home in Pittsburgh to deliver Jack to the show. To say we were awestruck when we arrived is an understatement! People were everywhere setting up displays, bringing trees in and making sure trees were being placed and displayed properly. And the trees – WOW! The quality of the trees exhibited was amazing. The artistry and talent displayed were truly exceptional.  Additionally, it was a great honor that Bill Valavanis asked me to join him for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the event to the public.

I met many people while manning the NBF booth along with my colleague and fellow NBF member Ross Campbell who attended the show with his wife Maureen. It was an added pleasure to see my friends from the Ann Arbor Michigan Bonsai Society: Cyril Grum, Jay Sinclair and, especially, Jack Wikle.

For more information and photos, check out Bill Valavanis’ blog. 

Vote for the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in Washington City Paper’s Best of D.C.

You got us on the ballot – now help us secure the titles!

The Washington City Paper’s annual Best of D.C. contest recognizes the best local icons, groups and locations in the D.C. area. The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum has earned the Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner title in this competition the last three years, as well as the runner-up spot for Best Place to Meditate in 2020! 

This year, we had to secure nominations to even get on the ballot. But you all showed so much support for bonsai – the Museum and National Bonsai Foundation garnered nominations in multiple sections!!

Now we need your help to secure the titles. All you have to do is push the green VOTE button next to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum or National Bonsai Foundation. 

Will you take a moment to vote for us in the THREE following categories?

• PEOPLE & PLACES – Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner: please choose the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

• PEOPLE & PLACES – Best Place to Meditate: please choose the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum 

• ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT – Best Arts & Culture Nonprofit: please choose the National Bonsai Foundation

Please share this information with your friends and family! NBF strives each day to uphold and promote the beauty of the Museum’s trees and historic objects – so more people can experience the resilience and tranquility the bonsai and penjing produce.

VOTING CLOSES SEPTEMBER 19 at 11:59pm! Thank you for taking the time to honor and spread the word about the Museum, an ever-evolving emblem of intercultural understanding and friendship. 

P.S. The Museum and NBF are up for a combined (heartwarming) nine categories! That’s all thanks to YOU for helping us get nominated. We are simply aiming to keep the Museum’s status as Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner and move up in the Best Place to Meditate ranks, plus grab some acclaim for NBF as the Best Arts & Culture Nonprofit. Any moments you have to vote for us in those three categories and spread the word with your loved ones is very much appreciated!

Museum Donor and Buttonwood Queen Dies at 91

The National Bonsai Foundation is saddened to hear that bonsai artist Mary Madison, a dear friend to NBF and donor to the U.S. National Arboretum’s collection at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, passed away July 28 at 91 years old. 

Known as the Buttonwood Queen for her revered work on buttonwoods, a species native to the United States, Mary was an icon in the bonsai world. She grew up in Florida, often traveling to the natural beauty displayed in the Florida Keys, which sparked her passion for horticulture. Her first taste of bonsai came in the form of photos from a former boyfriend who served in Japan after World War II who sent her pictures of bonsai, which spurred her to try tree training herself. Mary ended up studying under two world-renowned bonsai masters, John Naka and Ben Oki, until their deaths. 

Throughout her more than 60 years in bonsai, Mary served as a mentor to many rising and established bonsai artists, including Ryan Neil. In a moving tribute to Mary, Bonsai Mirai student and deadwood artist David Cutchin wrote, “Mary exemplified what it is to be a good person. She treated everyone with kindness and humility, her resolve was to do what’s right and forgive regardless of the situation… Quitting wasn’t a part of her vocabulary. She was a catalyst of human decency, hard work, and love to anyone she befriended.”

Bonsai Societies of Florida recently named their annual native species award the “Mary Madison Award” to pay homage to her immense contributions to the art of bonsai. 

Museum Volunteer LeeAnn Duling and First Curator’s Apprentice Sophia Osorio repotting one of Mary’s buttonwoods.

Two of Mary’s trees reside at the Museum, one being a buttonwood she donated in 1990. She was also the original collector of a buttonwood that ended up in the office of the Central Intelligence Agency before they gifted the tree to the national collection in 2019. 

NBF is grateful to have often crossed paths with Mary, as well as for her leadership as one of the first women in bonsai. 

“Mary embodied the spirit and authenticity of the Everglades and, with her warm and engaging personality, she opened our eyes to the beauty of tropical bonsai,” NBF Chair Emeritus Felix Laughlin said. “Like her good friend John Naka, she will always be remembered and celebrated as an iconic and beloved teacher who inspired the world of bonsai.”

NBF Chair Emeritus Jack Sustic said Mary’s kindness and eagerness to share her bonsai knowledge and passion inspired everyone she met.

“It was such an honor for me to care for Mary’s buttonwood while serving as curator,” Sustic said. “Mary's buttonwood in the North American Collection is a quiet testament to her love and passion for bonsai and will serve as a living legacy to a life dedicated to this wonderful art."