After visiting the GSBF Mammoth Fundraiser last weekend, I stopped by the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Spring is a great time to visit the garden as the quince are in bloom and the maples are just starting to leaf out. It’s also a good time of year to see the blooms that make the winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata) unique.
Winter hazel blossoms
Winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata)
The garden is home to the largest pomegranate bonsai I’ve seen. According to the garden’s website, the tree was “Dug from an old orchard (thought to have been planted in late 1800s) in Lodi by Vince and Kathy Owyoung. They donated the tree, Sept. 2002. Styled by Seiji Shiba. A glass jar was found embedded in the trunk. Potted at the Garden, Aug. 5, 2008.”
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Pomegranate – trunk detail
A number of Japanese maples had just started to leaf out. The new foliage is beautiful.
Japanese maple
Japanese maple foliage
Japanese maple – note bamboo used to arrange trunks
Japanese maple grove
I’ve watched the California juniper below develop for close to 15 years – it has an interesting curve to the trunk. From the website: “Collected in 1954 from the high desert region near Palmdale in southern California, this tree was styled about 1964.”
California juniper
The fruit on the citrus below puts the tree in perspective. Every visitor that passed by stopped for a closer look.
Orange
At first I didn’t recognize the California Juniper you posted. Looking back thru pictures I took in 2005 (I think) I found it here: http://upstatebonsai.com/glr/v/bwaynef/gsbf/DSCF1020-ed.JPG.html (I didn’t quite get it from the front.)
Wow has it changed, and for the better.
I love bonsai gardens in spring, especially the quince. It is probably my favorite time of year. I particularly like the sign asking people not to pick the orange. It practically begs you to grab it and eat it.
Glad your feeling better Jonas, 2 weeks with no Bonsai tonight is like 2 weeks with no sunshine.
Alex
Following your blog in Belgium I wondered what happened when no posts arrived for some weeks. I am pleased to read them again.
Can you tell me more about the watering system in the pictures of that garden?
Lieve
Hi Lieve – thanks for the note; I was sick and am now better. The watering system used in the garden is a drip system that uses a variety of emitters. The two that appear in the photos are soaker lines and simple drip lines. I don’t know much more than that about how the trees there get watered.