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The Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts is one of the premier collections of bonsai in the United States and includes a Hinoki Cypress over 250 years old. The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is an Arboretum located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale sections of Boston Massachusetts Jamaica Plain, commonly known as JP, is a historic neighborhood of 4 Bonsai (盆栽 literally "potted plant" is the art of Aesthetic miniaturization of Trees by growing them in containers The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Chamaecyparis obtusa ( Japanese cypress, Hinoki cypress or Hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧 hinoki) is a species of [1]

The Bonsai Pavilion where the trees are housed are part of the complex of buildings known as the Dana Greenhouses. The collection is on display from mid-April to the end of October. As the bonsai trees are deciduous, they are held in cold storage at temperatures slightly above freezing throughout the winter. Botany Autumn leaf color. See --> In Botany and Horticulture, deciduous Plants, including Winter is one of the four Seasons of Temperate zones Calculated astronomically, it begins on the Solstice and ends on the Equinox

Contents

Larz and Isabel

Larz Anderson had a long interest in the horticulture of Japan. Larz Anderson III (1866-1937 was a wealthy American businessman and Diplomat who briefly served as U Horticulture is the art and science of plant cultivation Horticulturists (or horticuluralists) work and conduct research in the fields of Plant propagation For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. He brought two dwarf maples back from his first trip to Japan in 1889. Acer ( maple) is a Genus of Trees or Shrubs They are variously classified in a family of their own the Aceraceae, or Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1907, he and his wife Isabel Weld Perkins built a Japanese garden at Weld (now Larz Anderson Park). Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Isabel Weld Perkins (1877-1949 mostly known as Isabel Anderson after her marriage was a Boston -area heiress and author who left a legacy to the public that includes that is Gardens in traditional Japanese style can be found at private homes in neighborhood or city parks and at historical Landmarks such as Buddhist Larz Anderson Park is a wooded landscaped and waterscaped 64 acre parkland in Brookline Massachusetts that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places But it was in 1913, while Larz Anderson was in Japan as U.S. Ambassador, that the Andersons became truly enraptured with bonsai. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common An ambassador is the highest ranking Diplomat who represents their country He wrote:

"About us were dwarf trees of fantastic shape and stunted plum in fragrant bloom, white and pink, and gnarled trees hundreds of years old with branches blossoming out of seemingly dead trunks in pots of beautiful form and color. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Isabel and I stopped so long in this little fairy place that we had to drive like the dickens through the congested streets of endless villages to Yokohama. is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, located in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshū and is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area . . in time for one o'clock luncheon. "[2]

Yokohama Nursery

The Andersons purchased 40 bonsai from the Yokohama Nursery Company. The company's catalogs from 1901 to 1922 are impressive documents, beautifully illustrated with colored plates, line drawings, and photographs. Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an Image created by Light falling on a light-sensitive surface usually Photographic film or an electronic In a section titled "Dwarf Trees Growing in Jardinieres" the catalogs show pictures of ancient specimens of Hinoki Cypress similar to those that are now part of the collection. They are captioned "Relics of the Tokugawa Era”. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868

The price Anderson paid for his plants is unknown, but the 1913-1914 edition of the catalog lists prices ranging from one to fifty dollars "in U. S. gold". When the Andersons returned to the US about a month later, they brought these bonsai with them and housed them at Weld.

Rainosuke Awano

At that time, knowledge of how to care for bonsai did not exist among Americans. Instead, the Andersons hired a succession of skilled Japanese gardeners. The most famous of these was Rainosuke Awano, a young man who maintained the collection while studying for his doctorate in philosophy at Columbia University. Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. He later returned to Japan and became a professor at Kwansei Gakuin University. colloquially abbreviated to, is a private Non-sectarian and Coeducational University located in Nishinomiya, Sanda, Osaka [3]

Public display

On at least two occasions the Andersons displayed their bonsai collection to the public display. They first displayed their new collection at the 1916 spring flower show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. When that same organization sponsored a show of chrysanthemums and Japanese dwarf trees in 1933, the Andersons participated again. On this occasion, House Beautiful magazine interviewed Rainosuke Awano and showed photographs of the collection. House Beautiful is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on Decorating and the domestic arts The author described the bonsai with heavy metaphor:

