Kendra Rubinfeld
Vote for Us in Best of DC 2024!
Vote for Us in Best of DC 2024!
Inside the Museum, Photographing Bonsai
Brendan Bailes
Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023
Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023
Inside the Museum, NBF News
Brendan Bailes
Ringing in the New Year, Literally
Ringing in the New Year, Literally
Apprentice, National Bonsai Apprentice, Curator's Apprentice Blog
Brendan Bailes
Letter from National Bonsai Apprentice Angelica ...
Letter from National Bonsai Apprentice Angelica Ramirez

bonsai trees

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Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023

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Thank you to all of our supporters in 2023! You are the reason that the National Bonsai Foundation continues to thrive in our mission to preserve the history, protect the legacy, and prepare the future of the art of bonsai in America.

Whether you donated to the National Bonsai Foundation last year, visited the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in person, or simply shared in the admiration of bonsai – your contributions to and participation in this great art form are deeply appreciated.

Through the course of years, decades, and even centuries, successive caretakers cultivate and nurture these incredible living art works. During our own lifetimes, the great responsibility and immense honor to care for these timeless trees falls to us. There is more to be done if we want to sustain the resilient beauty and persistent hope of bonsai for generations to come.

That's why, with your help, we will continue to sustain the art of bonsai in numerous ways throughout 2024:

  • We are proud to sponsor the National Bonsai Apprenticeship, the nation's premiere training program for up-and-coming bonsai artists. The renowned program prepares a new generation of American bonsai experts to ensure the future of the art of bonsai. Apprentices benefit from immersive education with professional curators and caretakers, hands-on experience with America’s national bonsai and penjing collections, and daily opportunities to hone their horticultural and artistic talents.

  • We partner with the U.S. National Arboretum to help maintain the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, the first and finest museum of its kind in the world. We support new exhibitions of bonsai, penjing, and viewing stones, helping to share the magic of these art forms with the public. We also provide ongoing education and development for the curators, which offers expanded opportunities to keep current with the latest approaches and techniques to the art form, and allows them to gain learning to stay at the top of their field.

  • We inform, educate, and inspire people at all levels about this breathtaking art form. Through initiatives like World Bonsai Day, exhibitions around the country, hands-on workshops, and national awards, we continue to share and delight in these awe-inspiring trees that give us so much joy, hope, and purpose.

We are so grateful that you have joined us to support these initiatives. Our dedicated community includes everyone from bonsai artists with decades of experience to new enthusiasts who have just discovered the awe of bonsai. Wherever you find yourself on your bonsai journey, we value you and we're glad you're here.

Thank you for helping to cultivate this incredible living art form. Together, we can ensure a vibrant and enduring future for the art of bonsai.

Warm regards and best wishes for the new year!

Visit the Museum to see these beautiful trees in person.

Our Best Bonsai Photos of 2023

All photos courtesy of NBF Board Member and professional photographer Stephen Voss.

Click on any photo to see a larger version. You can then scroll through the gallery by clicking on the left-right icons or using your arrow keys.

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Bonsai By Night in Black and White

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If you've visited the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum, or if you've browsed through the photos on our website, you know how photogenic the bonsai collections can be. There is a special majesty to the trees on display, and the more time you spend with them, the more each one expresses its own unique artistic vision.

At night, an essence of mystery descends on the stone paths and serene gardens of the Arboretum and the Museum. Since the grounds are open during daytime hours, visitors don’t usually have a chance to see bonsai under the moon. When its dark, and especially in black and white photographs, a glamorous mix of shadows and light emerges among the trees.

These black and white photos of bonsai by night are uniquely alluring. The nocturnal setting and the stark style converge to showcase beguiling details of texture and form.

Which is your favorite photo? Let us know your reactions in the comments.

Click on any of the photos to view fullscreen. You can use the arrow keys or click on the left or right of each image to scroll through the gallery in the lightbox slideshow.

Local Ikebana Chapter Hosts Modified Annual Exhibition

An ikebana display titled “Resilience” by the Sogetsu school

An ikebana display titled “Resilience” by the Sogetsu school

Ikebana International Washington, D.C. Chapter No. 1 held its first outdoor exhibit at the U.S. National Arboretum this spring. 

Ikebana, or the Japanese art of flower arrangement, has been a complementary art to bonsai for decades. Chapter One has held an indoor exhibit at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum for more than 20 years, but this year’s exhibition needed a different venue due to the Museum’s temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While hundreds of schools dedicated to the art of ikebana exist, seven schools are represented in Chapter One. The group’s president and this year’s exhibition chair – Ursula Kondo and Jean Rieg, respectively – spoke with the National Bonsai Foundation.

