Kew’s Bonsai collection revisited

We visited Kew’s bonsai collection earlier last year but could not resist going back for a another peak at the winter image.

There are some wonderful specimen trees here displaying good age and ramification. I also appreciated the tidy display area greenhouse which the trees are presented in, it feels as if it has the right aeration and light levels to keep the trees perfectly content. The Cryptomeria has a great trunk with hollowed out detail. Also I am not normally a fan of Larch but the example on show even caught my admiration.

Kew has nearly 60 bonsai; the smallest is just 10cm high and the oldest is 180 years old. The majority of Kew’s bonsai were kindly donated by Ruth Stafford-Jones. Ruth visited Japan and learned bonsai horticulture despite not speaking Japanese. Richard Kernick now maintains the collection and you keep up to date and read his blog here