General Meeting - April 2023
2023-04-05 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Forest Planting Hands-on Workshop

Jim Beck and Linda Camp are leading a forest planting hands-on workshop for our March 2023 General Meeting.
The cost of the workshop is $60 for a five-tree planting and $80 for a seven-tree planting. Additional trees will be available for $10 each.
Species available are Dawn Redwood, Trident Maples, Japanese Maples, Black Pines, Larch
Pot, soil, and wire are included
Observers are welcome at no charge.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

Board Meeting
2023-04-11 19:00 - 20:30
April 11, 2023 – Meeting of the Board
To join, log into your account and navigate to Board Meetings under the Members Section.

General Meeting - May 2023
2023-05-03 19:00 - 20:30
Air Layering and Grafting
Presentation by Mark Fields

The information below was taken from Mark Fields’ website.
My passion for bonsai began at about age 9. I was born in 1959 and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. My dad was a landscape contractor, as I am today.
My dad used to purchase and dig nursery stock from a nursery, Line’s Nursery, down the street from where we lived. Occasionally, I would go with him and wandered around the nursery one day and found some little mugho pines that the nursery owner had lined out and was training in the ground. I asked the owner, Mr. Line, what he was doing with them, and he said he was training them as bonsai. I began asking him more about them and visited him more often. A few days later, he loaned me two books he owned from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, “Handbook on Bonsai: Special Techniques” and “Handbook on Dwarfed Potted Trees, The Bonsai of Japan” and told me that I would learn more if I read them. He showed me how to start and grow plants from cuttings, prune properly, and practice other skills as I grew older. He passed away in the early 1970s.
My dad used to bring home shrubs in the back of his truck which was removed from a job and discarded. When I saw an interesting-looking trunk or shape, I would remove it and pot it up from the truck. Most would die within days. Some would survive for at least that year’s growing season. It was great practice, and I learned a lot.
When I married and moved out of my parent’s house into a double in 1979, I moved my bonsai there. The neighbor next door noticed that I was growing bonsai and told me his father-in-law used to do bonsai. He went back to his house and got his wife and introduced me. I told her the story about how her father got me started in bonsai and that he had loaned me his two Brooklyn Botanic Garden handbooks more than a decade before. She told me to wait a minute and went back into the house. A few minutes later, she brought out those very same books and told me to keep them. I was stunned. They are now a part of my book collection, and I still use them as a reference to this day.
I discovered a bonsai nursery on the southeast side of Indy called Mendel Gardens about that same time. There I began a relationship with the owner, Max Mendel. He sold starter trees, supplies, offered free advice, and critiqued my trees when I asked him to. He became my second mentor and taught me much of what I know about bonsai today. I called him the father of bonsai in Indiana. I spent many weekends wandering around his nursery. He introduced me to the Indianapolis Bonsai Club, which I joined. I have been a member of that organization since 1979 and was president from 2009 – 2012. Max passed away in the mid-1990s, and I bought a few of his trees and his personal set of Masakuni tools I treasure.
In October of 2004, I traveled to Europe, where I met and befriended Danny Use and his wife Ingrid at their Ginkgo Bonsai Center in Laarne, Belgium. I went back there in October 2005 and worked for Danny for a couple of days. I talked them into traveling to the US in June of 2008 to headline the Mid-America Bonsai Alliance in Indianapolis, their first time here in the US. They invited me to their nursery in April of 2009, where I spent 2 weeks straight working side by side with Danny on many of his world-class bonsai specimens. It was truly an amazing experience, and I learned so much. I am a much better bonsai artist because of his teachings.
I worked for a major pharmaceutical company here in Indy from 1980 – 2010. I also owned and operated my own landscape business, Fields Landscape Concepts, LLC, founded in 1983 and closed in 2006. As part of the landscape business, I have sold bonsai, pre-bonsai, and supplies to club members and fellow enthusiasts since the early 1980s. In 2011, with a gentle push from friends such as bonsai artist and author Craig Coussins, and bonsai artist Warren Hill, I founded my own School of Bonsai.
For the second time, I am married with 2 grown children from my first marriage and a granddaughter and a grandson. My wife Allison delivered twins, a boy, and a girl, in November 2007. So I am experiencing sort of a second life, so to speak.
With the twins coming along, I looked for something to do at home rather than being gone every evening landscaping. In 2006, with some prompting from my wife and IBC club members, I decided to start a website and open a new business, Bonsai by Fields, LLC. I perform demonstrations, lectures, and workshops using a wide variety of trees. I also vend at a few major exhibitions throughout the US.
I recently updated a list of bonsai artists I have either seen in demonstrations, lectures, and workshops. They total more than 60 at this point. Names such as the great John Naka, Mas Ishi, Yuji Yoshimura, Danny Use, Ryan Neil, Masahiko Kimura, and Bjorn Bjorholm.
In 2013, I finally realized a dream I have always had of traveling to Japan to visit some of the bonsai nurseries there. I was also able to see one of the major exhibitions there, the Taikan-ten, held in November in Kyoto.
In early January 2015, I traveled to Osaka, Japan, to study at Kouka-en. A third-generation bonsai nursery owned by Keichi Fujikawa. It is the nursery where Bjorn apprenticed and is now a resident artist. I had secured a spot to study for a month there. What an amazing experience! It was 7 days a week, 8 – 9 hours a day of nothing but bonsai. I was also able to attend the 2015 Kokufu-ten Bonsai Exhibition and the famous Green Club Sale. While there, I met Italian bonsai artist Mauro Stemberger. He visited here in the fall of 2015, and I am now his Midwest agent.
Mark Fields

