Take a Tour of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum 2/21/09

This famous old Japanese white pine is one of the most powerful bonsai anywhere. You can find it at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. As always. the photo, though enticing, doesn’t begin to do justice.

Next time you are in Washington DC, don’t miss the opportunity to visit our wonderful National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Meanwhile, you can enjoy some of the bonsai, suiseki and other national treasures right where you are just by clicking bonsai tour.

Don’t be fooled though, photos are not the same as the real thing. Not even close. For me, John Naka’s famous Goshin is a living example of the difference. I had seen numerous photos of this classic bonsai forest, but when I saw the real thing in person for the first time, it was much larger than I imagined, and it simply radiated power.

What made the experience even more dramatic, was, I wasn’t expecting to see it. I had just arrived at the 2005 WBC Convention in DC, and was just getting my bearings when I stumbled upon it in a lobby area, purely by accident. I almost fell over. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at; it was so much larger, stronger and more vivid than I ever imagined.

This photo of John Naka’s Goshin was taken by Peter Bloomer. It appears in his book Timeless Trees and is also on the cover of Bonsai Today issue 93. The tallest tree (all 11 trees are Foemina junipers) stands about 52″ (132cm).

Now, whenever I look at a photo of a great bonsai, I remind myself that what I am seeing is a pale reflection of the real thing.