• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

New book showcases bonsai and penjing at the Montréal Botanical Garden

September 24, 2019 by Jonas Dupuich

Bonsai | Penjing: The Collections of the Montréal Botanical Garden by Danielle Ouellet. $71.95 in hardcover from Goose Lane Editions. 276 pages.


I was excited to find a note from Goose Lane Editions a few weeks ago announcing the publication of Bonsai | Penjing: The Collections of the Montréal Botanical Garden, by Danielle Ouellet. A few days later, I received a review copy in the mail.

Bonsai | Penjing

Bonsai | Penjing

The book is a remarkable production made possible by the Friends of the Montréal Botanical Garden. Here’s what makes it great:

  1. It’s a well-written and beautifully produced book.
  2. It’s a great example of how to showcase a public bonsai and penjing collection.
  3. It provides a great starting point for learning about penjing.

Like many bonsai enthusiasts, I don’t know a lot about of penjing styles or history. Ouellet’s text provides a helpful introduction.

After outlining characteristics that apply to all penjing, such as inspiration from nature and the presence of a cultural dimension, Ouellet offers a primer on prominent contemporary approaches.

Ouellet’s research for the book included interviews in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada with the people who helped establish the bonsai and penjing collections. The stories are fun to read – particularly the account of the last-minute maneuverings that secured delivery of thirty penjing from the Wu Yee Sun collection in Hong Kong.

Chinese elm

Chinese elm (page 139) – “The first criterion is that a penjing must have a cultural dimension; otherwise it is like a person with no soul.” – Hu Yunhua

The format of the book – 11.75″ by 10.75″ hardcover – makes it easy to appreciate the glossy color photos inside. After 75 pages focusing on history and esthetics, the remainder of the book features 106 trees from the Garden’s bonsai and penjing collections.

Studying these trees makes it clear that Éric Auger (Curator of the Japanese, North American and tropical collections) and Matthiew Quinn (Curator of the Chinese collections ) are doing a fantastic job.

More than anything, their work strikes me as thoughtful. The trees are healthy and well-styled, down to the last branch. It can take a lot of time to prepare a single tree for display, and the care Éric and Matthiew take shows in every photo.

Eastern white cedar

Eastern White Cedar (page 216) – “North American artists can dare to break free of established standards and experiment.” – David Easterbrook

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea (page 190) – “Contemplating and caring for your bonsai is a way to restore your inner peace after a long work day” – Tomio Yamada

Following the gallery are brief descriptions of each tree with botanical information, geographic distribution, dimensions, and prose descriptions featuring anecdotes and explanations of trees’ key features.

Descriptions of the specimens

Descriptions of the specimens

It’s this last section that reinforces the role of the Montréal Botanical Garden as custodian of these trees and their stories, and makes the book an example for other public bonsai and penjing gardens to follow.

What’s missing? It would be nice to see a few photos of the Botanical Garden itself. After learning how the collections came to Montréal, it would be fun to see the trees as visitors to the garden experience them. Will let you know what I find when I get a chance to visit!

Bonsai | Penjing: The Collections of the Montréal Botanical Garden by Danielle Ouellet is available today from booksellers including Goose Lane Editions, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Learn more about the Montréal Botanical Garden.

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Display Tagged With: Review

Previous Post: « Homing in on the ideal environment for satsuki azaleas
Next Post: Bonsai Development Series #17: Thin foliage to preserve interior shoots »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Meagan Hanna says

    September 24, 2019 at 5:33 am

    Dear Mr. Dupuich,

    Thank you for your thorough and encouraging review of Bonsai | Penjing: The Collections of the Montréal Botanical Garden. The specialists involved in this project committed countless hours to researching, styling, photographing and writing about this extensive collection. We are grateful for your attention and pleased to share our collection with bonsai enthusiasts. You’ve made our day!

    We’re ooking forward to your eventual visit to Montréal. Feel free to reach out to us if you find yourself in our corner of the bonsai universe.

    Meagan
    Living Collections Supervisor – Greenhouses
    Jardin botanique de Montréal

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      September 24, 2019 at 8:19 am

      Thanks Meagan, it’s an impressive achievement! Will definitely let you all know when I’m in the area.

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT