Takagi

I don’t know a lot about Mr. Takagi – a friend brought us to his nursery to view bonsai and shop for pots. And as we cannot import trees into the U.S., pots figured prominently on our bonsai traveler’s shopping list.

While racing through the garden – one rarely knows how long a visit like this will last – looking above and below benches, a shimpaku caught my attention.

Shimpaku

“An unremarkable tree,” you might say. The silhouette is somewhat undefined and the foliage is still sporting its winter bronze. What caught my attention was the tree’s movement. Straight lines on junipers rarely impress. This tree’s trunk was anything but.

Deadwood detail

The sinuous lines reflected the tree’s past. The uncarved deadwood revealed the tree’s age. Together, the age, beauty and character of the tree made for a nice bonsai.

Looking up from the benches, I noticed a Japanese Beech that seemed out of scale with the other bonsai:

Garden beech

It was nearly 15′ tall! A number of Takagi’s garden trees were as well manicured as his bonsai which made the garden a fun place to visit.

Water basin

And considering that the sun was out and I was comfortable in a T-shirt – at dusk in mid-February – there was nothing to do but appreciate our sneak-peak of spring.

Spring blossoms