Commemorative Benches - A New Opportunity

If you love the beauty and brilliance of bonsai, you will appreciate this new opportunity to support the legacy of this great art form.

We invite you to recognize a special occasion or memorialize a loved one by dedicating a commemorative bench on the grounds of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum. Every generous donation helps ensure that the legacy of bonsai will be protected, preserved, and passed on for future generations.

Each commemorative bench helps us care for the incredible collection of trees at the nation's first and finest bonsai museum. Your gift will be part of a historic tradition that spans continents and cultures, and it will support the art of bonsai for generations to come.

To learn more, visit bonsai-nbf.org/benches.

Welcome Angelica Ramirez, 2023 National Bonsai Apprentice!

Angelica Ramirez, 2023 National Bonsai Apprentice

The National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) is pleased to introduce this year’s National Bonsai Apprentice, Angelica Ramirez – a multi-talented artist. Ramirez steps in as we thank and wish Henry Basile, the 2022 Apprentice, much luck in his next step at the Denver Botanic Gardens as Assistant Curator of the Japanese Garden. Read his thank you note at this link.

The purpose of the National Bonsai Apprenticeship is to educate and train a new generation of American bonsai artists. You can learn more about the Apprenticeship at this link.

Originally from Florida, Angelica Ramirez came to bonsai after years of pursuing and excelling in many interests. She attended the University of Florida for Music Performance and has been a cellist for over fifteen years. She is an accomplished archer, having won multiple championships and breaking multiple state and international records. Angelica started painting as a form of expression, and has a Helicopter Private Pilot license.

These various pursuits in life have led her to the art of bonsai, as she began practicing the art form in 2019 as a way to relax from flight school. She has studied under several teachers including Feng Gu of Penjing Bonsai Garden, Peter Chan of Herons Bonsai, and David Cutchin of D&L Bonsai. She was the first bonsai intern at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where she worked under the Garden’s bonsai curator (and former National Bonsai & Penjing Museum national bonsai apprentice), Chris Baker.

Angelica is the creator of Discover Potters, the global online database of bonsai potters which includes direct links to over 400 active potters in over 45 countries; and includes resources for finding and learning about bonsai pottery. Several of her accomplishments include earning second place at the Bonsai Societies of Florida’s styling competition, which earned her a scholarship to continue her bonsai studies and awarded the opportunity to be a guest artist for the 2022 48th Annual Bonsai Societies of Florida Convention. During that year, Angelica showcased her bonsai at the 2022 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival and later, at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Welcome, Angelica! We are thrilled to have you on the team and look forward to all that you will do for the Museum, trees and community!

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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. 

In Memoriam: Marybel Balendonck

The National Bonsai Foundation and greater bonsai community celebrates the life of brilliant bonsai artist Marybel Balendonck, who passed away at age 97 in California in February 2023. 

Balendonck was born and raised in Texas, working an assortment of odd jobs (even obtaining a pilot’s license!) before moving to California in the 1960s. Asian arts captivated her, and she began to teach herself bonsai through books, starting her formal training in 1965. She was one of John Naka’s principal students and dear friends but also studied under prominent artists like Melba Tucker and Harry Hirao.

Since her introduction to bonsai, her passion for the art only grew, and she became thoroughly involved in the bonsai community, once saying that "bonsai combines many of the best aspects of art and nature.”

Balendonck was one of the founding members of the NBF Board of Directors (serving until 2020) and an original member of Kofu Bonsai Kai, a Southern California-based bonsai club. She served in several bonsai club leadership positions, including the Santa Anita Bonsai Society, California Bonsai Society, Golden State Bonsai Federation and a founding member of California Aiseki Kai. She was also the first non-Japanese member of Nampu Kai Bonsai – John Naka’s exclusive bonsai club.

Naka (in overalls) and Nampu Kai members gather including Marybel (in yellow) around a tree during a 2003 meeting in California

“There was hardly any separation between John and Marybel, they were that close,” Former NBF President and Chair Emeritus Felix Laughlin said. “Her legacy will be the Museum’s John Y. Naka Pavilion and the iterations of it in future renovations. Marybel was the real deal and a great and tenacious fighter and promoter of NBF and the Museum.”

