Work 9: Vaughn Banting

 

Bald Cypress, Vaughn Banting. Bald Cypress. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. Photo from NBF Blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3a44a7e17ba3cdbff49f51/1566396266342-SNLPVK5LMXG34B0WXO5T/Screenshot+2019-08-21+at+10.03.45+AM.png?format=500w

    This is a very famous American bonsai, created by Banting in 1972 as a formal upright style tree. However, this tree no longer represents that style now. In 2000, Banting donated this tree to the American Bonsai Collection of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in D.C. It's been in training for over 50 years, which is reflected in its aged appearance.

    Banting created a new style specific to bald cypress called the flat top style. It mimics the way that bald cypress grow in nature, with knee-like root protrusions, few low branches, and a broad, flat canopy. This was the first tree to have this styling. 

    Notice the "knee" that rises above the soil level. Banting managed to find a tree with a root that grew that way to mimic the natural knees that form on wild bald cypress. Unlike some of the other bonsai in the exhibition, this tree has a long, thin trunk. Again this is to mimic the natural growth habit of wild trees. Also, all of the branch tips on this tree point slightly upward. This reflective of the growth habits of most deciduous trees.

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