Due to Garfield Park Conservatory scheduling issues, the Chicago Bonsai Club, a chapter of the Midwest Bonsai Society, will be held on the 3rd Monday of every month, beginning March 17 at 6 p.m.

There will be senior members available to answer your questions and provide assistance, so bring a tree to work on.

More details are available on our Chicago Chapter page.

The MBS board is happy to announce the full agenda of all 2025 General Society Meetings. We’re excited to invite a number of talented bonsai artists to our meetings this year, interspersed with hands-on events where you can participate with other members to create bonsai.

Details on each meeting are available on our Meetings page - please keep an eye here for any last-minute changes as each meeting gets closer.

We hope to see you there!

Our first general meeting of 2025, we are excited to host Don Lindstom February 3rd at 7 PM at the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Don Lindstrom is a 30 year veteran of Bonsai art. After 6 yrs, he was able to spend time working at Brussels Bonsai Nursery in Mississippi as well as visiting artist at Nature's Way in Pennsylvania with Jim Doyle.  After that he returned to his Chicago suburban home and achieved professional awards at The Midwest show and also BCI conferences along with two Joshua Roth New Talent competitions.

Join us for our annual Holiday Party, to be held December 11th at the Heller Nature Center. Bring a dish to share, drinks will be provided by the society.

More details are available on our Holiday Party page.

The event always proves to be a hit - we look forward to seeing you there!

While the bonsai season has wound-down, we’re already busy planning next year’s activities - including our General Meeting dates.

Please see our Meetings page for more detail on all of our meeting dates and times. Our General Meetings run monthly from February through November at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Hope to see you there!

Been at the Chicago Botanic Garden recently? You might have seen the signage in the entrance to the Visitor’s Center inviting guests to attend the 46th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition, August 16-18th.

It’s not too late to prepare your trees for exhibition! Looking to build your skills, sign-up for one of our many vendor-led workshops across different styles and species of tree. And of course, your support in volunteering your time helps our exhibition run smoothly!

All details about the Exhibition are available on our August Exhibition page. We hope to see you there!

Join us August 5th at the Chicago Botanic Garden for our next General Meeting, focused on preparations for the upcoming August Exhibition. More details are available on our Meetings page. We hope to see you there!

Location: Regenstein Center, Burnstein Hall
7:00 PM: Bonsai 101 Program: “Volunteer Roles for August Exhibit" presented by Robert Wright.
7:30 PM General Program: “Preparing Your Tree for Displaying at the August Exhibit” presented by Victor Zurczak.

The Society’s July General Meeting program has been announced - Join us on July 1st in the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden at 7:00 PM for our Bonsai 101 Program “Accent Plants and Pots” presented Judy Doll. At 7:30 PM our main General Program “Bonsai Tree Styles” will be presented by Linda Camp.

As always, feel free to bring trees to review with senior members for styling advice.

We hope to see you there!

This weekend marks the 18th Annual Midwest Bonsai Society May Exhibit! Open Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the exhibit as always takes place at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Regenstein Center. While the show is free, admission and parking fees for the Chicago Botanic Garden apply.

Our May Exhibit page provides more details about the extensive list of vendors selling bonsai tools, trees, soils, pottery and accessories, as well as our list of workshops available for different skill-levels.

Focusing on trees in training, this non-judged show is open to trees from all skill-levels, irrespective of membership in the Midwest Bonsai Society.

Thanks to our volunteers and board members who dedicate time and effort into making the show a success. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our next general meeting will be at 7PM on May 6th at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Remote capabilities for those unavailable to join in person are available - members, please see your email for more details!

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM with our Bonsai 101 Program: "Bonsai from Cuttings" and at 7:30 PM turns to our main topic "Air Layering Demonstration." Both programs will be presented by Victor Zurczak.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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!

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 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 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!

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!