Went to a neat little exhibition at the Botanical Garden here in Gothenburg yesterday. A chap called Magnus Svenningsson who’s been working with and had bonsai trees as an interest for many years was exhibiting some of his specimens. To be honest, I’m not sure about bonsai, there’s something a bit unnatural about it all. But who can deny the wonder? It’s such a fantastic art form making me think that perhaps bonsai is the ultimate in garden design?
As I got to the exhibition early before the crowds moved in I managed to have a little chat with Magnus. He was very relieved the azaleas had behaved themselves and retained the blooms for the show and no damage had been caused by transportation. Practicalites are not always easy or predictable. Having rather vague knowledge about bonsai I was rather amazed to find out that some of the samples on show were about 50 years old! They don’t look their age.
You can apparently make bonsai from all sorts of trees, Magnus had chosen to exhibit azaleas. If I didn’t get my facts wrong these shrubs may be grown in the wild for 20 years until they build up a sizeable trunk. At which point they enter their bonsai stage and growth is cut right back to the trunk and art may begin. The specific details about what happens next is better told in other places. A short summary by me is that it’s incredibly laboursome and most certainly not for the impatient person.
These trees are kept outside from spring until about November. Can only imagine the air of exotic, elegant perfection they must provide to a green space – true prima donnas. They really are quite something.
