Bonsai Trees

Photos: April 6, 2016

Yesterday at the Botanical Gardens we walked through the greenhouse that holds a number of bonsai trees. It is hard to imagine the care and expertise needed to nurture these specimens. This is a 40 year old Chinese Peashrub.



This Gingko is just coming into leaf again. I'll have to make a point of going back to see what it is like when the foliage is full.



(Above - a Japanese Maple - 65 years old)  I'm fascinated by the art of bonsai. It takes a lot of skill and patience. This site has a lot of information. It's interesting to see the trees undergoing seasonal changes.



This Bald Cypress is also 65 years old. How many people have been responsible for its care? On the site mentioned above, there are photos of bonsais that are 800 years old and older. It is hard to imagine the succession of people who have nurtured them - through all kinds of upheaval (political, weather...) until now. They are works of love and devotion.

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As the above photos were taken yesterday (as were my butterflies, I figured I should include one photo from today



We have had snow and rain since our visit to the Botanical Gardens yesterday. It is April; it will melt, but in the meantime I prefer to sit with my back to the dreary weather and think again of butterflies and bonsais.

Bonsai Cherry Tree

Bonsai Cherry Tree, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

On the way to and from the butterfly exhibit we passed through a greenhouse with bonsais. Montreal has a large collection. Only a small part of the collection resides here. Most are in a pavilion that is only open starting in May. Each year I say I must go back.



I always find it interesting that we are so fascinated with things in miniature. I remember taking my (then fairly young children) to Madurodam in The Netherlands. We walked like giants around the miniaturized sampling of Dutch life. There, too, the plant life was coaxed into miniature versions of the normal larger forms.



I admire those with the patience and knowledge to maintain these trees (this one is 55 years old). It is definitely a work of love.

Bonsai

Bonsai II, originally uploaded by susanvg.

On the way into the greenhouse that housed the butterfly exhibit, I passed through an area with a number of bonsais. The Montreal Botanical Gardens has a large collection of bonsais, some hundreds of years old. Each pot is a world in miniature.



It takes much loving care to nurture these trees into this size and these shapes. Many of the bonsais in Montreal are only available for viewing from May to October. I'll have to make another visit to see more of the collection.