Local Ikebana Chapter Hosts Modified Annual Exhibition

An ikebana display titled “Resilience” by the Sogetsu school

Ikebana International Washington, D.C. Chapter No. 1 held its first outdoor exhibit at the U.S. National Arboretum this spring. 

Ikebana, or the Japanese art of flower arrangement, has been a complementary art to bonsai for decades. Chapter One has held an indoor exhibit at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum for more than 20 years, but this year’s exhibition needed a different venue due to the Museum’s temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While hundreds of schools dedicated to the art of ikebana exist, seven schools are represented in Chapter One. The group’s president and this year’s exhibition chair – Ursula Kondo and Jean Rieg, respectively – spoke with the National Bonsai Foundation.

A relative of her husband’s coworker first introduced Kondo to ikebana. While she has always loved flowers, Kondo was drawn to the asymmetrical design of Japanese arrangements, which are similar to the floral styles in her home country of Germany. Kondo originally joined the local Houston chapter of Ikebana International before moving and enlisting in the Washington, D.C. chapter. 

Rieg’s artistic roots are in teaching scrapbooking and cake decorating. She often took many trips to gardens around the United States and abroad due to her mother’s love of flowers. A friend introduced her to ikebana as another creative outlet, and Rieg started studying with Bruce Wilson, the lead of Chapter One’s Saga Goryu ikebana school. She also attended classes for three years at Saga Goryu Headquarters in Japan and will continue those trips once the pandemic ends

About one year after beginning classes, Rieg became the host coordinator of the annual exhibition, which led to her appointment as chair this past year. 

“Ikebana has become an important part of my life, and I find it an incredible artform,” she said. “A lot of people find great joy in seeing arrangements and understanding which schools they are derived from.” 

Rieg added that each group produced incredible pieces, especially considering that only one of the six schools that participated this year had ever worked on outdoor arrangements. 

Sogetsu team co-leader Marjorie Bauman (left) and member Catherine Macauley (right) work on an arrangement.

This year’s exhibition was both virtual and physical – two groups of 30 arrangements can be seen online, and 13 arrangements were available for viewing at the U.S. National Arboretum but are now online as well.

“We make sure to have arrangements from every school in our chapter so people can see the difference between the arrangements and styles,” Rieg said. 

The artists received basic directions on display details, like permitted dimensions, but the concept of each piece was largely left to individual inspiration. Most of the teams crafted arrangements to celebrate the anticipated end to the COVID-19 pandemic, titling their pieces with terms like “awakening” or “reawakening.”

Rieg said planning for this hybrid exhibition began in the fall of 2020. She saw a video exhibition that an ikebana chapter in San Francisco produced and thought a variation on that idea would work well for Chapter One. Rieg tested the concept with the chapter in a December Area Workshop with holiday arrangements. Teachers approved the students’ arrangements.

“We were worried how the public would react to the outdoor arrangements, but the exhibit was very well received, everyone was in awe of the arrangements,” Kondo said. 

“Breaking Out of the Pandemic” – Sangetsu school “Reawakened” – Ichiyo school

For the outdoor arrangements, the creators had to consider elements present in the natural environment when designing their prototypes and choosing their materials. Each display featured a QR code that viewers could scan with their phones to learn more about the ikebana schools, the materials used in the arrangements and general information on the art form.

“The Ichiyo school used a lot of bamboo stakes for their arrangement,” Kondo said. “The creators made notches in the bamboo and wired them together so it didn’t fall apart in the wind.”

While the design process took a couple of months, each exhibit was completely assembled on the Arboretum grounds in just one day. Rieg said the teachers conceived the original designs, but both students and teachers executed the projects. Each team comprised three-to-five students and could work in a designated 8-foot by 5-foot area.  

“We tried to position the arrangements so each could have its day in the light, and it was worth it because the whole exhibition was so well-received by visitors,” Kondo said. “Everyone was impressed with the exhibition and delighted with the opportunity to view it at the Arboretum.”

