Pacific Bonsai Museum - Federal Way, WA
- Jonathan Elmore
- Sep 22
- 2 min read
Updated: 12 minutes ago
Long story short, I killed a bonsai tree a few years ago. I didn't want to or plan to, but it happened. I bought it from a roadside stand in Tulsa. It was already trimmed and shaped a little so you could tell it was a bonsai. I tended to it and watered it and clipped it and then one day it shriveled up and died. I was a little heartbroken. I just bought a new one, but now my wife is a soil chef and green thumb. So I have high hopes for my Fernspray Cypress.
What spurred my inspiration to try again was a visit to the Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way, Washington. It's a gorgeous outdoor museum tucked away in the woods and I loved it. It even started raining and I didn't care. I was stunned by the artistic little trees and the people that started them and continue the care of these green friends. As you meander through the displays, you'll see some bonsai that were started decades ago and they're still healthy and wonderful. I didn't know some of the techniques that could be used like wrapping the tree around a piece of driftwood to give it support and a two-toned beauty that really catches your eye. There were so many different kind of bonsai like Chinese Juniper, Japanese Black Pine, Catlin Elm, and even Gravenstein Apple Tree. Seriously!? Yeah, and it was producing apples. Awesome!!
There were also interesting displays of the types of soil, what to feed them, and how to trim them. The founder of the museum, Dave Creek, decided that preserving these bonsai was to be part of his life. His life has been full of art and he designed and build tree houses that you can see in the photos below. Small treehouses and small trees seem to go hand in hand! This was definitely a museum I wasn't expecting to see, but I'm glad my wife found it and we went to see it. It's worth the short trip between Seattle and Tacoma. There is also the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden in the same complex so you can hit two places while you're there. Bonus!
This is a little out of range for an Okie trip, but I still like talking about the cool places that are out in the world for us to see. And since I've been there, I can honestly talk about it rather than just pulling information off the internet and talking about it. I'm not calling people out for doing that, but I always like to hear about things from people that have actually experienced it. I'm sure you can appreciate that too. So here's to the Pacific Northwest! Go up there if you can. It's wonderful.
2515 South 336th St, Federal Way, WA
253-353-7345
Jonathan Elmore ©2025
