Bonsai, the Japanese art of growing miniature trees in small containers, is also a science. The term bonsai aptly describes what it is – “bon” means tray or low-sided pot and “sai” means plantings. I gave some examples of bonsai (and a related Chinese form called penjing) in a previous post. Ironically, while bonsai is emblematically Japanese, the art was originally developed in China and only adopted later by the land of the rising sun. Here’s a quick reminder of one kind of bonsai tree:
The art of bonsai cultivation is passed down from generation to generation. And since managing a single tree may take many decades or even hundreds of years, the tree itself passes through many generations. The oldest one in the US National Arboretum remains vibrant today at 389 years old. So how does one cultivate a bonsai tree? That is where the science comes in.
Since these plantings come from regular trees, they must begin as cuttings or seedlings. Regular trimming, pruning, and manipulation is necessary to keep the trees small and create the desired shape. While the type of tree chosen influences the potential shape, there are different styles ranging from formal or informal upright, slant, or cascade, as well as more advanced styles such as root over rock, forest, raft, and windswept. Examples are shown in my previous post. To get these shapes there is quite a bit of physical manipulation.
Bands like the one above help pull together larger boughs, while heavy copper wire is used to direct future growth into twists and turns.
More wires and struts help in the shaping.
More advanced techniques include grafting of new plant material into existing trunks (to create side growth), defoliation, trimming, and the brutish-sounding trunk chopping. Considering the amount of manipulation needed to create these masterpieces, one has to reassure themselves that plants, unlike animals, don’t experience pain.
Ah, the tea bags. Many of the bonsai and penjing displays contain several tea bags. They are filled with natural fertilizer. Each time the tree is hand-watered the bags become soaked and leach out nutrients. Still, because the trays are so shallow and the trees are living organisms, regular repotting of the minimal soil must occur.
The incredible amount of attention needed to train and maintain bonsai trees requires patience, effort, and ingenuity from the grower. But to those of us who see and appreciate the art, these works deliver a sense of serenity that pervades the very essence of our souls.
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David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, available now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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Two books in one. The first works; the second doesn’t.
The clock is ticking.The finishing touches are being made. And the countdown has begun. Coming in late June is my new ebook on Nikola Tesla’s interest and advocacy of renewable energy. 
An exceptionally well researched book recreating Abraham Lincoln’s flatboat trips to New Orleans. Campanella is an expert on New Orleans, and has expanded his expertise upstream to develop a detailed account of Lincoln’s two trips down the Mississippi River. No small feat given that the sum total of all the first person reminiscences of the trips by Lincoln and participants wouldn’t fill a page of text. Campanella’s recreation, like many efforts based on such scant direct information, is not however contrived in the least. On the contrary, the effort he has put into collecting and analyzing fragmented – and often contradictory or dubious – accounts is exemplary.
The American Civil War was a crossroads between the old style of warfare and modern warfare. This modern warfare (if one can call the wholesale taking of lives “modern”) is explored in an exhibit in the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership called “
The advancements in railroads, manned balloons, and cannons moved warfare into the modern age. The evolution of basic weaponry – away from single-shot muskets and toward repeating rifles and pistols – increased both the distance and lethality of offense.
The premise of the book is that Abraham Lincoln was a homosexual, or at least a bisexual. The problem with this premise is that it is purely conjecture and the author does not support it at all. Basically, he just made it up.