Some of Mark Fields’s Bonsai trees

Acer Buergerianum

Pinus

Pyracantha
Contact information
Location: Greenwood, Indiana, USA
Email: maf71459(at)gmail.com
Website: www.bonsaibyfields.com

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

Board Meeting - May 9, 2023
2023-05-09 19:00 - 20:30
May 9, 2023 – Meeting of the Board
To join, log into your account and navigate to Board Meetings under the Members Section.

Midwest Bonsai Society 17th Annual May Bonsai Exhibit
2023-05-13 10:00 - 2023-05-14 16:00
Midwest Bonsai Society 17th Annual May Bonsai Exhibit
May 13th and 14th, 2023
A newer tradition for the Midwest Bonsai Society is the May Bonsai Exhibit. Starting in 2004, the show is smaller than the August Bonsai Exhibition but is well worth the trip to view the displays of trees. The Garden Bonsai trees are displayed in the two courtyards. Vendors offer an amazing selection of trees, accent plants, pots, stands, tools, and Bonsai books and literature. There are also workshops, including a children’s workshop, and bonsai demonstrations.
The May Exhibit is held in the Burnstein Hall of the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The theme of the show is education. Members are invited to bring trees in various stages of training, accompanied by explanations of what processes are being used.
There is no cost to attend the bonsai show once inside 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.

Please see the Midwest Bonsai webpage for additional information

Spring Bonsai Weekend
2023-05-20 10:00 - 2023-05-21 16:00
The Greater Louisville Bonsai Society is hosting a special bonsai exhibit at the Waterfront Botanical Gardens, 1435 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, KY on Saturday, May 20, from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, May 21, from 12 pm to 4 pm.

FREE ENTRY
Dozens of bonsai on display
Non-juried show
People’s Choice Award
Bonsai demonstrations
Japanese cultural demonstrations

General Meeting - June 2023
2023-06-07 19:00 - 20:30
Rock Planting demonstration by Larry Magee
and
Bonsai 101 to be determined

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

Meeting of the Board - June 2023
2023-06-14 19:00 - 20:30
June 14, 2023 – Meeting of the Board
To join, log into your account and navigate to Board Meetings under the Members Section.

Annual Club Picnic 2023
2023-06-25 11:00 - 15:00
This year’s summer picnic is Sunday, June 25, from 11 to 3, at Cantigny Park, 1s151 Winfield Rd. in Wheaton, IL 60189.
Cantigny is a beautiful park with gardens, the Robert R. McCormick House, and the First Division Museum.
Our club picnic is the perfect time to come together and enjoy bonsai. We should take this opportunity to bring a tree to show others and bring trees that we would like advice on. It is a great time to hang out together and work on trees. Nothing beats a summer day talking bonsai and wiring trees.
Our picnic will take place under the shelter just on the left as you enter the park. Lunch will take place around noon. The club will provide burgers, hot dogs, and drinks; members are asked to bring their sides and share.
Members, please plan on bringing a dish to pass and a tree or two to work on. The club will have our wire box available if people need wire for their trees.
So we hope to see you on June 25th!

