Chicago Botanic Garden’s beautiful bonsai tree garden will be on display through the end of October.
With over 385 acres, nine islands, 27 gardens — including one inspired by French impressionist Claude Monet — and four natural areas, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a prime place to witness the season’s floral fireworks. Among their gorgeous gardens is CBG’s beautiful bonsai collection, presently on display until the end of October. [Featured image via Chicago Botanic Garden Facebook]
Fall is here and winter is around the corner: better get out and enjoy the colorful flora while is lasts! While Chicago is filled to the brim with enchanting gardens, there’s one in particular that can’t be found elsewhere in the city and that’s the Bonsai Collection at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Their bonsai collection features stunning specimen of spectacular bonsai trees that peak not only at different times in the season, but different moments in the day:
“See what happens when you drop by the Bonsai Collection—among the best of its kind in the world—at different times of day,” Chicago Botanic Garden writes on their website.
“One morning, you might note the cinnamon scent of the Asian star jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum)—and then return after sunset when its fragrance intensifies. And you might consider the essence of the cascade (kengai) bonsai, backlit against the evening sky. Is it arching over the rim of its container toward the ground, or is it growing toward the disappearing sun?”
The art of bonsai can be traced back to the 6th century, wherein the Japanese adapted the Chinese art of penjing, also known as penzai, wherein miniature trees and other flora were artistically cultivated, pruned, wired, and displayed in a variety of delicately adorned pottery. The practice of bonsai utilizes similar cultivating techniques, but features more proportional “refined” trunks, and less prominence of display apparatuses — opting for smaller, tray-like bases that decorated pots.
“The Chicago Botanic Garden’s collection of nearly 200 bonsai includes gifts from the Midwest Bonsai Society and from Japanese bonsai master Susumu Nakamura. Among the trees donated by Nakamura was a Japanese white pine that has been trained for at least 100 years. On rotating display, each bonsai takes the stage at the peak of its beauty.”
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