April 3rd General Meeting - Forest Bonsai

March 25, 2023

April 3rd will be our next general meeting at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We have a great program scheduled:

7:00 PM - Bonsai 101 Program will be “Forest Design” presented by Victor Zurczak.
7:30 PM - General Program is "Forest Planting Workshop” led by Linda Camp. You are welcome to just watch or bring your own trees and pot, or purchase package from BC Bonsai. Package includes trees, soil and pot. Trees available will be Maples, Dawn Redwoods, Black pines, and Ficus.

We hope to see you there!

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April General Meeting Program - Michael Hagedorn

about 4 weeks ago

This Monday, the Society is happy to welcome guest artist and author Michael Hagedorn for discussion on his works “Bonsai Heresy: 56 Myths Exposed Using Science & Tradition.” Members will have the opportunity to ask questions. Because of the Guest Speaker for General Program there will be no Bonsai 101.

As always, senior members will be available in person to help with any bonsai questions you have.

The meeting will be in person in the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden, or is available through WebEx.

2024 Society General Meeting Schedule Released!

about 2 months ago

The Midwest Bonsai Society board is happy to announce our General Society meeting schedule for 2024! As dates get closer, each meeting’s Bonsai 101 and ‘Main Program’ content is finalized, and our website updated. Check back here, or keep an eye out in our newsletters, for more details on our meetings, as they are available.

Hope to see you at a General Meeting soon!

March 4 - Burnstein Hall
April 1 - Burnstein Hall
May 6 - Pullman Room
June 3 - Burnstein Hall
July 1 - Burnstein Hall
August 5 - Burnstein Hall
September 2 - Burnstein Hall
October 7 - Burnstein Hall
November 4 - Burnstein Hall

(All meetings start at 7 PM - please see our Meetings page for more details)

The Midwest Bonsai Society Annual Holiday Potluck Party

about 5 months ago

The annual Midwest Bonsai Society Holiday Party is Tuesday, December 5, 2023. The setup is at 5:00 pm, dinner at 6:00 pm.

Where: Heller Nature Center, 2821 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL 60035

When: December 6, 2022 - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

Bring a pot luck disk if you can, and any item you would like to donate for the evening’s free raffle. The Society is providing drinks. The last party, 2022, was a great deal of fun with fine food, wine and drinks. This is a great opportunity to renew friendships and meet new Bonsai members.

A map and more information is available on our Holiday Party page.

October 2nd - General Society Meeting

about 7 months ago

The next society meeting is October 2nd!

7:00 PM: Bonsai 101 program; “Bonsai Preparation and Winter Storage” presented by Victor Zurczak. 7:30 PM, General Program: “White Elephant Sale”. All members are invited to bring supplies, pots plants or any other bonsai related item that you want to sell or give away. MBS will have leftover Children's Workshop trees available for sale at $10 each. Trees are Zelcova, Chinese Wisteria, Japanese Maple, Trident Maple, and maybe one Amur Maple.

As always, our meetings are held at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Regenstein Center, as well as on-line for members. Please see your email for remote-participation details!

August 7th - General Society Meeting

about 9 months ago

August 7th is our next General Society Meeting, at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

7:00 PM, Bonsai 101 program; “Accent Plants” presented by Linda Camp.
7:30 PM, General Program: “Show Presentation for Bonsai” demonstration by Victor Zurczak.

Come with trees you want to prepare for our August Exhibition, get advice, and suggested improvements.

More information is available on our Meetings page.

June General Meeting

about 11 months ago

Right on the heels of our May Exhibit, the June General Meeting will be held 7:00 PM Monday, June 5th, at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Burnstein Hall, as well as via WebEx. WebEx Invitations will be sent to all members via email.

The Society welcomes guest artist Sergio Cuan with his program “Deciduous Bonsai Development.”

Sergio will join us remotely via WebEx, but joining in person has its own benefits - feel free to bring trees you want to discuss with senior members of the Society for help, guidance and support!

More information is available on our Meetings page. We hope to see you in person, or virtually, on June 5th!

One Week! Spring Show May 13 and 14th!

about 12 months ago

Just over a week to go to the 17th Annual Midwest Bonsai Society May Show - held at the Chicago Botanic Garden May 13 and 14th!

You may have even caught a story on WGN of our upcoming show! Focusing on trees-in-training, the May Show is a great opportunity to stock-up on bonsai materials, show tress you’re proud of in the non-judged show, take a workshop (spots still available!) or otherwise just get ready for the bonsai growing season!

More information, including links to sign-up for workshops, or to register your tree for the show, is available at our page dedicated to the May Show. Hope to see you there!

May 1st General Society Meeting

about a year ago

May is almost here, and we’re happy to announce the programming for our May 1st General Society meeting at the Chicago Botanic garden. A great opportunity to get together with other society members, this is also a good opportunity to bring in your own tree and get feedback from others, as you prepare your tree for a May or August showing! We hope to see you there!

7:00PM - Bonsai 101 - Wiring Techniques presented by Victor Zurczak
7:30PM - Main Program - Presentation and Demonstration from Mark Fields on grafting.
Meeting will be available in person, and via Webex. Members are also invited to bring a tree to get advice on care or styling from Victor Zurczak or other senior members.
Note: We will be meeting in the Pullman room, as opposed to our normal location. The Pullman room is still within the Regenstein Center.

April 3rd General Meeting - Forest Bonsai

about a year ago

April 3rd will be our next general meeting at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We have a great program scheduled:

We hope to see you there!

Address Correction - Annual Holiday Party

about a year ago

Our apologies, we realized that we had the wrong address for this year’s Annual Holiday Party. Our party will be held December 6th at the Heller Nature Center - the correct address is 2821 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL 60035.

Full details are available at our Holiday Party page.

We hope to see you there!