Left: John Naka and wife Alice Naka with Marybel

Right: Marybel (orange), John Naka, Nay Komai, Barbara Hall Marshall, Cheryl Manning and Alice Naka

Besides her support for the Naka Pavilion, which houses the North American collection, Balendonck was a key player in the fundraising efforts for several Museum structures and was known for her generous heart. The California Bonsai Society and other friends of Marybel helped to fund the Research Center of the Museum’s exhibits gallery, recognizing her contributions toward the Museum’s completion. 

“Legend has it that during a banquet at a bonsai convention in California she locked all the doors except one, where she put a table and chair in front of and no one could leave unless they gave to the North American Pavilion construction project,” former NBF Co-President Jack Sustic said. “Not sure if that's the exact truth, but knowing Marybel I wouldn't put it past her!”

Her trees were displayed in venues like the Huntington Library and Gardens, Los Angeles County Arboretum, the Japanese American Cultural Center Los Angeles and the Bowers Museum in Orange County, California. Her Chinese Elm, shown left and donated to the Museum in 1990, was once on display at the White House. She was awarded the 1994 Ben Oki Award by the American Bonsai Society.

Marybel also has several stones, including a dobutsu-seki, or animal-shaped stone, in collections all over the world. 

“I have so much respect and admiration for Marybel and consider myself fortunate to be able to call her friend,” Sustic said. “Never one to hide her opinions or waver in her views, one knew exactly where they stood in her eyes. We came to be close friends and her support of me, as a friend and as curator has meant the world to me and I'm eternally grateful for both.”  

Marybel, middle, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Naka Pavilion in November 1988.

Bonsai is Best of D.C. 2022

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 four 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 five years in a row! Take a look at the total awards and honorable mentions below.

Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner

Winner:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum  (selected for fifth year in a row)

Finalist:  U.S. National Arboretum

Best Tour for Out-of-Towners

Finalist:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Best Place to Meditate

Winner:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Runner-Up:  U.S. National Arboretum

Best Place to Day Trip

Finalist:  U.S. National Arboretum

Bonsai Apprentice Henry Basile's Thank You Letter

As the morning weather in Washington, D.C. gains the slightest hint of a chill, I look out on the serene courtyard of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, where I’ve learned and experienced so much since my graduation from Kansas State University with a Horticulture degree just four months ago.

My understanding of plant physiology and general horticultural care – and of course bonsai maintenance, development, and refinement – has deeply expanded through the incredible opportunity to be this year’s Bonsai Apprentice (in honor of the Museum’s first curator, Robert Drechsler. The Apprenticeship provides me eight hours of daily practice at one of the highest levels of intensive horticulture. As anyone who practices bonsai, penjing, kusamono, shitakusa, or related arts will tell you: This hands-on experience is irreplaceable.

Along with the roles of artist and horticulturist, curatorial staff play the roles of educator and historian. While I’m out in the collection watering or weeding, visitors often ask questions from simple (“What are the tea bags on top of the soil?”) to complex (“What is the history of that tree?”), allowing me to deepen my insights each day. This accumulation of knowledge and proficiency, as well as daily interactions with patrons regarding the artistry and history of the trees, are among the most meaningful aspects of my Apprenticeship.

With your support, this program will continue to train people who increase the scope of bonsai within the United States. The National Bonsai Foundation’s ongoing investment in this Apprenticeship, promotion of various exhibits and artists, and dedication to introducing bonsai to a broader public are necessary steps to develop the next generation of bonsai artists and curators. 

Thank you to the National Bonsai Foundation for advancing bonsai artists, horticulturists, and curators through the Bonsai Apprenticeship. And special thanks to you and the many supporters who have made this incredibly formative experience possible for me, those before me, and those still to come.

Henry Basile

Bonsai Apprentice 2022

In Memoriam: Abe Shinzo, September 21, 1956–July 8, 2022

The National Bonsai Foundation extends its deepest condolences to the loved ones of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and to the people of Japan at this sad and difficult time.  Mr. Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan and a very faithful friend to both the United States and democracy throughout the world.  The news of his assassination on July 8, 2022 is a truly tragic and shocking loss. 