"It seems unholy to move such venerable patriarchs from the land where they have lived so long in meditation and repose. But they are here, nevertheless, in this country which was a wilderness when they and their art had reached a high degree of elegance and culture. And on the wide green terrace before the stately Brookline home of Mr. Larz Anderson, noted statesman and scholar, these noble trees, samurai of their realm, seem quite at home. That may be because adaptability is a quality of the nobly born. [4]

The donation

After Larz died in 1937, Isabel donated thirty of these miniature trees to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University along with the funds necessary to build a shade house for their display. When she died in 1948, the remaining nine plants in her possession were donated to the Arboretum including an 80-year-old Hinoki Cypress that had been given to the Andersons by the Imperial Household shortly before they left Japan for the last time. The Imperial House of Japan (also referred to as the Imperial Family or kōshitsu, 皇室 comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of

Decline

Arboretum staff did their best given their limited knowledge of the art of bonsai, but the Larz Anderson Collection suffered from the lack of expert skills needed to keep the fragile trees healthy. The practice of annually forcing them into early growth for the spring flower show of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society contributed the collection's decline. By 1962, 27 of the original 39 bonsai survived. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Among those that perished was the Hinoki Cypress that had been Hirohito's gift to the Andersons. also known as, (April 29 1901 – January 7 1989 was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order reigning from December 25 1926 until his death

Dana Greenhouses

The 1962 construction of the Charles Stratton Dana Greenhouses was of benefit to the collection. This facility includes a hexagonal, redwood lath house to display the collection during the growing season and a concrete-block cold storage for winter protection. Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living Species of the Genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag The latter maintains temperatures between 33 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 Formerly, the bonsai had been placed in covered pits and cold frames for the winter. This practice compromised the health of the plants and the consequent freezing of the rootballs cracked many of the original Japanese containers.

New expertise

In 1969 the bonsai again came under the care of a true expert. Constance "Connie" Derderian had been teaching courses in bonsai at the Arboretum for several years prior to her appointment. She describes:

"Perhaps because I was the only Bostonian who, for almost ten years, had steadily pursued the study of bonsai in the United States and in Japan, in 1969, through the efforts of Mr. Alfred Fordham, Dr. Donald Wyman asked me to repot the Anderson collection of bonsai. I did and began a program to renew the vigor and beauty of these venerable trees. Dr. Richard A. Howard, director, pleased with the initial effort, had me appointed Honorary Curator of the Bonsai Collection. "[5]

Under Derderian's care, the remaining portion of the collection was revitalized. When she resigned in 1984, Peter Del Tredici having worked as her apprentice since 1979, became the new curator. In recent years Colin Lewis, a noted bonsai artist and author, has been working on the collection. The health and aesthetic value of the collection is improving under his care.

Theft

The bonsai house was broken into over Columbus Day weekend 1986. Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, Six plants were stolen, including three Japanese Maples that were part of the original Larz Anderson Collection. Prompted by this disaster, the Arnold Arboretum renovated the bonsai house. Deteriorating redwood planks were replaced with sturdy douglas fir. Douglas-fir is the common name applied to coniferous Trees of the Genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. New doors allowed visitors an unobstructed view of the collection and a new security system was installed. "Silent alarm" redirects here For the album see Silent Alarm (album.

Extant specimens

15 plants remain of the original 39 which the Andersons donated:[6]

The Hinoki Cypress seem to be especially hardy; 7 of the 10 original plants are still alive. Acer buergerianum ( Trident Maple; Chinese: 三角枫 san jiao feng) is a species of Maple native to eastern China This article is about the Cherry berry also classified as fruit for the ornamental tree See Cherry Blossom. Chamaecyparis pisifera ( Sawara Cypress or Sawara ( Japanese: サワラ Sawara) is a species of cypress, native to central The Japanese White Pine ( Pinus parviflora) is a Pine in the white pine group Pinus subgenus Strobus, native According to Anderson's records, the oldest of these Hinoki Cypress was started in 1737. Year 1737 ( MDCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

References

  1. ^ LABC: The Bonsai at the Arnold Arboretum
  2. ^ LABC: The Japanese Connection
  3. ^ Kwansei Gakuin University Library
  4. ^ LABC: The Japanese Connection
  5. ^ LABC: The Bonsai at the Arnold Arboretum
  6. ^ As of March 2003
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