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The Juniperus chinensis ‘Omiya’ tree:The autumn of 1995 saw the official presentation to the National Bonsai Collection of a 250 year old Juniper tree, gifted from the City of Omiya, Japan. The tree, formerly owned by Japan's foremost bonsai family, the Kato family, was a gift which further forged the ties between the City of Birmingham and Omiya City, already established during an earlier visit. Following this visit eighteen months earlier by a Japanese delegation from Omiya, the City Council decided to present a bonsai tree to the National Bonsai Collection. Saturday the 21st October 1995 was an occasion to remember when the Deputy Mayor of Omiya, Mr. Tokio Kawano together with a delegation of City Councilors formally handed over this tree together with a plaque to commemorate the occasion On presenting the juniper, Mr. Takahiro Shindo, the mayor of Omiya commented that “this magnificent and solemn-looking tree is a true representative of our tradition and love for art and nature. It also symbolises the friendship borne through the art of bonsai between the two nations". This tree arrived in this country from Japan in March 1995 and was to remain in quarantine until its’ first appearance at the Botanical Gardens in July of that year. It has since been admired by many thousands of visitors to the Gardens. One of the principal features which attracts attention is the extent of deadwood on the trunk, with just a very narrow vein of live material supporting the foliage mass. During the years it has been part of the National Bonsai Collection, the tree has required some alterations in style; e.g. being an old tree, part of one branch was removed as it had weakened over time resulting in the repositioning of others. This has also necessitated a change of pot to reflect some of the alterations; the tree was placed in a Tokonamé pot in 2018 following its re-potting.
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Collection tree No. 3 - August 2004
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