Mr. Abe had a special connection to the U.S. National Arboretum’s National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the NBF, starting from when the Museum opened in 1976.  The Museum opened with a gift of fifty-three trees from the people of Japan to honor the United States’ bicentennial and celebrate peace between the two nations. These trees, the “original gift,” occupy a special place in the Museum’s history, and many remain on display today. One tree, a dwarf Japanese maple, was donated by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Shintaro Abe, Mr. Abe’s father. 

The Museum was also honored in 2019 to host Mrs. Akie Abe, Mr. Abe’s wife, during her visit to Washington, DC when she toured the Museum alongside the First Lady. It was a privilege then to share with her the tree that her father-in-law had donated, and the Museum continues to be proud to display it for the public at this time.

Former NBF Board Member presented distinguished Japanese award

All photos courtesy of Aaron Webb – Embassy of Japan in the USA

The Ambassador of Japan honored former National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) Board of Directors Member and author Ann McClellan at a ceremony earlier this month for her outstanding contributions of introducing Japanese culture and promoting friendly relations between Japan and the United States. 

Though she was officially awarded the Imperial Decoration “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays” in 2021, the award presentation and ceremony was ultimately hosted on May 10, 2022, at the home of Koji Tomita, Japanese ambassador to the United States. 

“I am humbled beyond measure to have been recognized in this way,” Ann said. “It wasn't something I sought or expected.”

The presentation began with Ambassador Tomita’s speech, which welcomed the intimate crowd of Ann’s colleagues, friends and family and highlighted her contributions to furthering understanding of Japanese culture in the United States. The ambassador presented Ann with a certificate signed by the Japanese prime minister to accompany her medal, which had been pinned to her jacket for the ceremony. 

“The award came in a lovely lacquer box, which I keep in a special spot where I can see it daily,” she said. “Sometimes I reach out and touch it, just to affirm to myself that it's really here in my world.”

Ann also spoke at the ceremony, thanking the many supporters she has had throughout her career and about her introduction to Asian culture, which came when she unexpectedly taught a Japanese and Asian history course to high school students while finishing college. Since then, she’s traveled to Japan several times, worked on the Smithsonian Institution’s product development team for Japanese goods, written several books on Japanese cherry blossoms and spread the spirit of bonsai throughout the United States. 

Ann and her brother, Bill, speaking at the ceremony

“I was one hour ahead of the students in learning that semester, but it launched my abiding interest in Japan and all things Japanese,” Ann said in her speech. “I thank the cherry blossom and bonsai spirits for the honor and privilege of sharing their stories, and I thank the government of Japan for its recognition of my efforts to expand understanding of Japanese culture through these trees.” 

Ann’s eldest brother, Bill, gave a toast in her honor, which included an overview of Ann’s academic and professional background as well as family memories the siblings share. 

“To you and your written works and presentations on the Sakura Celebration, bonsai and Japanese culture – we toast your good works and wish you good luck in your next projects,” Bill said in his toast. 

Ann said she was in a state of astonishment about the experience and still lives in the reverie. For the foreseeable future, you will find her presentations on bonsai and cherry blossoms or working on her upcoming publications. Ann’s next book, to be published in 2023, highlights the cherry trees blossoming at the U.S. National Arboretum and around the world. You can find her book about the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, Bonsai and Penjing: Ambassadors of Peace & Beauty, on the NBF bookstore.

 Although Ann recently finished her term as a member of the NBF Board, we still wholeheartedly  feel her support as a long-time supporter and leader of the Foundation. NBF is grateful for her dedication to sharing the art of bonsai and looks forward to her continued success in spreading appreciation and understanding for Japanese culture.

New Special-Edition, Commemorative T-Shirt Design!

We are thrilled to launch the new design of our 2022 commemorative World Bonsai Day t-shirt to our Gift Shop. The art featured on the front is of the Museum collection’s Black Pine and was originally done in woodblock by professional artist and friend of the Museum, Mary Ellen Carsley. Learn more about her and the inspiration she finds and shares through bonsai and the Museum here. The back features a quote by Bonsai Master Saburo Kato.

T-shirts come in both short-sleeved and long-sleeved and in several colors. Get yours today, or as a gift for your favorite bonsai lover!

Learn more about World Bonsai Day here.