Latest news with #nativeflora
ABC News
24-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
'Gnarly' bonsais are trending in the tiny tree world
The craft of cultivating bonsai evolved from Japan with a focus on minituarising trees and plants. Recent enthusiasm for the world of tiny trees is seeing Australia's native flora re-imagined as bonsai.
ABC News
24-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Australia's native flora emerges as an increasingly popular muse for bonsai hobbyists
The craft of cultivating bonsai evolved from Japan with a focus on minituarising trees and plants. Recent enthusiasm for the world of tiny trees is seeing Australia's native flora re-imagined as bonsai. Leigh Taafe has crafted more than 10,000 bonsai and said native trees are perfect candidates. He is the curator of the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia and said "there was a lot of thought within our community in the early days that it was very difficult to do Australian native trees as bonsai". He said that as bonsai artists increasingly dabbled in natives, they learnt to tailor traditional practices to the local environment, giving shape to an "Australian style". Mr Taafe said high praise came from Japan's Bonsai Art Museum which was "taken" with the native trees, particularly banksia. "They've probably never seen them as bonsai before, so when they came to visit, they were in awe of the size and the texture of the trunks." The first tree ever donated to the national collection was a now-57-year-old Freshwater Paperbark by Derek Oakley from Western Australia. Mr Taafe said a good bonsai design was one "that evokes a memory of the Australian landscape". Steve Liston's love of bonsai began when he was aged 17 and he collected a Japanese maple seedling from a friend's garden — it became his first bonsai tree. Fifty years later and his love for the art is thriving, along with his tiny Japanese maple. Mr Liston led a team which curated a display for this year's National Bonsai Convention. Many of the bonsai have a unique local link and were originally dug up around Canberra. "Our last dig was down at Fadden Pines," he said. "We'll go get some of those woody weeds which have escaped from gardens and eventually turn them into bonsai." But, as Mr Liston warns, there are regulations around taking trees. "The first thing is to get permission … the second thing is to do it sensitively and don't leave a mess when you're finished digging it up," he said. Mr Liston said the array of Australian natives being used by bonsai hobbyists was one the biggest and most exciting changes he had seen in the art. Tony Gill is president of the Canberra Bonsai Society and said anyone can appreciate native bonsai which are "very much part of the convention theme". "Bonsai are for all ages … our youngest member, a lad called Henry, is only nine, and our oldest member still active is a lady call Lucia and she is 95," he said. The society was formed in 1975 by eight horticulture students. "When it first started it had an emphasis on exotics … nowadays there's probably more of an emphasis on native trees for bonsai." The interest in native trees is so great, the society enlisted Marcela Ferreira, an Australian native bonsai artist, to deliver workshops. Ms Ferreira first encountered bonsai while watching the Karate Kid. "When I first started, there were some people playing and dabbling with them, but it wasn't readily available. You went to shows and if you were lucky, you might see one or two trees. It's really grown and there's a lot of interest for it now." She said some misconceptions about Australian natives persist. "I think it is just a mindset that people have been too stuck on." "[But] the beauty of our Australian natives is they're quick and easy to grow … I definitely want to see more people using our trees." Her advice to aspiring native bonsai artists is simple:
