L ARZ ANDERSON BONSAI AT THE GARDNER
A
mericans developed a fascination with
Japanese culture when the country was
opened to western visitors under the reign of
Emperor Meiji (1868-1912). Many prominent
Bostonians traveled to Japan, including Isabella
Stewart Gardner and her husband Jack who sailed
for Japan in May 1883; touring for more than two
and half months there before traveling to China
and Southeast Asia. Isabella wrote home, “Japan . . .
It is a sensation that goes on being one & does not
pall. I am wild with excitement. It is a much more
beautiful country than I had imagined.” Isabella’s
travel album records her visits to many well-known
landscapes: temples, parks, and gardens.
Neighbors of the Gardners in Brookline, Larz
and Isabel Anderson, were also captivated by
Japan. When they married in 1897, their first
trip was to the Far East. In 1912 they moved to
Japan where Anderson was ambassador for six
months. Before he left, Larz purchased at least
forty dwarfed trees from the Yokohama Nursery.
Fifteen trees remain in the Larz Anderson Bonsai
Collection at the Arnold Arboretum.
The Gardners and Andersons, though of different generations, were connected socially and
had similar interests. Both families owned bonsai
and displayed them in their Japanese gardens and
greenhouses. The Japanese gardens they created
in Boston served to remind them of the landscapes
they loved in Japan.
The art of bonsai originated in China where it
is known as penjing. The practice spread to Japan
through Korea in about the 6th century. The Japanese adopted the art and developed distinctive new
styles. Known as bonsai in Japan, the word means
to grow dwarf trees in pots, usually on tables.
During the Meiji era, Japan reached out to the
west, not only for technical expertise, but also as
a market for its products. In 1876 and 1893, bonsai
were displayed in the Japanese pavilions at the
World’s Fairs in Philadelphia and Chicago. The
Gardners attended both exhibitions. In the 1890s,
nurseries like the one in Yokohama began to produce catalogues for the American market promoting Japanese plants and garden arts. Mrs. Gardner
owned a famous 300-year-old plant (at right).
Nothing remains of Gardner’s bonsai except
the blue and white ceramic planter on display in
the Chinese Loggia (see image top right of her
Brookline greenhouse).
Bonsai in Gardner’s greenhouse; note the
ceramic planter at the top of the pyramid.
The Japanese garden Gardner created included a tea house surrounded by pools filled
with tropical plants. Images, T. E. Marr.
“Mrs. John L. Gardner’s 300-year-old dwarf
Japanese pine.” Boston Daily Globe, May
21, 1899. Reputedly Gardner purchased this
plant for $300.
BONSAI
FROM THE L ARZ ANDERSON COLLECTION
1. ‘Chabo-hiba’ Hinoki Cypress.
Started in 1802.
2. ‘Chabo-hiba’ Hinoki
Cypress. This lower branch
split off the main trunk of
the plant to the left. It was
removed in 1969, creating a
new bonsai.
3. Japanese White Pine.
Started in 1887.
A
ll of the plants on display in the Courtyard and Chinese Loggia were imported
to the United States by Larz Anderson from
Yokohama, Japan, in 1913. He paid $50 in gold
for each of the hinoki cypress bonsai. Since 1937,
the remaining fifteen plants have resided at the
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. On the
hundredth anniversary of their arrival in America,
the Anderson bonsai are reminders of the time
when the arts and culture of Japan captured the
American imagination.
4. ‘Chabo-hiba’ Hinoki Cypress.
Started in 1787.
Bonsai hinoki cypresses (Chamaecyparis obtusa)
were known by the name
‘Chabo-hiba’ in Japan. The plants
are a slow-growing, compact
variety of the species. Since they
do not resemble a typical hinoki
cypress, Peter Del Tredici (bonsai
curator at the Arnold Arboretum)
investigated the growth habit of
‘Chabo-hiba’ and determined
5. ‘Chabo-hiba’ Hinoki
6. ‘Chabo-hiba’ Hinoki
that if the cultivar is allowed to
Cypress. Started in 1787.
Cypress. Started in 1862.
grow freely it will become a large
tree and produce cones. When trained as
a bonsai—which involves pruning the
shoots every year and the roots every four
or five years—it develops into a dwarf,
spreading plant.
This display is a collaboration between the Arnold
Arboretum of Harvard University and the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum.
7. Trident Maple.
Started in 1852.
8. Japanese Maple.
Started in 1887.