Due to a scheduling conflict, we've moved the White Elephant Sale to our October Society meeting.  Bring items for donation to the Society, and bring money to participate!  Always a fun event!  The October Society meeting will be held at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Center at 7:00 PM on October 3rd.  See you there!

Tree Registration for the 39th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit is today, between 12 and 7, at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Center.  There is no cost for registration, which is open to all, with no membership or residency requirements.

Please make sure your trees are thoroughly watered before being registered for the show. Trees will be spot-watered only throughout the weekend.

Full details at http://www.midwestbonsai.org/august-exhibition/about#tree-registration

The 39th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition returns to the Chicago Botanic Garden this August 19-21st.

Workshops are still available for signup using the safe and secure Eventbrite service.

Planning to exhibit a tree? New this year, pre-register your tree online to speed up the registration process on Thursday before the show.

Full details about the exhibition, workshops, vendors and tree registration is all available on our website at http://www.midwestbonsai.org/august-exhibition/about

This Midwest Bonsai Society is excited to welcome guest master Jerry Meislik to our regularly scheduled Society meeting on Monday 8/1!  Our program will start at 7PM with our Bonsai 101 session on accent plants and then quickly transition into the full program with Jerry.  Jerry is well-known for his work with Tropical plants.  After the program, the tree Jerry works on will be raffled off.  For more information on Jerry's work, take a look at his website www.bonsaihunk.com. We look forward to seeing you at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Center at 7PM sharp!

The 39th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition returns to the Chicago Botanic Garden this August 19-21st.  Our webpage is live, including the schedule of events, workshops, and the bio of our Guest Master, Colin Lewis.

We look forward to seeing you during the Exhibition!

This upcoming Monday, May 2nd, at 7:00PM we will meet at the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden for our May society meeting.

We have a great program planned, including a Bonsai 101 on Pruning and Pinching, and then a Demonstration by Chris Baker, Curator of the Bonsai Collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  Chris will be performing work on a Pine.

Additionally, we will have tables in the back for members to sell any Bonsai-related items.

Hope to see you there!

Walter Pall, internationally renowned Bonsai Artist, will be at the Chicago Botanic Garden this Wednesday, between 6 and 9PM, styling a limber pine that is estimated to be 800 years old.  The Chicago Botanic Garden has more information on their website.

April 4th is fast approaching.  We hope to see you at 7PM at the Chicago Botanic Garden for our annual repotting meeting.  Now that trees are starting to wake from dormancy, bring trees ready to be repotted (no tropical trees yet).  The Society provides some unsifted Turface, as well as some pots, but bring your trees, tools, and any other materials you might need to start off the Spring repotting season!

Do you have questions about advanced techniques, such as air-layering, root work, and propagation techniques?  Senior Society members will be there to help answer questions.

More information on our meetings at www.midwestbonsai.org/meetings/

Hope to see you there!

Workshops are set!  It's only two short months until the 12th Annual May Bonsai Exhibit, May 21-22.

Registrations are now open.  View the workshop schedule, and sign-up online, at our Workshop page.

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.