Japanese maple in its fall brilliance. From the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum

Continuing with Maples at the Omiya Bonsai  Art Museum we came up with this one from our archives. It’s a single Japanese maple in three stages of it’s annual migration through the seasons. There’s a lot to like about this tree but there’s one question that arises; have you ever seen a bonsai with such a flat top?  This is especially pronounced in the fall and summer photos
Continued below…

Winter. Maybe this is the best way to appreciate this tree

Here’s what someone at the Omiya Bonsai  Art Museum wrote in a rather poetic fashion, about this powerful old tree…  “The three trunks rising from the fat and robust roots of this Japanese maple bonsai fan out in the shape of a fan. During the months between the start of summer and coming of fall the branches of the tree grow thick with leaves as if to cover a great swath of land with its shade. In the autumn the changing of the leaves leaves the bonsai looking like a great red hill, which is the meaning and source of the tree’s name, Kouryou.”

The fullness of summer

Paintings at the Museum. All three panels show bonsa