THE National Bonsai and Penjing Collection at the National Arboretum Canberra has received a new selection of bonsai, including the uncommon cape cotton bush, after curator Leigh Taafe and assistant curator Shannon Young, travelled to SA for the Australian National Bonsai Convention.

“This year the convention was held in Adelaide, and we took this opportunity to learn some lessons on bonsai from some of the best artists in the country and the world, and also borrow some interesting trees from local bonsai artists while we were there,” Mr Taafe said.

“We have a program of exchanging the bonsai and penjing trees in our collection with other private collections so visitors to the Arboretum have a greater range of new and interesting trees to see.

“Since the collection opened in 2013, I have run four similar trips to bring back new trees to the Arboretum.

“This time we borrowed some fantastic trees from local Adelaide bonsai artists, including a weeping willow, two cape cotton bushes, two European olive trees, a desert ash, and a juniper. We are very excited to have the two cape cotton bush bonsai as it is only recently the species has been grown as bonsai.

“The bonsai artist, Chris Drinkwater, is a pioneer of this species and after much research we have not found any other artists using this species in the world.

“The weeping willow is also particularly striking in that it is an uncommon species to be grown as bonsai due to its very particular care requirements. These trees will make great additions to our already interesting range of bonsai and penjing, and I’d encourage everyone to pay us a visit.

“While in Adelaide, we took the opportunity to return the loan trees that we borrowed from that area a little over two years ago. Trees returned included some European olive trees, a desert ash, a forest of Chinese elm, a peppercorn, and a juniper.

The National Bonsai and Penjing Collection is open 9 am to 4 pm, seven days a week.