Last chance to see the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection

Mugo pine and Ezo spruce, Pinus mugo and Picea glehnii, bonsai since 1985.

K

Update from June 2010: the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection exhibit is open again, 6 days a week. Check out their website for times.

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It feels like there's no end to to the bad news these days... Today, I learned the the famous Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection show garden will be closed in end of March 2009 until unknown date in the future. Due to the recession, the Weyerhaeuser Company that owns of the collection, has decided to close the display garden to the public, which is a pity as the collection is truly amazing. As the web site states, it is like an outdoor museum of living Asian art and it is located in a beautiful woodland setting within the Weyerhaeuser Company's corporate campus. It features 60 outstanding bonsai from six Pacific Rim nations. These miniaturized, living trees shaped have been by bonsai artists to portray scenic large trees in nature. Some bonsai create a vision of a serene, benign environment, while others suggest the drama of trees clinging to sheer mountainsides or windswept rocky shores.

K

This Chinese hackberry, Celtis chinensis, has been trained as bonsai for more than 40 years.

K

Catlin elm, Ulmus parvifolia 'Catlin', a miniature grove of 20 small trees.

K

Willow-leaf fig, Ficus salicifolia, bonsai since 1986.

KK

While I visited, the bonsai were still in their wintertime shelters, which is understandable, but visually a bit disappointing. Otherwise, I loved the detailed way the process of creating bonsai was explained, together with interesting facts about the bonsai pots. It really is a pity that this lovely, specific exhibition will disappear from the public sight, so check it out while you still have a chance!

K

K

Luckily, the Weyerhaeuser Company will keep the bonsai trees and continue to employ the curator and one full-time gardener to take care of these little treasures. I hope that they still keep their excellent web pages up, as they have good pictures and detailed information about the bonsai on display, information about the art of bonsai, a list of suggested reading and videos, other bonsai and penjing displays in the United States, and bonsai club websites and Internet resources.

K

Trident maple, Acer Buergerianum, bonsai since 1880, about 8 feet high. This tree was imported from Japan for exhibit at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. It was bought after the exhibition by nurseryman Kanetaro Domoto in California and kept in the Domoto family until it was included in the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection.

K