A relative of her husband’s coworker first introduced Kondo to ikebana. While she has always loved flowers, Kondo was drawn to the asymmetrical design of Japanese arrangements, which are similar to the floral styles in her home country of Germany. Kondo originally joined the local Houston chapter of Ikebana International before moving and enlisting in the Washington, D.C. chapter. 

Rieg’s artistic roots are in teaching scrapbooking and cake decorating. She often took many trips to gardens around the United States and abroad due to her mother’s love of flowers. A friend introduced her to ikebana as another creative outlet, and Rieg started studying with Bruce Wilson, the lead of Chapter One’s Saga Goryu ikebana school. She also attended classes for three years at Saga Goryu Headquarters in Japan and will continue those trips once the pandemic ends

About one year after beginning classes, Rieg became the host coordinator of the annual exhibition, which led to her appointment as chair this past year. 

“Ikebana has become an important part of my life, and I find it an incredible artform,” she said. “A lot of people find great joy in seeing arrangements and understanding which schools they are derived from.” 

Rieg added that each group produced incredible pieces, especially considering that only one of the six schools that participated this year had ever worked on outdoor arrangements. 

Sogetsu team co-leader Marjorie Bauman (left) and member Catherine Macauley (right) work on an arrangement.

Sogetsu team co-leader Marjorie Bauman (left) and member Catherine Macauley (right) work on an arrangement.

This year’s exhibition was both virtual and physical – two groups of 30 arrangements can be seen online, and 13 arrangements were available for viewing at the U.S. National Arboretum but are now online as well.

“We make sure to have arrangements from every school in our chapter so people can see the difference between the arrangements and styles,” Rieg said. 

The artists received basic directions on display details, like permitted dimensions, but the concept of each piece was largely left to individual inspiration. Most of the teams crafted arrangements to celebrate the anticipated end to the COVID-19 pandemic, titling their pieces with terms like “awakening” or “reawakening.”

Rieg said planning for this hybrid exhibition began in the fall of 2020. She saw a video exhibition that an ikebana chapter in San Francisco produced and thought a variation on that idea would work well for Chapter One. Rieg tested the concept with the chapter in a December Area Workshop with holiday arrangements. Teachers approved the students’ arrangements.

“We were worried how the public would react to the outdoor arrangements, but the exhibit was very well received, everyone was in awe of the arrangements,” Kondo said. 

“Breaking Out of the Pandemic” – Sangetsu school “Reawakened” – Ichiyo school

“Breaking Out of the Pandemic” – Sangetsu school “Reawakened” – Ichiyo school

For the outdoor arrangements, the creators had to consider elements present in the natural environment when designing their prototypes and choosing their materials. Each display featured a QR code that viewers could scan with their phones to learn more about the ikebana schools, the materials used in the arrangements and general information on the art form.

“The Ichiyo school used a lot of bamboo stakes for their arrangement,” Kondo said. “The creators made notches in the bamboo and wired them together so it didn’t fall apart in the wind.”

While the design process took a couple of months, each exhibit was completely assembled on the Arboretum grounds in just one day. Rieg said the teachers conceived the original designs, but both students and teachers executed the projects. Each team comprised three-to-five students and could work in a designated 8-foot by 5-foot area.  

“We tried to position the arrangements so each could have its day in the light, and it was worth it because the whole exhibition was so well-received by visitors,” Kondo said. “Everyone was impressed with the exhibition and delighted with the opportunity to view it at the Arboretum.”

Rieg said Chapter One wanted the exhibition to demonstrate the period of transition the world is in as it slowly emerges from lockdowns and restrictions instated for safety during the pandemic. 

“We wanted it to be a reawakening and spark interest in viewers,” she said. “Every good effort has a good outcome. We succeeded because of the artistry and skill within the chapter and the great support we got from the Arboretum, so everything worked out very well.”

You can learn more about Ikebana International Chapter One on their website and follow them on Facebook.

The Ikenobo team (L to R: Valeria Shishkin, Reiko Royston & Team Lead Kyoko Peterson) next to their arrangement “Manifestation of Life and Beauty”

The Ikenobo team (L to R: Valeria Shishkin, Reiko Royston & Team Lead Kyoko Peterson) next to their arrangement “Manifestation of Life and Beauty”