Clive Taylor’s White Birch Forest
Clive Taylor was a long-time member of the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society who
became recognized as an expert in propagation and field collecting, and who
would eventually become the subject of an article in Bill Valvanis’ blog. As
recently as August 2015, Bill who is internationally known as a bonsai artist,
teacher and bonsai magazine publisher, visited Clive and was very impressed
with what Clive had accomplished with dwarf Japansese maple stock acquired
from him in the early 1980’s. (See valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2015/08/ to read
more about what Bill had to say then about Clive.)
A standout for years among Clive’s many bonsai was his White Birch
Forest. The fact that he passed on to Hidden Lake Gardens more photos of
this planting than of any other trees in his bonsai collection seems to indicate
this one was always a personal favorite. When exhibited at our AABS annual
shows it consistently received a high number of the public’s votes in balloting
for the individual’s favorite tree of the exhibit.
More recently, this planting became the subject of a recollection from Jerry
Meislik. Jerry tells this story about when he and John Naka encountering Clive’s
forest. It was suddenly that John stopped talking. When he finally spoke, he
said, “This is so wonderful; this is so wonderful.” Jerry asks him “Why are you
feeling this way?” John’s response was, “When I was a child, I was raised by my
grandparents on their farm in Colorado. And, on their farm was a birch
grove. This reminds me of the time I spent on my grandfather’s farm.”
As noted below, Many of Clive’s trees are now the property of Hidden Lake
Gardens and often featured in the Bonsai Courtyard displays there. Last year,
after acquiring the extra-large tray needed, this birch planting was transferred
from the wooden box it had been grown in until regaining its health to the
container it is displayed in above.
Jack Wikle wrote the following tribute when Clive passed in 2016
My first contact with Clive came in March 1980 when he wrote to me because
he had been given my name as someone who might be able to tell him where
he could buy bonsai pots. Then we met face-to-face when he attended the
American Bonsai Society’s Annual Symposium on the Michigan State
University campus that summer. It was not long after this that Clive joined
our Ann Arbor Bonsai Society. This was the beginning of our long
acquaintance and “growing friendship.”
In his early years as a member, Clive’s attendance at our club meetings was
somewhat unpredictable. But as the years passed, he became more regular at
meetings and we could almost always count on him to bring multiple trees for
our exhibits which added greatly to the quality of our shows. The
buttonwoods and bald cypress trees he collected while wintering annually in
Florida were always standouts. Also, he was one of the few Society members
successful in growing white birch trees as bonsai. Some of us have theorized
that Clive’s birches collected from rubble pile islands near the Erie mouth of
the Detroit River are some kind of unusually stress tolerant hybrid.
Clive on a 1988 collecting trip.
To me, Clive always stood out as an extraordinarily observant and creative
individual who watched what others were doing and was very quick in
experimenting and adding innovations of his own. This began with rooting
cuttings and soon progressed to experimenting with air layering and
grafting. He took great pleasure in showing friends how he had joined two or
three trees in a way that resulted in them fusing to become a single, very
impressive individual. Although admittedly uncomfortable speaking
formally to an audience, Clive was always at ease and extremely generous in
sharing his experience and perceptions with individuals and the small groups
that typically accumulated around him at meetings and exhibits.
Thick trunked Japanese maples with small leaves and dramatically flaring
buttress roots were another Taylor specialty. Early in his bonsai growing
adventure, Clive purchased, from William Valavanis, rooted cuttings of a
couple of genetically dwarf and small-leaved Japanese maple varieties, Acer
palmatum ‘Kiyo Hime’ and Acer palmatum ‘Koto Hime’. Over time he started
many more of these maples by rooting cuttings and grew a number of them
into very impressive, mature looking trees. Beginning some years ago, and
accelerating more recently as his health was failing, Clive and his wife Clarice
have been very generous in donating bonsai and related material to Michigan
State University’s Hidden Lake Gardens. Visitors to the Bonsai Courtyard
there will typically find some of Clive’s maples and other bonsai work on
display.