The Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection is located behind the Weyerhaeuser complex (adjacent to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden), and it houses the second largest collection of bonsai in North America. The outdoor surroundings are spare, in order to create a tranquil atmosphere and keep the focus on the bonsai. I’d love to see an educational area where the public could learn about the art of bonsai so they’d better know what they are looking at, but considering the entire exhibit is free, I won’t complain and will do my bonsai learning elsewhere. Jason would like a bonsai for our house, but I’m fairly certain that there are no good places in the house to raise a bonsai, and plenty of places to kill one–our windows have some sort of UV filtering built in, and while it’s excellent for privacy, keeping the house cool in summer, and preventing sun damage to the floors and furniture, it’s murder on houseplants and I’ve sadly already killed my beloved medallion calathea…or, more accurately, the house has already killed it. I don’t think a tiny tree with very specific care requirements would fare any better, sadly.

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