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Little Trees – Big Impact

These little trees tell big stories – their own, their artists, and those imagined by viewers. They celebrate relationships and commitment. Our centenarians demonstrate generations of care before they became our guests. Little trees bring people together world-wide as we admire and learn from the trees and each other. We are excited to share our little trees with you!

The Trees

Enjoy nationally and internationally ranked specimens of azaleas and pines of all sizes. An array of bonsai developed by American-trained artists are complemented by rarely seen wild-collected ancient trees.

Explore the Trees

The Styles

Styles help each plant tell their stories and inspire reflection. Basic elements include the number of plants, how they are located in—as well as related to—the pot, and the visual movement the composition inspires. These styles are rooted in 2,000 years of the art’s development.

Browse Styles

The Display

Bonsai are made to be beautiful. They harmonize horticultural and aesthetic techniques of miniaturizing trees to embody the principles that govern nature. Each generation of artists engages with bonsai slightly differently, giving a momentum to how they are understood and shifting the various kinds of ‘meaning’.

Let’s Dive In

Celebrating 10 Years of Bonsai

This June, the Bonsai and Penjing Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens will be celebrating its 10th year. Join us for a month-long celebration with events including workshops, demos, family-friendly activities, and more!

Learn More

Spin the Tree

While Bonsai are traditionally styled to be appreciated from a specific viewpoint, they are interesting to enjoy from every angle. We invite you to get to experience this by spinning the bonsai below.

Moving to Leadership

A bold future beckons: engaging people new-to-bonsai while deepening our existing relationships and networks. Everything depends on our specimens being exemplary. As we on-board one of the continent’s most important private collections, we’ll be refining our existing collection and expanding our audiences. We need your help – spreading the word, coming to see the specimens through the year, learning more, and supporting us.

Support the Garden

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