Good Form

 Gardens continued...Mad About Trees

When it comes to trees and Bonsai, I've always been a bit obsessed. But even though I have a green thumb, when left on my own with a Bonsai, my green thumb soon yellows and withers. The moral, deniable and, in my case, wildly obscure, is that fear leads to folly.

Recently, while walking through the Montreal Botanical Bonsai gallery, I tried to imagine the people behind the trees.What sages--some no longer with us--I wondered, as I stared bug-eyed at the 270 year old Sargent Juniper, would have the expertise to prune, pinch, water, wire, trim, fertilize, and look after the day-to-day needs of such a magnificent tree. Without warning, a claw of fear gripped my throat, but that was soon overtaken by rigorous toe tapping indignation: why, I questioned out loud, but in retrospect, thankfully, just above a whisper, was this tree not kept behind bullet proof glass?

Agitated, but clearly in control, I tried to piece together my scant knowledge of history. What was happening in the world when this now wizened greybeard was a wee sapling? Okay Google, I thought, don't let me down, but with miles of garden still to tread, Google would, I reckoned, have to wait.

The questions, running my brain, went on and on until, that is, I finally looked around, hoping that the latest sage or group of sages that carefully and lovingly tend the Bonsai would whip out from the wings and amaze us with their knowledge, or, better yet, appear and invite me to lunch. However, since the stage remained curiously empty, I moved on.  Here and there I stopped to admire, fought off a craving for tea, while feeling, occasionally, repelled by the apathy that emanated from the other visitors; but as I strolled, I successfully conjured, in detail, in my mind's eye, the philosophical silk robed sages.


A captivating read:  The Wild Trees

Maple 30 years old

Japanese Larch 40 years old. 

THE SARGENT JUNIPER: Methuselah,or perhaps a Pythagoras? Although the Sargent is not 969 years old, it does sport a look of wisdom at a full 270 years and counting!