Axel Erlandson, born in 1884 was a bean farmer
outside of Turlock, CA. Sometime in the 1920’s,
inspired by observing a natural graft between two
sycamore trees, he began to shape trees. His self-named
“Tree Circus” opened in Scotts Valley
in the spring of 1947 and this collection of unusual
trees eventually made appearances in Ripley's "Believe-It-or-Not,"
"Life" magazine, and other publications
throughout the 1950s.
Axel, who died in 1964, left behind a legacy of
74 spectacular trees, shaped into assorted structures,
including hearts, lightning bolts, basket weaves
and rings. The trees languished and many began to
die. In 1984, Michael Bonfante, bought the remaining
29 trees and transplanted all of them to the site
of amusement park outside of Gilroy. Today, 19 of
the remaining coiled, scalloped and spiral shaped
Sycamores, Box Elders, Ash and Spanish Cork trees
serve as the centerpiece for a horticulturally based
theme park called Bonfante Gardens Family Theme
Park.
The tree represented in this print is known as
the Sycamore Tower or Basket Tree. Axel planted
six sycamore trees in a circle, topped them all
at one foot then grafted them together to form the
diamond patterns (there are 42 different connections
that give the tree its basket shape). Many consider
this tree one of Axel's most balanced creations
and it is currently thriving at Bonfante Gardens
