Last fall, Boon Manakitivipart brought a student from Thailand to work with him at Shinpukuji Bonsai Museum.
Removing leaves from a Chinese quince
Some of the work involved removing leaves from deciduous varieties including quince and trident maple.
Trident maple
After removing the leaves
Another trident maple with leaves removed
Fall is also a great time for working on black pines.
Black pine
After removing last year’s needles and wiring
Trunk detail – what bark!
In addition to the museum’s outdoor display is an indoor display that often features seasonal trees like the Stauntonia below.
Stauntonia hexaphylla – “mube” in Japanese
Euonymous
Gardenia
A perennial favorite of Mr. Oomura’s is princess persimmon. Few gardens anywhere have the depth of the princess persimmon collection at Shinpukuji.
Princess persimmon
Princess persimmon
Trees not currently on display reside in Mr. Oomura’s garden. In addition to the museum pieces, Mr. Oomura’s collection includes many trees in development like the spruce below.
Spruce
Black pine
Trident maple
For those who haven’t had the chance to visit, here are a few shots of the temple grounds.
Stair in front of the main hall
Gate
Wooden shrine
Fall color
Thanks again to Boon Manakitivipart for the photos.
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Daniel Dolan says
Jonas:
Why exactly are the leaves removed……instead of just waiting for them to fall? That said, in Chicago this past fall, where the temperatures did not get as cold as normal…….the leaves actually never fell off several Trident Maples for the first time…….nor did they change color as dramatically.
Thank you.
D/D
Chicago
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Daniel, great question – there are several reasons. While removing the leaves helps the tree into dormancy, the main benefits are allowing more light and air into the tree’s interior where it can stimulate new or weak buds and providing a less hospitable environment for bugs, fungus, etc. during winter.
Gary R Croft says
Jones how far from Nagoya is is the Shinpukuji bonsai museum? I’m off to that area in 17 days time and I really would like to get off the tourist trail of Osaka/Kyoto/Nara and see some fine work that I’ve been reading about.
So far I’ve only been to Omiya (where photography is banned apart from certain outside works @ the museum itself).
I am currently resident down in Australia.
Gary Croft/Melbourne.
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Gary – Shinpukuji is roughly an hour from downtown Nagoya. Here’s their website: http://www.shinpukuji.com/bodaiju/index.htm
Daiju-en (Toru Suzuki’s garden), Aichi-en and Okamoto’s garden would be some other great bonsai places to visit in the area if you get the chance.
Gary R Croft says
Jonas,thanks so much for your info. I’ll search out JR. transport in immediate area -could be fun & scary as I’ll be on my own but what the hell! The other three garden names you supplied will definitely be on bucket list.
Much in appreciation, Gary