Please be aware that while there is no entry fee to Cantigny, there is a $10 parking fee per car.
Please feel free to call me (Nick DiBattista 630-479-2112) should you have any questions.

General Meeting - July 2023
2023-07-12 19:00 - 20:30
Make Your Own Pot
Don Lindstrom will demonstrate the art of making clay bonsai pots. You are then invited to make your own. Don will then collect the pots, fire them, and return them at a latter meeting. There is a charge of $25 if you decide to make your own, which will cover the cost of the clay and firing.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

General Meeting - August 2023
2023-08-02 19:00 - 20:30
This general meeting will include a presentation on how to prep your tree for our 17th year at the Morton Arboretum show and to talk about how you can help with the setup and show itself.

Destination Asia Festival
2023-08-04 17:30 - 2023-08-06 17:30
The Morton Arboretum

Explore the diverse cultures of Asia through music, dance, food, and more. Join us for a fun-filled weekend that will transport you across the globe. Starting with a member preview on Friday evening and all day on Saturday and Sunday, enjoy diverse cultural performances and demonstrations, various shopping and art vendors, and local food trucks.
This event attracts new members to our club and allows members to gather and interact with the Festival attendees and teach them about the art of bonsai.
PSBS is proud to again be in the Sycamore Room hosting our Annual PSBS Bonsai Exhibition. Our Bonsai Exhibition is where our club members can show their trees which they have spent so much time on. There will also be several “trees in training” tables where our new members can show their work and others can display interesting trees in progress. Please consider bringing as many of your trees as possible. As PSBS members, you are allowed up to three display trees for judging but unlimited “trees in training.”
Workshops

Kusamono Workshop Link
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/kusamono-workshop/

Lavender Star Flower Bonsai Workshop Link
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/lavender-star-flower-workshop/

Trident Maple Bonsai Workshop
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/trident-maple-workshop/

Bring Your Own Tree Bonsai Workshop with Mark Fields
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/bring-your-own-tree-workshop/

Dwarf Jade Bonsai Workshop Link
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/dwarf-jade-workshop/

Itoigawa Shimpaku Juniper Bonsai Workshop with Mark Fields Link
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/adult-programs/itoigawa-shimpaku-juniper-workshop/

Please consider bringing a tree for display.
If you are interested in volunteering time at the show or need transport for your trees, please contact Nick DiBattista (nicholasd_1@yahoo.com or 630-479-2112).
Link to Parking information for volunteers
Link to Morton Arboretum for more information

45th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibition
2023-08-18 09:00 - 2023-08-20 17:00
August 18-20, 2023
Friday August 18 – Noon to 5PM
Saturday August 19, Sunday August 20 – 9AM to 5PM

Click here for more information

General Meeting - September 2023
2023-09-13 19:00 - 20:30
General Meeting – September 13, 2023

BC Bonsai will present a hands-on styling workshop. BC Bonsai will have available several pre-bonsai trees to purchase and work on to bring home to add to your collection.

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

General Meeting - October 2023
2023-10-04 19:00 - 20:30
General Meeting – October 4, 2023

All about pines
Larry Magee will demonstrate how to work with your pines at this time of the year.
Bring a pine of your own for help with pine candle pruning.
Larry will also show his PowerPoint Show of his trip to Japan.

Here is one of the items for the monthly raffle.
Ficus benjamina

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

Meeting of the Board - October 10, 2023
2023-10-10 19:00 - 20:30

Membership Promotion Event on the Riverwalk
2023-10-22 12:30 - 17:00
Membership Promotion Event on the Riverwalk

NOTICE: The event time has been changed. We will start at 12:30 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m.
Due to the ‘Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon’ on the same day, roads will be closed (Marathon Map Link)
Riverwalk Overlook Naperville, IL
Membership Promotion Event on the Riverwalk

October 22 | 12:30 am – 5:00 pm | Smykal Pavilion | Downtown Naperville, 188 W Jackson Ave, Naperville, IL 60540, United States

Join the club for our first-ever membership promotion event! Relax on the beautiful downtown Naperville Riverwalk, work on a tree, and hang out with other members.