Rieg said Chapter One wanted the exhibition to demonstrate the period of transition the world is in as it slowly emerges from lockdowns and restrictions instated for safety during the pandemic. 

“We wanted it to be a reawakening and spark interest in viewers,” she said. “Every good effort has a good outcome. We succeeded because of the artistry and skill within the chapter and the great support we got from the Arboretum, so everything worked out very well.”

You can learn more about Ikebana International Chapter One on their website and follow them on Facebook.

The Ikenobo team (L to R: Valeria Shishkin, Reiko Royston & Team Lead Kyoko Peterson) next to their arrangement “Manifestation of Life and Beauty”

Influential Bonsai Masters: Yuji Yoshimura

All photo credit: Bill Valavanis

Summer 2020 is officially the summer of the bonsai blog series! We’re launching another string of blogs to highlight the fascinating history and teachings of some of the most influential bonsai masters. For our first edition, we spoke with Bill Valavanis, a National Bonsai Foundation director and bonsai artist, about his time training under Yuji Yoshimura.

Valavanis dubs Yoshimura his “Japanese father” from whom he learned on the weekends while studying horticulture during college in the 1960s. He said Yoshimura felt like a god to him when they first met, as Yoshimura’s book The Japanese Art of Miniature Trees and Landscapes – later reprinted as The Art of Bonsai: Creation, Care and Enjoyment – is considered a “bonsai bible.” The book is the first authoritative source for bonsai artists written in English.

Yoshimura began his bonsai work under his father’s tutelage. He and Alfred Koehn, a notable authority on Japanese art, organized and produced the first beginner’s bonsai course at Yoshimura’s family nursery in Tokyo in 1952. 

The first bonsai instructional class in 1952.

Yoshimura’s father, who rekindled the craft of classical bonsai, was the most influential person in his bonsai career. Valavanis said Yoshimura’s family remained anchored in Japan, but he wanted to spread the art of bonsai around the world. He traveled to Australia, Hong Kong, England and across the United States, where he and his family lived for many years.

But Yoshimura sacrificed the stability of his relationships when he left home. One of his younger brothers took over his garden after he left, Yoshimura’s wife and one daughter eventually moved back to Tokyo and Yuji was highly criticized in Japan for teaching the “Yanks” in America – but Yoshimura loved the United States. 

“He found Americans very friendly,” he said. “He went through a lot of students but he would take care of them, tell them extra things, treat them nicely and encourage them.” 

Yoshimura’s daughters and granddaughter with the U.S. National Arboretum director.

Yoshimura took Valavanis to Japan to meet other influential bonsai figures. Upon returning to the United States, Valavanis lived with him for almost a year to study the classical Japanese style of bonsai. He said Yoshimura would personally demonstrate wiring or care techniques, unlike many current apprentices learning bonsai in Japan, who are often left to grasp concepts by themselves. 

“He taught me the basics and introduced me to the Japanese fine quality classic bonsai,” Valavanis said. “He showed me where I can improve, get more information and how to study.”

Former U.S. National Arboretum director John Creech and Yoshimura in 1973.

Yoshimura relied on old, historic books – some of which he took from his father in Japan – for bonsai knowledge and left Valavanis his library when he retired. He is known for his strict teaching style, adhering to traditional Japanese designs – his father’s influence – and curt lessons. 

“Once when I was cleaning the kitchen floor, I put back our two chairs and went out to do something, but my chair was missing when I came back,” Valavanis said. “I put it back two or three times, but finally I got the hint time for me to leave.”

Yoshimura attending a bonsai convention.

Even after the two parted as roommates, Yoshimura routinely visited Valavanis’ garden, helped him establish a bonsai magazine and remained a teacher and friend until he died in 1997. 

Valavanis said the most important takeaway from Yoshimura’s teachings is to do what he thinks is right and avoid too much influence from other artists. He took that advice with him to start the first American bonsai exhibition, the highest level show in the United States, which is now in its seventh year. 

