Join us on March 7th at 7PM at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Center for the second general meeting of the year.

The meeting will start with a Bonsai 101 session on the general approach to bonsai, including the types of plants that make suitable bonsai, as well as how trunks and branches help define the style of the tree.

Additionally, Linda Camp, owner of BC Bonsai, will be presenting on deciduous trees. 

All are welcome!  More information on our meetings, as well as a full schedule, available at our Meetings page.

Last November, Guest Master Mauro Stemberger visited the Midwest Bonsai Society and performed an initial styling on an American Larch.

We've launched a new Video section of the Midwest Bonsai Society's website with a recording of Mauro's talk.

We hope to add new videos as other Guest Masters visit us!

Though the trees are still bare, and our weather is bouncing between very cold, and unseasonably warm, its time to start planning for the 12th Annual May Bonsai Exhibit. 

Dates are set, workshops are being planned (and open for registration soon), and we're hoping that you are beginning to think of which of your trees would fit in nicely to the exhibit, which focuses on bonsai in training, especially with an emphasis on pictures of the process of developing bonsai.

Exhibit details are available at our page dedicated to the May Bonsai Exhibit.  Keep an eye on those pages for updated details as we get closer.

The annual Midwest Bonsai Society Holiday Party is Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015.  Bring a pot luck disk and any item you would like to donate for the evening's free raffle.  The Society is providing drinks.

Society Members-

Our bylaws require that elections are held every two years for board positions.  In line with this requirement, our November meeting (11/9 at 7PM) will start with an election.

November's Society meeting, originally scheduled for November 2nd, will be moved to the following Monday, November 9th, to accommodate guest master Mauro Stemberger, who will be in from Italy.

Couldn't make it to the 2015 Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit? Attended, but pictures didn't come out well? Our review and highlights of this year's exhibit is now available.

We're just over a week away from the beginning of the 38th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit.

Come see the Midwest's largest bonsai exhibit, comprised of display trees from across the country, anchored by the Chicago Botanic Garden's own permanent bonsai collection.

In addition to the exhibit, demonstrations and workshops are offered, as well as a sales area with vendors selling bonsai-related items.

Full details available in our section dedicated to the August Exhibit.

Monday, July 13th will be the next Society meeting, meeting in the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

7:00 PM - Society-provided tree workshop.  Come work on Society-provided trees in a group setting.  Work with other Society members as raw materials are initially styled.  At completion, trees will be raffled off.  Always a fun meeting!

Note, there will be no Bonsai 101

Ivan Watters, Midwest Bonsai Board member and former Chicago Botanic Garden Bonsai Curator, will be hosting a series of workshops at Elawa Farm.

6 Weeks.  Wednesdays, July 8 to August 12.  6:30 to 9:30 pm.
$250.  Limited to 15 people.

Monday, June 1st will be the next Society meeting.  Meeting in the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden, we have a great program scheduled.

At 7:00, we'll start with Bonsai 101, focusing on care for Azaleas and Pine de-candling.
Then at 7:30 the program continues with an exciting demonstration on Hinoki cypress by Phil Mahliot.

This weekend is the 11th Annual Spring Bonsai Show, held at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  Full details, including schedules, workshops (they are filling up fast!) and vendor information, among other pertinent information, is available at our page dedicated to the Spring Show.

We hope to see you there!

Ivan Watters, Midwest Bonsai Board member and former Chicago Botanic Garden Bonsai Curator, will be hosting a series of workshops at Elawa Farm.

6 Weeks.  Tuesdays or Wednesdays, May 12/13 to June 16/17.  6:30 to 9:30 pm.

Click the link below for more details

We're excited for a May society meeting full of various topics, please join us at the Regenstein center on Monday, May 4th, 2015:

7:00 PM - Bonsai 101, watering and fertilizing
7:30 PM - Demonstration of the new www.midwestbonsai.org website
7:45 PM - Chris Baker, Curator of Bonsai at Chicago Botanic Garden, will be performing a demonstration of a multi-tree planting on a slate slab with European cypress trees. The forest/group planting will be raffled off after the demonstration

Our April meeting will focus on repotting. We will do an introductory session on why we must root-prune and repot bonsai, and how to know when your tree needs it.

After countless hours of work by multiple Society members, the new website for the Midwest Bonsai Society is now live!