The bonsai garden is a little naked now. Bonsai assistant Blaire and I removed all the bonsai that were on display and placed them into winter storage, either in the hoop house that’s now covered with white poly or in the big walk-in refrigerator in the basement of the pavilion. The garden’s display benches are currently empty and that’s always a sad sight. We have a small display of tropical bonsai now set up for guests to admire in the greenhouse at the Baker Exhibit Center, so little trees are still available to anyone who comes to the Arboretum. The big show, however, is on hiatus, and will be until World Bonsai Day on the second Saturday in May.

The day before the bonsai were removed, I took my camera and made one last walk through the garden to photograph them. We had forty one specimens on display and I captured an image of each. They are presented to you here, along with a note that I photographed them as I found them. The trees were not cleaned up in any way. What you see as you look at these pictures is just how the garden display would have been if you walked in that last day for one final look.

It’s the end of the season and everybody’s ready for a rest. Soon we’ll begin the long preparations for another turn of the wheel.