This event is a “free-speech” promotional event. The goal will be to engage passersby and try to encourage and gain new members to the club. While attending, we hope members can take turns chatting with and engaging potential members who will stop by and see what bonsai is about. Let’s help the club grow!

A senior club member will also do a short demonstration in the afternoon.

Food is only allowed for yourself and not for sharing with others or the public. So feel free to bring some snacks and drinks or go downtown and grab a bite at your leisure.

Hope to see you there!

Location Details

Free Speech Pavilion (also known as the Smykal Pavilion). This is located on the Naperville Riverwalk near Jackson Avenue and Webster Street. This is located on the riverwalk on the library’s south side and next to the Dandelion Fountain in Civil Plaza. 188 W Jackson Ave, Naperville, IL 60540, United States.
PARKING

Parking is available in the street in front of the pavilion, in the parking lot across the street north of the pavilion, south of the pavilion across the river at the city hall parking garage and Water Street district hotel garage, and in all other various lots around the downtown area. Parking should be more ample the earlier you arrive. There is also the larger parking garage on the east side of downtown by Barnes and Noble.

Park District information: https://www.napervilleparks.org/freespeechforums

General Meeting - November 2023
2023-11-01 19:00 - 20:30
General Meeting – November 1, 2023

Wiring demonstration by Larry Magee and Linda Camp
Larry will also show his PowerPoint of his trip to Japan.

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in the TEC 1038b.
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

Christmas - Holiday Party 2023
2023-12-06 19:00 - 20:30
PSBS CHRISTMAS PARTY
Date: December 6, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm
Place: The Magee Estate in Wayne, Illinois
Please park in the driveway if possible and head to the back doors
We will have our annual Christmas Party this year on December 6 ( our regular Wednesday meeting days ) at Larry Magee’s house. Directions to follow. This is a fun get-together celebrating the holidays with our bonsai friends and colleagues.
Please bring food to share. It can be an appetizer, dessert, or homemade dish. The club will provide pop, water, ice, plates, cups, and utensils.
As usual, there will be a door prize or maybe two. Everyone attending will be given a ticket for a chance to win it.
Also, we will be having a White Elephant gift exchange. Bring something bonsai-related if you want to play in the White Elephant exchange. You don’t get to play if you don’t bring a gift. Gifts are typically inexpensive ( around $10 ) and can be humorous, new, or used, but they must be related to bonsai and usable, not junk. It can be a pot or tool you don’t need anymore, a book you have read, or whatever, but remember it must be bonsai related. Wrap it well, put it in the gift pile when you arrive, and you might get something helpful when it’s your turn to snag a gift from the heap. We will draw numbers from a hat to determine the gift-choice play order. Starting with #1, the first person picks a gift from the pile, unwraps it, and displays it for all to see. The second and all subsequent people can steal or take a gift from the pile. If they steal, the person who just had their gift stolen can take a gift from the pile OR steal any other gift (EXCEPT the one just stolen from them). There is no limit on how many times a gift can be stolen. When all the gifts have been opened, the first player who started the game (who, by the way, never had the option of stealing a gift, to begin with) gets to either keep or exchange his gift with anyone playing, thus ending the game. It is an enjoyable event; bring a gift and participate.
Please remember to keep the date open for our Christmas party. We always have a good time, so even if you don’t usually make it to our regular meetings, do plan on coming to this.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Bonsai tour to Japan - Eisei-en
2024-02-06 - 2024-02-15
BRING YOUR DREAM TO LIFE!
Do you want to travel to Japan? Would you like to see the best bonsai in the world? Are you worried about the language barrier, confusing train system, and gaining access to certain famous bonsai gardens?
Book a Japan Bonsai Tour with us, and we’ll handle all of the hotel bookings, food reservations, and domestic travel arrangements, as well as guide you through Japan, providing translation services along the way.
All you have to do is sign up, sit back, and enjoy the trip!

