The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is celebrating 100 years of bonsai with a century-old forest, shaped by hand and small enough to fit on a shelf.

BBG home to one of North America's oldest bonsai collections

Rooted in tradition, the has quietly grown over 100 years to become one of the most internationally respected in its field.

"It is one of the oldest, one of the largest collections in North America and really a very diverse, big, important collection in the world of horticulture," said Shauna Moore, director of horticulture at BBG.

This month, the Garden unveiled a centennial exhibit honoring its timeless forest of tiny trees.

"The very first bonsai that were brought here from Japan by a collector, Ernest Koh, who then, when he was moving to Florida in 1925, donated 11 plants to us," BBG President Adrian Benepe said.

Some of those original specimens are still alive today. Their gnarled trunks tell a story of meticulous pruning, precise shaping and an artform that's over 1,000 years old.

"That these are alive, after all the work, and patience, and love, and torture that went into making these shapes — amazing," said Nancy, a visitor from Queens.

"Just being able to maintain a bonsai, actually, it's a real mindfulness experience," said Caprice Henry, visiting from Ditmas Park.

That humble beginning led to the creation of BBG's Bonsai Museum in the 1980s. Over the decades, the Garden became known worldwide for its bonsai collection.

Bonsai collection includes trees dating back to 1700s

Today, the collection holds more than 400 specimens. Many credit its richness to Frank Okamura, the Garden's first bonsai curator, who shaped and cared for the trees for more than 30 years. A restored 1971 film featuring Okamura is now part of the exhibit.

"A man born in Hiroshima, came to United States before World War II, was imprisoned in an internment camp during World War II with his two daughters and his wife, got out and came to New York in 1947," Benepe said. "He was put in charge of restoring the Japanese garden, which had been closed and vandalized ... and then took over the small and fairly dormant collection of bonsai."

Some of the specimens now on display date back to the 1700s, stunning visitors with their longevity. One is estimated to be 500 years old.

"The ages of them, they are hundreds of years old, is really fascinating," Henry said.

Among the most remarkable is the preserved bark of a tree named "Fudo," believed to be 800 years old. The tree died during its journey from Japan 50 years ago, but its remains are still part of the exhibit.

"The remnants of Fudo and the spirit still lives with us. You know, the bark, the feel of a cascade, the flow," Moore said.

The bonsai centennial celebration runs through October, with rotating displays and hands-on public workshops.

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