January’s trip to Spain held many jewels. Visiting the UBE convention and show. Seeing David Benevente’s bonsai garden. Meeting Bjorn Bjorholm, after all this time for the first time (and a good lunch, that). Visiting (and another lunch) with long-time collaborator Oscar Jonker.
And to wrap up the trip, a visit with Mario Komsta (and a third lunch!) with him and the rest of the team that maintains the magnificent collection of Luis Vallejo, who sadly wasn’t there that day. But Mario I hadn’t seen since we were apprentices in Japan, and visiting with him was a pure delight. I’ll share more about Mario some other time—this post is about the Luis Vallejo Bonsai Museum.
Enjoy the photos!
Entrance to the Luis Vallejo Bonsai Museum
Chinese Juniper
Mr. Vallejo is a landscape architect, as his museum shows in its considered planning and materials
Ume
Oak and Persimmon
Scots Pine—one of my personal favorites here
Potentilla—very rare to see such a large and developed specimen
Hawthorn
Zelkova—most of the bonsai at the museum are large, but a few smaller specimens stand out
Chinese Quince—another of the smaller plants on display
One of the great views in Mr. Vallejo’s museum
Olive—though the core of the collection is imported, standout Mediterranean plants include olive and oak
Scots Pine in foreground
Japanese Maple—a handful of exceptional maples are centerpieces of the museum’s deciduous trees
Japanese Maple
Japanese Maple
Chinese Hackberry
Chinese Juniper
Thank you Mario for your hospitality! Until next time—
Other recent posts from my Spain trip: