Bonsai and Penjing. Ann McClellan
at the U.S. National Arboretum.
When Dr. Creech became Director of the U.S. National Arboretum in 1973, he began to imagine what role the arboretum might play in the nation’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. Inspired by David Fairchild’s instrumental role in the gift of flowering cherry trees from Tokyo to Washington in 1912, and relying on his own experience and contacts, Creech thought the gift of a few bonsai from Japan might be possible. The rest is history, as they say, well told in Creech’s book, The Bonsai Saga, excerpts from which are included as Chapter Seven of this book.
John Creech and Masaru Yamaki in the Japanese Pavilion, visiting Yamaki’s Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora ‘Miyajima’), in training since 1625 and the oldest tree in the museum’s collection.
Dr. John Creech shown with a Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia fauriei) resistant to powdery mildew, grown from seeds he brought back from a remote Japanese island.
A Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora), given by Emperor Hirohito, was permitted to be at the White House when he and Empress Nagako joined President and Mrs. Ford there for a reception preceding a state dinner in 1975.
chapter two
Presidential Connections
Bonsai from Japan and penjing from China, along with the related art form of viewing stones, have served as diplomatic gifts at the highest possible levels, involving presidents, emperors, kings, ambassadors and foreign dignitaries. Why? Because these beautiful trees and distinctive stones are unique gifts from nature, expressions of a country’s culture and sophistication, or rare finds from its territory. After their official presentation in the United States, these trees and stones are “honored” by being included in the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, where they belong to the public and can be enjoyed by everyone.
In the United States, presidents have taken an interest in penjing and bonsai beginning with President Richard Nixon. He was said to have been given a few penjing trees when he visited China in 1972, though none are known to survive. There is a photograph of Nixon with a small bonsai on a credenza in the Oval Office, giving credence to the legend that says he wanted one there at all times.
President Gerald Ford was given a magnificent chrysanthemum-patterned viewing stone, Tsukiyo Kiku or “Mums in the Moonlight,” in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial. This large rock is from Neodani in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan, an area renowned for its chrysanthemum stones, and was donated by the Nippon Suiseki Association. The chrysanthemum is associated in Japan with the emperor and his family, and is an East Asian symbol of long life or immortality.
President Richard Nixon is shown at his desk in the White House Oval Office with a bonsai on a table behind him.
The magnificent “Mums in the Moonlight” viewing stone was a gift to President Ford from the Nippon Suiseki Association in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976.
John Creech mentions in The Bonsai Saga how the “Mums in the Moonlight” stone came to the U.S. National Arboretum:
There is an enormous and beautiful chrysanthemum stone in the bonsai collection that originally was sent as a gift to President Gerald R. Ford. How it came to be a part of the National Bonsai Collection is an interesting story. In the fall of 1976, Skip [March] and I undertook a collecting trip to Japan to visit nurseries. While there we met several of the donors of the plants and stones in the collection. At one bonsai nursery in Angyo, we were shown a chrysanthemum stone that was to be sent as a gift to President Ford. Several months later, I asked a White House staff member about the stone and what had been done with it. To my surprise, I learned that the crate was in storage until a decision could be made. We had excellent relations with the horticultural staff at the White House, and I suggested that perhaps the place for it was the National Arboretum Bonsai Collection. Our collection had by now received sufficient status so that the stone was duly delivered and became part of the National Bonsai Museum’s collection.
Bonsai and penjing are also used to make foreign visitors feel at home. When President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter hosted Japan’s Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in 1977, a bonsai from Japan’s Bicentennial Gift was requested for the Oval Office at the White House for the visit. In Carter’s welcoming remarks, he noted that the close relationship between the U.S. and Japan after World War II was made possible by “the strength of the Japanese society and also the beauty which has always been characteristic of the arts that exist in the minds and hearts of the Japanese people.” This beauty is exemplified by bonsai.
In 1977, at President Carter’s request, bonsai were brought to the White House from the U.S. National Arboretum to make Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda feel at home.
Given by King Hassan II, a Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora), in training since 1832, was presented by the Moroccan ambassador to Mrs. Reagan in 1983.
A tiger-stripe stone from Japan’s Setagawa River was presented to President Clinton during his visit to Japan in 1998, a Year of the Tiger according to Asian calendars.
A gift from Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, this Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum), in training since 1916, is a root-over-rock style, reflecting how trees sometimes grow over rocks in nature.
John Creech also mentioned President and Mrs. Carter and their appreciation for bonsai in The Bonsai Saga:
The bonsai collection was now on the State Department list of places to bring foreign dignitaries. First Lady Rosalyn Carter visited the Arboretum several times with such visitors, once with Ambassador Togo’s wife. As a result, the White House used the collection to good advantage when Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda later met with President Carter.
The White House staff was informed that Prime Minister Fukuda had a yew tree in the bonsai collection and asked us if it would be possible to have the prime minister’s bonsai sitting on the credenza behind the president’s desk during their conversation in the Oval Office. We were delighted to comply with the request, and Skip March was elected to take the bonsai to the White House. With plant in hand, he was ushered into the Oval Office with lightning speed to place the plant on the credenza behind the president’s desk. But in the location where Skip needed to place the bonsai, there was a model of the historic USS Constitution under a glass dome. The ship had to be relocated, and this required approval from the Navy. But Skip prevailed and the bonsai was set in place.
The next thing he knew President Carter entered the Oval Office just prior to receiving the prime minister on the South lawn. Skip was introduced and had a brief conversation with the president. President Carter suggested that perhaps the tree could stay at the White House. Skip said very diplomatically, “no, it might die if kept indoors.” Then President Carter suggested that perhaps two trees could be left if alternated. Well that idea did not go over very well with Skip and he again politely said, “no, Mr. President,” and the president desisted, much to the relief of the White House Garden staff. Then the president went off to greet the prime minister, and Skip had the opportunity to watch the ceremony