The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s year continues on Tuesday, October 11 at 1:00 pm with a field trip to the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain and a presentation on the Arboretum’s bonsai collection by Tiffany Enzenbacker, head of plant production. The field trip is limited to just 20 members. Members have received notification of all details, but if you need the information resent, email HERE.
Tiffany works alongside the Arboretum’s plant propagator and greenhouse horticulturist to produce the next generation of accessions destined for the permanent collections, as well as to ensure the long-term survival of existing lineages through repropagation techniques, including cuttings and grafting. The department also shares propagules with partner institutions and distributes plant material for research purposes. Additionally, they work to produce plants for Arboretum events, such as the Arbor Day Seedling Mailing and Lilac Sunday. She also oversees the Bonsai Collection and is involved in projects throughout the organization, including plant collection expeditions for the Campaign for the Living Collections.
Tiffany obtained a BS in plant sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a MS in plant pathology from Michigan State University. Prior to joining the Arnold Arboretum in 2014, she worked at the Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, and in the Department of Biology at Boston College.
The Arnold Arboretum Bonsai & Penjing collection began with the donation of the Larz Anderson Collection of Japanese Dwarfed Trees in 1937, and has grown over time with additional specimens donated by a number of private collectors. Today, the collection comprises 36 masterfully curated trees representing a range of evergreen and deciduous species, including compact Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Chabo-hiba’), Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora), trident maple (Acer buergerianum var. trinerve), Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), and cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia).
The Larz Anderson Collection of Japanese Dwarfed Trees at the Arnold Arboretum was originally imported into the United States by the Honorable Larz Anderson in 1913, upon his return from serving as ambassador to Japan. In April 1937, Isabel Anderson donated the majority of her late husband’s bonsai collection (30 plants) to the Arnold Arboretum, along with the funds necessary to build a shade house for their display. The rest of the Anderson bonsai came to the Arboretum following Isabel’s death in 1949.
The core of the collection consists of 5 large specimens of compact hinoki cypress—each between 150 and 275 years old—that Anderson purchased from the Yokohama Nursery Company. Additional bonsai have been acquired or added to the collection over time.