Click here to view Eisei-en KOKUFU-TEN TOUR 2024

General Meeting
2024-02-07 19:00 - 20:30
General Meeting – February 7, 2024
Please note that our next four general meetings will be held in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below) from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the following Wednesdays:
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6th 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3rd 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1st 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM
For the first four meetings of the year, our General Membership meetings will move from our typical location in the TEC Building to the Homeland Security Education Center (HEC) next door to the north. The college has scheduled a class in our usual meeting room for the spring semester. We will be in HEC 1020, located in the northeast part of the building. You can park in the Fawell D parking lot (where many of us park for the TEC building), but stay in the northwest part of the lot and cross Lambert Road with the stoplight at Fawell Boulevard. Enter the building at the HEC 2 or HEC 3 entrances.
Stay to the right of the staircase, and the meeting room is right ahead of you, behind the staircase. If you decide to park in the lot west of the HEC building, enter at the northwest corner of the building and walk straight ahead. Room 1020 will be on your right. We plan to post signs and a member at our usual meeting location for a month to help guide everyone to the new meeting place.

We will view the video of Mark Fields’ critique of the Destination Asia Show bonsai exhibition.

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below).
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

For ease of reference, here is the Google Maps link for the COD Homeland Security Education Building – Room # HEC1020.
Google Maps Link – Click Here

Meeting of the Board
2024-02-13 19:00 - 20:30
Meeting of the Board

February 13, 2024 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

To join, log into your account and navigate to Board Meetings under the Members Section.

Winter Silhouette Exhibit - Cantigny Park
2024-02-24 10:00 - 16:00
The 4th annual PSBS Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibit is at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL.

A Silhouette exhibit displays the bonsai without leaves, which may seem a little strange, but it is a great time to see the trees’ structure, especially the ramification.
The exhibit will last one day on Saturday, February 24, 2024, from 10 am to 4 pm. Both members and non-members are welcome to display their deciduous trees in the natural winter stage of development. Everyone is welcome to visit the exhibit at no charge if you let the gate attendant know that you are there for the Bonsai Show; otherwise, there is a $5.00 charge for parking collected at the gate.
The setup for the event will begin on Friday, February 23, 2024. Contact Nick DiBattista with the number of trees you wish to display or how many tables you wish to reserve if you consider vending at the exhibit. You may also email prairiestatebonsai@gmail.com with ‘Winter Silhouette‘ in the subject line.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PROMOTE THE SILHOUETTE SHOW.
Click the link below to download a copy of the flyer displayed below.
Print a couple of copies and post them in your local establishments to advertise our event.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

General Meeting - Forest Planting Workshop & Board Elections
2024-03-06 07:00 - 21:00
General Meeting – March 6, 2024
Forest Planting Hands-on Workshop
Board Elections

Jim Beck and Linda Camp of BC Bonsai lead a hands-on forest planting workshop for our March 2024 General Meeting.
The workshop costs $70 for a five-tree planting and $90 for a seven-tree planting. Additional trees will be available for $10 each.
Species available are Ginko and Aspen (more species possible)
Pot, soil, and wire are included.
If you have a forest you worked on last year and would like some help improving it, bring it to the meeting.
Observers are welcome at no charge.

It’s that time of year to elect members of the board. All members in attendance at the March 2024 meeting are eligible to vote.
Click here to view candidates.

Please note that our next two general meetings will be held in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below) from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the following Wednesdays:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6th 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3rd 2024, 7 PM – 9 PM

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below).
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

For ease of reference, here is the Google Maps link for the COD Homeland Security Education Building – Room # HEC1020.
Google Maps Link – Click Here

Dig This Weekend
2024-03-16 10:00 - 2024-03-17 17:00
BC Bonsai will be digging up trees this weekend. Saturday from 10 am to 5pm we will be in Wheaton digging up 6 nice size Scotts pines and some young junipers and spruce trees. Then on Sunday we will be out at the nursery in Paw Paw where there are hundreds of trees to pick from. Prices are marked down on many of the trees.
Please call us at 630-386-7585 for more details.
Jim Beck
BC Bonsai

General Meeting - Tree Repotting
2024-04-03 19:00 - 21:00
General Meeting – April 3, 2024
Tree Repotting Demonstration
Bring a tree that is in need of repotting to the meeting. Bring tools, soil, and wire.

