RIDGELY – As a child, Eric Johansen thought bonsai trees only grew in far away and exotic Asian counties such as China or Japan.
When he was 5 years old, his parents would take him to a Chinese restaurant in Pasadena, Md., his hometown. There he would gaze at three small trees placed low on a shelf, mesmerized by their delicate beauty.
It was only as an adult when he spotted some miniature cedars growing under a derrick at a boat yard where he worked on the Eastern Shore that he discovered bonsai grow in Maryland.
Now a bonsai enthusiast, he and other members of the Mid-Shore Bonsai Society convened here this month at the Adkins Arboretum to witness the birth of the United States’ first exclusively native bonsai collection.
“We found a way to celebrate highly cultivated bonsai in the context of conservation,” said Eleanor Altman, the arboretum’s executive director.
Though the collection only has two trees so far, an American beech and a red maple, Altman said the native-only approach is a first.
The collection was given to the arboretum earlier this year by the Mid-Shore Bonsai Society and the family of Fred Mies. Both bonsai came from the collection of Mies, former president of the Potomac Bonsai Association, who died this year.
The arboretum here in Ridgely preserves 400 state-owned acres of native Eastern Shore meadow, woodland and wetland. The arboretum is run by a non-profit organization dedicated to nature education and preserving native habitat.
Bonsai, the art of cultivating trees in pots or trays so their size is dwarfed, may not be a native practice to Marylanders. But the ranks of resident bonsai aficionados are growing, with six bonsai clubs across the state from Bethesda to Easton.
Altman hopes to expand the collection in order to attract more bonsai enthusiasts.
Johansen is clearly an aficionado. Since he brought the cedars to his Trappe home six years ago, he has built a Japanese garden there and currently has 25 trees in training.
“It really escalated from an interesting little hobby to something I’m really committed to,” Johansen said.
His club, the Mid-Shore Bonsai Society, met this month at the arboretum’s annual open house to see the new collection and have members’ work critiqued by bonsai master Jack Sustic.
Bonsai requires “the ability to slow down and enjoy things,” said Sustic, curator at the U.S. National Arboretum’s Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, D.C.
Bonsai, which means “pot tree” in Japanese, traces its roots to ancient China. Buddhist monks brought bonsai to Japan, where it became a high art form associated with the aristocracy.
Nowadays, bonsai are grown by people from all walks of life around the world. For many, growing bonsai is a relaxing way to celebrate nature.
“Working on bonsai is a form of meditation,” said Kris Doherty, co-chairwoman of the mid-shore society.
Part of the bonsai’s meditative quality is the extraordinary amount of time it takes to cultivate a tree. Bonsai are never finished. Bringing bonsai to maturity often takes decades and cultivation can last centuries.
Learning to cultivate bonsai involves a great deal of trial and error and study of bonsai principles.
Bonsai generally take a triangular shape when viewed from the front and each clipped branch also forms a triangle when viewed from above. For Buddhists, these triangles symbolize heaven, earth and man.
Everything from pot selection to deciding which tree branch stands highest requires careful thought and concentration.
That difficulty is what many bonsai growers find so exhilarating.
“It’s like trying to get to Everest, and I’m on my 50th attempt,” said Johansen, undaunted in his quest for the perfect tree.
He’s now in his early 40’s. “In 30 years we’re going to have something.”