Recently on FaceBook, I saw that there is a new bonsai group meeting nearby and I got in touch, offering to donate a small collection of Mom’s pots, tools, and some old books that have followed me since I saved them when Dad moved to Brooksby Village more than 25 years ago. To sweeten the deal, I also offered the John Naga drawing of a cascading spruce tree I had inherited from Mom. An earnest young man, the club organizer, answered my query right away and offered to come out to pick things up! He warned me that the drawing might be worth several hundred dollars on eBay, but I just wanted to donate everything where it might be appreciated. When I looked in Mom’s bonsai photo album to find a photo of John Naga, I found 2 more drawings! I told my visitor that I hoped they could be used to raise money for the club. Wouldn’t Mom be pleased to know where they went!
According to the notes in the album, Mom got serious about bonsai in 1976, shortly before she retired from the Longy School. I don’t know what sparked her interest, but she had always been involved with plants. With Dad’s help, over the years they had landscaped the yard with flowering shrubs and she was an active member of the local garden club. They always had a vegetable garden, and Dad planted annuals around the house every summer. Indoors, there were so many house plants that when I lost my pet cameleon, it was discovered weeks later alive and well in the tray of plants growing in the living room! So, it was not a surprise when visits to Marblehead began to include a tour of the greenhouse and Mom’s enthusiasm for her new hobby.
During Dad’s career with GE, he had made several trips to Japan so, in 1977, Mom and Dad went on a trip to Japan with the American Bonsai Society. They toured bonsai gardens and exhibits with local experts and attended lectures and demonstrations. They also saw pottery studios where the traditional pots and trays are made, and visited a tool-making foundry, and a tatami mat weavery..
From the album, it’s clear that bonsai was a focus of social life for Mom during the next nearly 20 years. There was a local bonsai club and the Northeast Bonsai Bonsai Society which hosted demonstrations and visiting teachers. Mom attended ABS symposiums in New York, Michigan, and California. Mom met John Naga more than once and invited him home for a lobster dinner! There were several trips to Squam Lake, NH, and collecting trips to the White Mountains for stunted trees and authentic rocks. And there was an annual backyard auction for the local club and other social events. There were local flower shows and the annual Mass. Horticultural show, which had a bonsai exhibit and also a special “Trees in Training” section.
I don’t recall that Dad was ever involved in actually taking care of the bonsai- the endless repotting and wiring, and the necessary constant watering required by plants growing in constricted containers, but he contributed in many other ways. He made new benches in the yard for the constantly increasing collection, and, later on, he made some beautiful display stands, imitating Japanese models. And, of course, he took many photographs.
Mom’s interest was wide-ranging from growing azaleas and other flowering plants, and all kinds of evergreens. She enjoyed creating miniature forests and experimented with growing trees on rocks. She delighted in seasonal changes and fall colors. She loved miniatures and the small plants and grasses that traditionally accompany the larger trees in an exhibit. In the album, she meticulously documented the various plants in the photos, but I just enjoy looking at them and marveling at her dedication and efforts!
To see an album of her bonsai, click here!