U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
National Bonsai & Penjing Museum 40th Anniversary
 [Running time: ~ 1:57]

Welcome to focus on ag research from the Agricultural Research Service or ARS. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

It's a good time to visit ARS's U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. In part that's because this year marks the fortieth anniversary of one of the Arboretum's most popular attractions-the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. 

The museum started in 1976 when Japan donation fifty-three bonsai and six viewing stones to the United States in commemoration of our Bicentennial. 

The Japanese word "bonsai" and the Chinese word "penjing" both mean "pot-cultivated" and refer to the art of designing and maintaining miniature living trees or shrubs. 

The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum features one of North America's largest bonsai collections. Today, three pavilions house nearly one-hundred and fifty plants.

That collection includes a three-hundred, ninety year-old bonsai from Japan that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Also featured is the world's most famous bonsai, called Goshin, which translates to "protector of the spirit."

You can learn more about the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum and view some of the collection, by visiting AgResearch magazine at www.agresearch.mag.ars.usda.gov. 

That's our podcast for today. Thanks for listening.