Cheryl Manning, a member of the NBF Board of Directors and a longtime student and friend of John’s, wrote about his process of envisioning the end product of his trees – including before and after photos!
Influential Bonsai Master: John Naka
Bonsai Teaches Us Respect for All Life
Dear Friends of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum,
In this time of global pandemic and awakening to end racial injustice, we look forward to the reopening of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum so again we all can walk among the majestic and inspiring bonsai and penjing waiting for us there.
Our hearts are heavy for those hurting around the nation and the world, and we hope that you and your family are safe and healthy. We give thanks for those bonsai masters like John Naka, Yuji Yoshimura and Saburo Kato who were instrumental in creating the Museum and taught us the true meaning of bonsai. As Saburo Kato once said:
“From bonsai we receive peace of mind, health, and a life’s pursuit. We can also learn generosity, patience and even philosophy about life. We have also had the good fortune to make friends of all nationalities and races with whom we share a mutual trust and respect. This is all thanks to bonsai.”
The core values of bonsai, which we strive to uphold at the National Bonsai Foundation, are rooted in promoting and fostering world peace and respect for all life. Together we can take comfort in the art of bonsai to encourage inclusivity, empathy and peace throughout the world.
In Solidarity,
Felix Laughlin and Jack Sustic
NBF Co-Presidents
Museum Donors & Their Trees: The Buttonwood Queen
Mary Madison tends to a bonsai, courtesy of Orlando Bonsai.
What do you know about bonsai royalty?
In our new blog series, “Museum Donors and Their Trees,” we sat down with Mary Madison, known throughout the bonsai community as “The Buttonwood Queen” for her fantastic work on the buttonwoods, or Conocarpus erectus, native to the United States. Madison said the nickname comes from one of her mentors, Ben Oki, who introduced her off the cuff as “The Buttonwood Queen” at a demonstration in California years ago, and the title stuck.
She grew up helping her dad plant and work in the yard of their home south of Miami, where she first cultivated her love for growing plants. Madison also had a knack for drawing and other art forms, and she said a former boyfriend who served in Japan after World War II would send her pictures of bonsai. After looking at the pictures, she decided to try tree training for herself.
“The first tree I started on was a buttonwood,” Madison said. “I just kept on at it and couldn’t stop. I still can’t, and I’m 90 years old.”
After attending a few demonstrations at the Bonsai Society of Miami, Madison ended up studying under Oki and John Naka up until the two passed away in 2018 and 2004, respectively.
She had trained a group planting of cypresses to resemble the Everglades, and Naka had told her she had natural talent. From that day, a beautiful friendship of more than 40 years formed between Madison, her husband TJ, Naka and Oki.
She added that she was the first woman to join the private bonsai club Naka was a member of, and the group even named one of her trees – an honor in the bonsai community. Madison hosted a tea ceremony and open house to show off the tree, which the club named Sen Ryu, or “mystical dragon.”
Madison’s buttonwood – donated in 1990
The queen’s trees
Madison first donated a buttonwood to the Museum in 1990, a tree she dug up herself in South Florida.
She worked on the buttonwood for about four or five years before receiving a call from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum asking her to donate a tree. Madison said someone sprayed her tree with Malathion on the trip up to the Museum, which she said is almost “instant death” for buttonwoods, so the tree had no leaves when first on display.
Luckily, Madison said, Museum workers took great care of the buttonwood. She said the tree is back to its full glory and maintains her original style but has grown quite a bit since she donated it.
Madison said she styled the tree keeping in mind the “odd” trunk shape, which she said likely formed because the buttonwood grew up through rocks.
“I just started following basic rules, like keeping the bottom larger than the top, until i figured out exactly what I wanted,” she said. “Then I eliminated a few branches and went on from there.”
Madison’s second tree at the Museum traveled around the world before landing at the Museum. She originally sold the tree – a buttonwood, of course – years ago, and it changed hands a few times, ending up under the wing of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2019.
“When I saw that picture of it at the CIA it tickled me to death, I thought that was so funny. People might start thinking I'm a spy or something,” Madison said. “But the CIA was afraid they might kill it, so they donated it to the Museum.”
While the Museum is not currently open, you can read more about the buttonwood from the CIA in our October Historical Tree Spotlight and see her first donated buttonwood among other North American Collection in our virtual catalogue.
Madison still holds demonstrations for the Miami bonsai group and private clubs around Florida to this day.
“I'll probably die out there working on a tree,” she joked. “That would be what I want.”
Historical Tree Spotlight: The Chinese Banyan
While many bonsai are often plucked from the ground after natural growth, some trees are specially created. For example, the Chinese banyan – or Ficus microcarpa ‘Kaneshiro’ – is the incredible cross-pollination work of the tree’s donor, Haruo “Papa” Kaneshiro.