“He told me to stand on his head or shoulders to take the art higher,” Valavanis said. “He wanted me to use what he had and go improve.”

For more on Yuji Yoshimura, you can head to Valavanis’ blog posts here and here. If you have any personal stories or memories with Yoshimura, tag us in them on social media: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Species Spotlight: Cypress (Taxodium distichum, ascendens, mucronatum)

This month’s Species Spotlight (by our First Curator’s Assistant, Andy Bello) turns the light on three different species that constitute the genus Taxodium: Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum). All three species are located in our collections at The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. 

Old Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) at Lake Drummond, VA (Photo by Andy Bello)

Taxodium are extremely flood-tolerant, deciduous conifers in the cypress family Cupressacae. These trees can reach heights of about 100-150 feet and trunk diameters reaching more than 37 feet. A distinctive feature of taxodium is the formation of pneumatophores, also known as “cypress knees.” Some bonsai experts debate whether the knees aid in the uptake of oxygen or if they support the trees in wet soil conditions. 

Species history and general facts

Bald cypresses are mainly found along rivers with silt-rich flood deposits throughout the Southeastern United States and even up the Mississippi River into Southern Indiana. 

Pond cypresses live within the Southeastern Coastal Plain, from North Carolina to Louisiana, and grow in more stagnant blackwater rivers, ponds and swamps, rather than silt-rich flood deposits. 

Montezuma cypresses are found between the lower Rio Grande Valley down to the highlands of Guatemala. This cypress is a riparian tree that grows along streams and rivers. This species tends to be evergreen and not deciduous, given its distribution in a consistently warm climate. Montezuma cypresses on average have the largest trunk size, with some reaching about 37.5 feet in diameter.

Take a look at some of the cypresses we have at the Museum!

Bald Cypress

This bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) #269 is located in the North American Collection. It has been in training since 1972, and the late Vaughn Banting donated the tree in 2000. Banting originally purchased the tree as a nursery plant. This bald cypress, along with one at the Pacific Bonsai Museum, are the first two trained into a configuration Banting championed called “Flat Top Style.” The flat top style with knees protruding from the soil is a very distinctive trait of bald cypresses.

Read more about the history of this bald cypress, Vaughn Banting and the flat top style here.


Montezuma Cypress

This montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) #274, now located the North American Collection, was donated by Mike Naka in 2004 in honor of his grandfather and bonsai master, the late John Y. Naka. 

John Naka purchased this bonsai from a nursery in Los Angeles after traveling from Denver in 1946 and began training the tree in 1948. The bonsai is trained in the formal upright style to invoke the massive height and girth often seen in the species. By keeping the primary branches short and closer to the trunk, Naka provided an even grander image of the species’ height. 

Montezuma cypresses are evergreen in their native warm climate, but their seasonal beauty can truly be appreciated when they are allowed to thrive in Northern climates.

Pond Cypress (with bald cypresses)

This group planting of a pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and multiple bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) #250 is located in the North American Collection. Jim Fritchey and Dick Wild donated the planting, comprised of trees collected from the wild Floridian swamps, in 1990 after arranging the original planting in 1988. 

As the forest in this planting evolved, a number of trees were removed after some trees couldn’t keep up with the competition for light – a common phenomenon in natural forests. The composition was rearranged to ensure the longevity of the planting.

The photo above is how the planting appears at the Museum today. The large pond cypress on the left with a strong lean provides directionality, while the group of bald cypresses on the right provides depth. The seven-foot stone slab, which weighs about 1,500 pounds, evokes a natural look compared to the typical ceramic container. 

Come and visit The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in all four seasons to experience the beauty of Taxodium in the collection. The lush bright green spring growth and the brilliant red and orange fall foliage is best to appreciate in person. I hope that these trees inspire everyone to work more with native species and create bonsai in a meaningful manner.