National Bonsai and Penjing Museum
We’ve gone to the National Arboretum each May since 2022 and three of those times were on May 7, which is when we went this year. The roses were a bit later this year, so we got to see a few that are generally done when we’ve been in prior years. After the National Herb Garden, which includes the roses, we walked through the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. This was first opened in 1976 when 53 bonsai trees were given to the United States by Japan to commemorate our bicentennial. It has grown over the years and has some really lovely miniature trees. The oldest, I believe, is the Yamaki Pine, which has been in training since 1625. In 1945, this tree, 320 years in training at the time, was about two miles from the epicenter of the Hiroshima blast. The tree pictured here is unlabeled, so I cannot tell you anything about it, but I think it’s lovely, as well.