16 August 2010

We have a bonsai collection!

| johnboy
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Chief Minister Stanhope brings the astonishing news that not only does his arboretum have a “National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia”, but since it was located in a pavilion in Commonwealth Park two years ago it has been visited 100,000 times!

It currently displays 32 deciduous, evergreen, conifer and native trees, including a Desert Ash and Japanese Grey Bark Elm, both dating to 1951, and a Fresh-water Paper Bark from 1968. All of the exhibits have been either donated or are on loan to the collection.

The collection will eventually move to a purpose-built pavilion in the National Arboretum in time for the Arboretum’s official opening in 2013.

The 100,000th visitor through the collection this week was Mr Edmund Mortimer, from Gungahlin, a first-time visitor.

“I was cycling by and it was a lovely surprise to find such a beautiful collection,” Mr Mortimer said.

Another visitor, Aidan Crees, of Turner, said, “It’s a very Canberra thing to find such a gem tucked in behind the trees.”

Apparently the plan is to have a bonsai of all the trees in the arboretum.

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neanderthalsis4:39 pm 16 Aug 10

It is fitting that the Chairman Stanhope Memorial Garden will one day house a collection of contorted and tortured trees that have been carefully manipulated and twisted to their masters desire. It will be a fitting reminder of his treatment of the common plebs of the ACT for all his reigning years.

It is a pretty cool collection though!

I went there yesterday it’s awesome! So awesome that I went and bought my own juniper tree straight after and i’m gonna try and train it!

I stumbled on the collection not long ago myself. There are some amazing little trees there and the guide that showed us around was really excited about them all. Some of the bonzai come from Tassie, NT and WA, most of the plants are from Australian gardens and have been donated. Looking at these gems was the first time I actually started to think the arboretum will be a great place to visit one day.

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