Museum Curator Michael James said Kaneshiro, who lived in Hawaii, is known as the father of tropical bonsai for his work with tropical trees long before they were considered for bonsai material by the mainstream. Kaneshiro was honored among other notable bonsai figures, like John Naka and Ted Tsukiyama at the International Bonsai Convention in Hawaii and was one of the first members to start the World Bonsai Friendship Federation.
“One of the reasons Kaneshiro is credited with being the father, king or papa of tropical bonsai is because he was so willing to share the secrets of bonsai with the rest of the world,” James said.
No Ordinary Tree
The Chinese banyan is Kaneshiro’s unique cross between Ficus microcarpa ‘retusa’ and Ficus microcarpa ‘crassifolia.’ While figs on a ficus generally grow to the size you might see in a grocery store, the fruit on a Ficus microcarpa usually range from ⅛ inch to ¼ inch, James said.
The flowers of Ficus microcarpa reside inside of the fruit and never open, so small wasps have to crawl inside of the fruit to pollinate the flowers. Kaneshiro’s process created the Ficus microcarpa ‘Kaneshiro’ bonsai that remains at the Museum today.
Root Over (Lava) Rock
James said this Chinese banyan has been in training since 1975, but Kaneshiro planted the tree in the ground over a slab of lava rock in 1982. This unconventional planting method restricted the tree from growing directly into the ground – the roots had to hit the lava slab first and then grow around the rock.
“These ficus trees grow so quickly that if you put one straight in the ground in Hawaii it becomes a 100-foot tree in no time,” he said.
By the time Kaneshiro pulled the banyan from the ground and potted it in 1987, the tree’s roots had wrapped around the lava rock so tight that the rock became part of the composition, James said.
“Now it’s a root over rock, or root over slab, as if it were growing on a volcanic hillside in Hawaii,” James said. “You can see the volcanic rock jutting out like a volcanic ledge.”
A Resting Place
The Chinese banyan came to The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in 1990, finding a home in a pavilion named for its donor: The Haruo Kaneshiro Tropical Conservatory. Kaneshiro has also donated a black pine held in the North American Collection.
James said the banyan grows fast, all year round, meaning volunteers have to prune back the banyan’s shoots and leaves about once a week.
“On a Japanese white pine, pruning might be done once a year, but banyans grow out of bonsai shape and their leaves become too large very quickly,” he said.
As a tropical tree, the banyan thrives in warm climates like Florida, Southern China or Vietnam and boasts a soft wood, so it cannot freeze.
FIRST CURATOR'S BLOG: My First Six Months as a Curator’s Apprentice
As we crawl toward the end of the summer and into the beginning of fall, I look back on my first day at The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in March. They say, “Time flies when you are having fun,” and I very much agree. Caring for and working on bonsai full-time for the past six months has been even more amazing than I could have imagined. Since my first day, I have met many talented and friendly bonsai artists from around the world, from whom I have learned specific design and horticulture techniques for various species.
Andy Bello with Michael Hagedorn on World Bonsai Day 2019 at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
I took some time off and traveled to Bremerton, Washington, where I had the privilege of staying and working with Dan Robinson – a seasoned bonsai professional – for a little over a week. I also visited with Aaron Packard, the curator of the Pacific Bonsai Museum and former assistant curator of The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. I learned and shared ideas about bonsai with artists who influence my personal work. I experienced and gathered inspiration from the wonderful ancient trees that still exist in the Northwestern United States.
Bello prunes a Korean black pine with a nice view at Elandan Gardens in Bremerton, WA
Working on the trees in the National Collection has been an extremely educational and enjoyable experience. I have worked on a diverse collection of species, while also learning when and how to apply different techniques, including when are the best times to prune, wire, fertilize and repot, depending on the season. My favorite seasonal tasks thus far are repotting in the late winter and early spring or decandling or removing spring growth from red or black pines to stimulate a second flush of growth in the summer.
Working on trees donated by prominent figures in bonsai history – including John Naka, Saichi Suzuki and Bill Valavanis – has been a humbling experience.
Post decandling on Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) donated by Saichi Suzuki
Thinning and structural pruning on the “Yamaki” white pine (Pinus parviflora)
As I move into the second half of my apprenticeship, I hope I can continue to meet and befriend other bonsai artists and enthusiasts and continue to expand my horticulture and design skills. I will continue to share the wonder and joy of bonsai with the public who come to visit The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.
Best,
Andy Bello
Andy Bello has been selected as the Museum’s 2019 First Curator’s Apprentice. The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum's First Curator's Apprenticeship for 2019 is funded by generous grants to the National Bonsai Foundation from Toyota North America and The Hill Foundation. More on Andy here.