Little Trees = Super Cool

A couple weeks ago, Chad was feeling ambitious - he REALLY wanted to do something during the coming long weekend. After a bit of research on the internet - he found it - our weekend destination:

Elandan Gardens

Oh, my goodness - this place was amazing.

Elandan Gardens is a 6-acre area, located on top of an old land fill, right on the Bremerton waterfront. There are two main events on the property 1) a funky little store, selling antiques, cards and weird little knick-knacks, and 2) a Bonsai Tree museum/garden.


I have seen my fair share of bonsai trees - but there was something uniquely different about these ones - they were ugly and knotted. They were stumpy and without symmetry. They were obviously labors of love. They were each collected, trained and loved by Dan Robinson - a man Chad and I were lucky enough to meet and get a private tour from. You see, the day we went to the gardens it was -raining- and we were the only ones there.

After we walking around the grounds on our own, I was a little in the dark about a few of the techniques mentioned on the informational sheets attached to the trees. So that was our in! When we met Dan - I asked him to clarify a little and that was it! He took us into his work area - he showed us how he collects them, makes sure they will live, then shapes and molds and trains them. He showed us how he can tell how old they are, how he gets them to grow the directions he wants, how he shrinks them down. Dan was amazing - he has so much vision and love for these little trees.

I recommend the gardens to anyone visiting the area. Have you ever seen a thousand-year-old tree? How about a bogenvia or crab apple bonsai?? Well you will and the tour is worth every penny of the $8 entrance fee and two hours it takes to tour them. And if your lucky, Dan will be out there working, picking weeds and positioning them.