Please note that our April general meeting will be held in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below) from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

As always…
Bring a tree to the meeting you have questions about. Members are always encouraged to bring personal trees to the meetings for advice on care or styling from our many club artists.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday (or the 2nd Wednesday if immediately preceded by a holiday) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of Dupage campus in ROOM HEC #1020, in the HOMELAND SECURITY EDUCATION CENTER (see aerial map below).
The college address is 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Members who are unable to attend in person may join via ZOOM.

For ease of reference, here is the Google Maps link for the COD Homeland Security Education Building – Room # HEC1020.
Google Maps Link – Click Here

Yamadori Dig with MBS
2024-04-06 12:00 - 15:00 | Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI, 53130, United States
Bryan Lorentzen, a member of the Milwaukee Bonsai Society, is hosting a Yamadori dig on April 6th, 2023, and has invited our club to attend.
He walked in the woods near the Boerner Botanical Garden four years ago. The Milwaukee Public Schools own the woods. He came across a large group of burning bushes, which are considered an invasive species in many places. When I contacted and met the caretaker of these woods, he permitted me to dig up as many of these trees as I would like.
We have been there for three springs and are not making a dent. We dug maybe 50 last spring. They make great bonsai. Some were 4″ in diameter. You can dig up trees for an upright, slant style. My plan for next spring is to make forests. The trees flower in the spring, get red berries, bud back, and ramify easily, and, of course, the leaves turn red in fall. This last fall, when the leaves were changing color, we were there. They stood out in the woods, and there were more than a thousand of them. I will make some oval pots that you can buy for the forest at a reasonable price, and I have some other pots for sale.
If you choose a large tree, you will need branch cutters, shovels, bags, a saw, and maybe a cart because the woods are a couple hundred yards from the parking lot. Also, be prepared with soil and pots for when you get home.
The event starts after their Saturday meeting on April 1st, 2023. The meeting is from 9 to 12 noon at the Boerner Botanical Visitor building on the lower level. Come to the meeting if you want, or you can wait in the parking lot for us to come out. There will likely be a good spring educational program.
https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Parks/Explore/Boerner-Botanical-Gardens
Here is a story that he wrote a few years ago about Yamadori.
MBS Yamadori Article 2018
Here is an article Phil Malhiot wrote.
Collecting Bonsai (Yamadori)

Bonsai Open House & Sale at Phil Malhiot’s
2024-04-19 - 2024-04-20
Bonsai
Open House & Sale
at Phil Malhiot’s
Stop by and visit my new bonsai garden and studio!
Friday and Saturday, April 19 & 20
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2908 S. 10th Ave.
Broadview, IL

We downsized and moved last summer, but I still have way too many trees! I’ll be selling a wide variety of species, from newer cuttings to established finished bonsai. There will also be LOTS of pots for sale, including my own wood-fired bonsai pots and pots from other bonsai enthusiasts and artists. I also have Arlene Knapp’s tools, pots, soil, and wire.
(Proceeds from Arlene’s items will go to PSBS)

Stop by anytime and check out the collection, new benches, the art studio, and our garden. It would be great to see you!

Call Phil Malhiot with questions: 708-705-7768

Bonsai Central Convention in Saint Louis
2024-05-03 08:00 - 2024-05-05 19:00
Convention in Saint Louis
Bonsai Central 2024 will be held at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois. Just a short drive across the river from Saint Louis, the hospitality district in Collinsville accommodates events at Gateway Convention Center with 9 hotels and over 900 hotel rooms in a variety of hotel properties, approximately 20 restaurants ranging from casual family dining to fine dining, and several exciting attractions.
Gateway Convention Center
1 Gateway Dr.
Collinsville, IL 62234

Program and Schedule
Click Here for more information and pricing.

ABS Learning Seminar Grand Rapids 2024
2024-05-09 - 2024-05-12
Welcome To The

American Bonsai Society
Learning Seminars 2024

May 9-12,2024
Grand Rapids, MI

Register Now!
