Page 44 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q1

Open to the public, the
new facilities at the National
Arboretum Canberra, 2013.
Photo courtesy
www.valavanisbonsaiblog.com

The journey continues…

National Bonsai and

Penjing Collection

of Australia By Leigh Taafe, Curator National Bonsai
& Penjing Collection of Australia

ince the National Bonsai and Penjing Collec- Commonwealth Park is also home to Canberra’s an-
tion of Australia (NBPCA) opened, in tempo- nual flower festival, Floriade. The visitors to Floriade
rary quarters, on 28 September 2008, it has flocked to the Collection in such numbers that some-
travelled quite a journey. Its original home times they seemed to overwhelm the small display
Swas the former caretaker’s cottage at Com- area: around 60,000 each year during the four week
monwealth Park in central Canberra. Its permanent period in September.
home was always to be at the new National Arbore- For the remainder of the year, visitor numbers were
tum Canberra being built as part of Canberra’s re- much more modest: rarely above 30 per day. But for
covery from the disastrous forest fires in 2003. That these people, a truly memorable experience was on
fire destroyed some 500 homes and extensive areas of offer. The enclosed courtyard of the caretaker’s cot-
forest in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and tage separated the Collection from the outside world.
New South Wales (NSW). A mature ornamental pear, under whose canopy the
The photos on the facing page tell something of the Collection nestled, re-connected it to its parkland
story of the Collection’s first home, Commonwealth setting: a setting in which the miniature trees on dis-
Park, a beautiful location where locals and visitors play provided a deep sense of tranquillity that many
stroll and commune with the mature trees, abun- visitors commented on.
dant bird life and open spaces. Here they can also As the Government worked through its options for
sit to enjoy a picnic or listen to music on Stage 88, a responding to those dreadful fires, it decided not to
bicentennial gift to Canberra, which is located adja- re-establish the pine forest on the western edge of
cent to the caretaker’s cottage. Lake Burley Griffin that had been burnt out. It decided

42 | BCI | January/February/March 2014