More Arboretum - A Bonsai Experience

While my friend and I were at the National Arboretum, we decided to go to the bonsai exhibit. The Arboretum has one of the best bonsai displays in the US. One of the trees dated back to 1795. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the dates with the photos, but I wanted to share some pictures of these amazing trees. In the level above the bonsai exhibits was a pool with these colorful fish. It was fun watching people try to feed them. You can see they were all together very interested in getting some food!

The exhibit is actually divided into Japaneses bonsai and Chinese bonsai. The buildings reflect an Asian decor as you can see in the first pictures above. Not only are there bonsai, but there are also other beautiful vegetation.

Here are some of the bonsai that are shaped differently and appear to have different colors. The trunks of the trees are very interesting. Inside some one may actually see a large stone around which the trunk is growing. Some are designed to make the scene like a minature forest, island, or whatever. Some have leaves that look like a maple or oak where others look like small evergreens. There are so many pictures that it's hard to decide which to put in the blog.

I hope you don't find this too busy with photos, but I wanted to show the different types of trees, the interesting trunks and types of leaves as well as the beautiful flowers that were interspersed within the display of bonsai. Personally, I couldn't tell the difference between the ones in the Japanese pavilion or in the Chinese pavillion (the one with the red flowers).

I like the photo of the red flowers because you can see water dripping off one of the petals. The other picture at the right shows more of the area within the pavilion with other types of greenery.