2025 Meetings
Meetings (CBEC building, 4651 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110):
Sunday, February 09, 2025 1-3 PM @ CBEC
Meeting: Shortleaf pines and Yamadori w/ Kurt Dillow
Kurt Dillow is a bonsai practitioner that lives near Springfield MO. Over the last decade Kurt has established himself firmly in the bonsai community, particularly as a result of his careful and documented work with several underutilized native species.
Anyone that was fortunate enough to attend the North American Native roundtable at Bonsai Central will certainly remember Kurt and the epic trees he brought to share with the group. It is readily apparent that Kurt is an invaluable resource in this regard, and we are very fortunate that he has agreed to travel to one of our meetings to share some of what he has learned.
Kurt is particularly familiar with the collection and care of short-leaf pine, the only pine native to Missouri. At the last Bonsai Nationals, a SLP he collected was exhibited (worked on by Bjorn) after only 1.5 years of bonsai-work from the day of collection. In short, this species has remarkable potential to be utilized as bonsai.
Come learn from Kurt's experiences with our native species and particularly SLP. Please come prepared with questions you would like answered by Kurt.
SATURDAY, February 22, 2025 All Day @ Mark Twain National Forest
4th annual Ya-Mark-dori (club collecting trip)
Come join us for our 4th Annual Club Collecting Trip!
Each year the club organizes a trip out to Mark Twain Forest to collect (up to 3) trees from the "wild". The collection of trees from the wild is termed 'Yamadori' in Japan. Since we utilize the nearby national forest (Mark Twain) for our outings we affectionately call our trip Ya-Mark-dori as a play on words.
This outing is geared toward members of all ages, ability, and experience. We will pair up seasoned collectors with novices and demonstrate best practices when digging a tree growing in the wild. Although we never go home empty handed, at the very minimum it always ends up being a fun day out in the woods with our bonsai friends.
More details (meeting place, time, location) will be released as we finalize the plans. As the weather is very unpredictable at this time of year, the date is tentative and will be moved if weather requires. The first backup date is February 23rd.
SUNDAY, February 23, 2025 All Day
Backup date for Ya-Mark-Dori
Tuesday, March 04, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting: Repotting Basics and Rock Plantings
Spring is the ideal time to work the roots on most of our trees and we will take full advantage of this period to repot our trees. That said, not all trees need to be repotted each year and we will discuss the timing and technique required to repot trees. This discussion will be geared toward beginners going through their first season or two of repotting.
In addition, we will have a higher level discussion regarding potting trees on rocks. In special cases, instead of using ceramic vessels, we can utilize rocks to provide structure to a tree's roots. We will demonstrate how to plant on rocks and discuss aspects of the practice that must be taken into consideration.
Friday, March 14, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting: Julian Tsai, Grafting Roots and Shoots
Julian Tsai is a bonsai professional practicing in LA. He apprenticed with Fujikawa in Osaka Japan for a few short years before being forced to return to the States due to COVID. He then continued his education with Peter Tea and John Wang from his home base in LA.
Julian has developed expertise at grafting trees and will share this knowledge with our club at this meeting. His client base extends across the United States and we are fortunate that he will be making time in he schedule to come to STL during early March. This time of year is prime time for performing a variety of grafting operations and we will be able to graft both roots and shoots on a variety of trees.
There will be workshops the weekend following the meeting to further utilize Julian's Expertise.
Tuesday, April 01, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, May 06, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, June 03, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting: Sergio Cuan - Deciduous Masterclass
Tuesday, July 01, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, August 05, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, October 07, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Tuesday, November 04, 2025 7-9 PM @ CBEC
Meeting:
Workshops (timberwinds Nursery, 54 Clarkson Rd, Ellisville, MO 63011)
* Dates subject to change due to scheduling conflicts with instructors and/or Timberwinds Nursery
* Workshops are open to current members only. Some workshops require advance registration.
Saturday, January 11 January 25, 2025 2-5 PM @ CBEC
Intro to Pot Making
PLEASE NOTE: THIS WORKSHOP IS AT THE CBEC BUILDING, NOT AT TIMBERWINDS
SPACES ARE LIMITED AND YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE. THIS WORKSHOP IS OPEN TO CURRENT MEMBERS ONLY.
AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE NO MORE SPOTS AVAILABLE.
Come learn the basics of working with clay as we work on creating bonsai pots.
Our three resident experts in ceramics, Nate L., Mike V, and David S. have graciously planned, organized, and donated their time and expertise to put on this workshop for the club.
During the three hour event the instructors will first demonstrate their various techniques and methods for working with clay to make bonsai pots.
Then, you will immediately have the opportunity try it out for yourself as they have gathered the requisite tools, clay, and supplies to support 14 people making pots. David has graciously volunteered to fire everyone's work in his kiln, and then will bring the pots to the February meeting.
Cost of workshop: $10 PLEASE NOTE: THIS WORKSHOP IS AT THE CBEC BUILDING, NOT AT TIMBERWINDS
Friday, March 14, 2025 All Day
Workshop Julian Tsai
Saturday, March 15, 2025 All Day
Workshop 2 Julian Tsai
In person meeting Schedule:
6:45 Early Arrivals - Meet & Greet, Show and Tell Table and Offerings
7:00 PM Announcements, Review of year-long demos, Club business
~7:15 PM Meeting & Program
Monthly Raffle to follow meeting
Meetings take place at the CBEC building, 4651 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110 unless otherwise specified.
Workshops are held at Timberwinds Nursery, 54 Clarkson Rd, Ellisville, MO 63011 unless otherwise specified.