Ed Trout Pembroke Pines, Florida zone 10c

by Ed Trout
(Pembroke Pines, Florida USA)

This particular Buttonwood has special significance. Firstly, it was aquired from Mary Miller, my dear friend & teacher, and secondly it became one of my favorite trees, a favorite of many who saw it, and it taught me many things about the art of bonsai.

Yes, a tree can be, and really should be your ultimate teacher. One has to only take the time to "listen" !!

This buttonwood was collected from the Florida Keys, where I grew up, and ended up at Mary's Big 5 nursery, sometime in the late 80's. I purchased it around 1989 or 1990. It "spoke" to me the minute I saw it. I know that because I did not buy it when I first saw it on the bench, and thought about it for a whole week. I rushed down there the next weekend, and brought it home.

The tree screamed Literati or Bunjin from the moment I saw it. And with the first styling, the tree seemed to "show me the way". It was the cornerstone of my collection, the first tree I said good morning to with a cup of coffee, and the last tree I said goodnight to. It was Tina's favorite also, and she had me place it in the garden where she could always see it from her chair in the living room.

I've always said that trees win awards, not artists. Some of the awards this tree received:


First Runner-up Ben Oki Design Award 1993
Best in Show BSF Convention 1996
Chase Rosade Design Award 1996
Top 100 JAL World Bonsai Contest 1999
World Bonsai Contest Top 100 2006
Selected as Logo Tree Gold Coast Bonsai Society 1997

In April of 2008, this tree, who had become my teacher, and almost a member of our family was stolen from the garden.

To this day, I still get a little choked up when I look a photographs. I know that sounds silly, since it is only a tree! But that is how we get attached to these trees, and the journey we take together in the Art of Bonsai!