48th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition

August 15 to 17th, 2026

About | Guest Master | Tree Registration

Our August Exhibition has the longest history, going into its 48th presentation in 2026. It is one of the largest regional shows in the nation. Centered on the Chicago Botanic Garden's Permanent Collection, featuring over 50 world-class trees, it’s a showplace of trees from the Midwest and beyond. Enthusiasts from across the country bring their trees to be judged in the main hall at the Garden's Regenstein Center.

A gallery of the 2018 41st Annual Mid-America Exhibition is available here. We have a review of the August 2017 Exhibition available here. We also have a review of the 2015 Exhibit available with that year's winners.

There is no cost to attend the Exhibition once inside of the Garden, but regular parking rates and per-person admission ticket prices apply for entry into the Chicago Botanic Garden. Please see the Garden’s dedicated webpage for pricing details.

Traveling from out of town?  Many of the hotels near the Chicago Botanic Garden offer discounted rates.

In my early days, the way I learned Bonsai was to pick up information wherever I could. I attended numerous events by visiting Bonsai teachers who came to the local club for demonstrations or workshops, but each teacher had a different way of doing things.

I witnessed presentations that involving heavy cut-back, wiring, styling, and repotting, all at the same time. I tried to ask about those trees and the total Bonsai process, but these classes were focused on putting something together in an hour or two. I knew even then that this was the wrong way to care for Bonsai—and the wrong way to teach. As I became more passionate about Bonsai, I began to step back and think there had to be a better way. When “Bonsai Today” started its publication, I read absolutely everything and tried to apply what was translated in those articles. It worked. Even when articles conflicted with each other, they were of great help. The gallery section of “Bonsai Today” featured trees from Japan that were far superior to anything I had ever seen before. These images were so inspiring to me that I visited Japan to see the trees myself.

Soon after, I learned that Akio Kondo, a first-year Bonsai professional, had chosen to live and work in California for one year. I invited him to live in my home and set up shop in my backyard. Thus began an extensive education for me, continuing through the following seasons. Akio was a man with high standards for Bonsai, and my time with him led to my decision to return to Japan to further my Bonsai education.

Upon my return to California, with much new information to share, I established my business, Bonsai Boon. Later, in 1998, I started Bay Island Bonsai in order to teach others to recognize, create, and maintain high quality Bonsai. Bay Island Bonsai became the perfect vehicle to pass along Bonsai information in a structured and logical way, and to follow the progress of students and their trees. I am often amazed how quickly students pick up Bonsai skills when they are held to high standards and are encouraged to ask questions.

In recent years, the art of Bonsai has improved outside of Japan, as has the quality of the trees in Bonsai shows. Several Bonsai artists who have studied with me have also studied in Japan, and a few are currently studying with some of the best Bonsai masters in the world. Instead of the hit-and-miss education of the past, today’s serious Bonsai students can learn from teachers who are equipped to lead them through the entire process.

I like to think that I have had something to do with improving Bonsai standards through my Bonsai workshops, Bonsai intensives, and regular study groups across North America. My goal has not changed. I want to be able to walk into any Bonsai show in America, enjoy healthy and well-done trees, and later say, “That was a good show.” I believe this happy change has already begun.

Tree registration for the Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition is open to all, irrespective of residency or skill level.  There is no fee to register trees.  Trees are judged by our Guest Master, and critique sheets are provided to tree owners after the show.  Trees are registered into four classes: Novice, Open, Professional and Non-Judged. 

Novice – Any person who has not won any ribbons or awards for any trees in a Midwest Bonsai Society event.

Professional – A person engaged in Bonsai as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. Said Bonsai professional should receive 50% or more of his or her total annual income from Bonsai related activities.

Open – Everyone who is not a Novice or a Professional.

Please note that due to a ban at the Chicago Botanic Garden, no Boxwoods will be allowed at the Exhibition.  Our page dedicated to Boxwood Blight has more information.

While trees are spot-watered throughout the weekend of the Exhibition, please make sure your trees are thoroughly watered before tree registration.

The Midwest Bonsai Society reserves the right, in conjunction with Senior Member and Guest Master feedback, to reorganize and move trees and displays around the Exhibition at its discretion, for aesthetic or logistic purposes, at any point during the Exhibition.  Lighting is fixed within the Exhibition hall; tree owners are not able or allowed to modify the lighting above or around his/her tree(s).

Disclaimer: Midwest Bonsai Society is not responsible for loss, theft or damage of items placed for Exhibition.

Check back closer to the show for tree registration details!