Austin Bonsai Society

Austin Bonsai Society The Society holds regular meetings on the second Wednesday of each month. Our social hour begins at 7:00 PM, followed by our program at 7:30 PM.

The Austin Bonsai Society is a non-profit organization that exists to help provide guidance and education for individuals in their desire to learn and expand their knowledge and skill in the art of bonsai. Normally these meetings are held in the AAGC building at Zilker Botanical Gardens, located on Barton Springs Road in Austin, Texas. We offer a monthly program of interest to the general membersh

ip. This program consists of lectures, demonstrations, hands-on practice and many techniques to increase our collective knowledge of this art form. Visitors are always welcome! Also, the Society organizes several field trips each year to collect native plant material, such as cedar elm and Ashe juniper, which are suitable for development as bonsai. In addition, in July 1987, we organized a separate Beginners Study Group to help the newer or less experienced members enhance their basic bonsai skills. This meeting is now our Monthly Members Workshop where practical bonsai skills are honed. The Society operates a lending library of bonsai books, magazines and videos on bonsai development prepared by several of the ranking U.S. professional bonsai artists. Each year, the Society holds at least one public exhibition of the members' trees. Currently these are being held in the Zilker Garden Center. The Society also arranges to have nationally known bonsai experts from throughout the country visit Austin to conduct public workshops and demonstrations. As a member, you will be able to participate in these events. We publish a monthly newsletter which is distributed to the membership and is included in your annual membership fee. The cost of membership is nominal, presently only $30.00 for an individual and $35.00 for a family membership. Now is the time to join! For this small cost, you can join us in the pleasure of sharing in knowledge and techniques about bonsai with those who share this common interest.

For our June meeting, we have a change of date!  Our upcoming club meeting at Zilker Botanical Garden is the first Wedne...
05/30/2026

For our June meeting, we have a change of date! Our upcoming club meeting at Zilker Botanical Garden is the first Wednesday June 3rd from 6:30–9:00 PM. We have another club-favorite BYOT night, focused on junipers and other conifers. Don’t worry, if you don’t have a conifer you want to work on, or at all, you can still bring in any tree you want. Just please be sure the tree is free of pests, etc. before bringing it to the meeting. Also, bring tools, wire, and whatever else you may need. It’s a great opportunity to get hands-on practice, learn from fellow members, and continue developing your skills.
Also at the June meeting we will have a sign up available for a “mini-workshop”, to be held during our July meeting, which is another BYOT night. We will have two types of trees that members can purchase from the club. First is Anacacho Orchid Trees in 5 gallon pots and second is a Coralberry, also in 5 gallon pots. The price is TBD, but should be quite affordable. We will work on the trees at the July meeting. Again, don't worry - you don't have to purchase one of the trees to participate; you can bring in any tree you want.
Shown below is a beautiful Japanese Black Pine from our Show last month.

We’re pleased to welcome guest artist Dawn Koetting of Louisiana to our monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at Zilker ...
05/07/2026

We’re pleased to welcome guest artist Dawn Koetting of Louisiana to our monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at Zilker Botanical Garden, 6:30-9:00pm. Dawn will be focusing on shohin development and will be working on four Shohin-sized demonstration trees, offering a great opportunity to learn more about creating and refining these smaller-scale bonsai. They will of course be raffled off at the end of the meeting. Dawn is an award-winning bonsai artist and great teacher, so be sure to be at the meeting to learn a few things. And maybe win a cool tree!

Great meeting getting our membership ready to bring in bonsai to the May show next month, showing how the different elem...
04/13/2026

Great meeting getting our membership ready to bring in bonsai to the May show next month, showing how the different elements of display fit together and work to show off our bonsai in the best way. We also went tree by tree to discuss ways to make improvements to bring out their best. Big thank you to May, our star photographer.

We are excited to welcome Zach Adamz, owner of Komorebi Bonsai, as our guest artist for our March monthly meeting this W...
03/10/2026

We are excited to welcome Zach Adamz, owner of Komorebi Bonsai, as our guest artist for our March monthly meeting this Wednesday March 11th at 6:30-9:00PM at Zilker Botanical Garden. Based out of Mississippi, Zach is highly regarded for his expertise in deciduous species and understanding the growth habits and nuances of different trees. The focus of the evening will be on deciduous species. Zach will provide feedback on member trees, so we encourage you to bring one deciduous tree. We will do our best to give as many members as possible the opportunity to receive his guidance and insights. Should be a fun evening; hope to see you there!

On our Day of Bonsai at Zilker Botanical Garden Feb 28th, we had workshops for German Boxwood by Randy Davis and Variega...
03/09/2026

On our Day of Bonsai at Zilker Botanical Garden Feb 28th, we had workshops for German Boxwood by Randy Davis and Variegated Star Jasmine by Joseph McCoy, demonstations of Asian scrollwork by Alisan Clarke and Calligraphy by Ruby Chaing, informational booths about the art of Bonsai, multiple raffles, and it was capped off by a big Demo by artist Randy Bennett working on a large hollow Bald Cypress. Congrats to Bjorn for winning the demo tree! What a great day! Big thank you to the organizer and master of ceremonies, Jonathan Wood for spearheading this great event!

Some of the terrific trees on display at the Day of Bonsai show, we had on Feb 28th. Great time, and thank you to all wh...
03/09/2026

Some of the terrific trees on display at the Day of Bonsai show, we had on Feb 28th. Great time, and thank you to all who showed trees!

Some photos from the setup of the Day of Bonsai at Zilker Botanical Garden on Feb 27th. Lots of work to put on a great s...
03/09/2026

Some photos from the setup of the Day of Bonsai at Zilker Botanical Garden on Feb 27th. Lots of work to put on a great show!

Some photos from the January Austin Bonsai meeting on Collecting for Bonsai by Joey McCoy. Lots of species discussed and...
02/17/2026

Some photos from the January Austin Bonsai meeting on Collecting for Bonsai by Joey McCoy. Lots of species discussed and shown, dig techniques laid out and tools of the trade all shown. Fun evening and packed house! Afterwards we had our monthly raffle and members went home with all sorts of new treasures! Big thanks to May Lau for the terrific photos!

For our February meeting this Wed Feb 11th 6:30-9:00pm, we have another Bring Your Own Tree night. This month’s focus wi...
02/10/2026

For our February meeting this Wed Feb 11th 6:30-9:00pm, we have another Bring Your Own Tree night. This month’s focus will be wiring, an essential skill for shaping and refining our trees. Members are encouraged to bring one to two trees to practice wiring during the meeting. We recommend bringing bonsai wire and basic wiring tools, including pliers and wire cutters, to support the hands-on learning. We will also have several small boxwoods that are owned by ABS, that we would like to eventually offer in raffles, or at our annual auction. It would really help out if club members would help wire these boxwoods, and it would also be good practice before working on your own trees, so please consider helping out. For this meeting, along with your trees please bring wire and tools (e.g., wire cutter, pliers). The club will provide wire for the boxwoods.

DATE CHANGE: Our next Austin Bonsai Society meeting is moved to the evening of Wed Jan 21, 2026 at Zilker botanical audi...
01/02/2026

DATE CHANGE: Our next Austin Bonsai Society meeting is moved to the evening of Wed Jan 21, 2026 at Zilker botanical auditorium (not on our normal meeting day of Wed Jan 14). Topic on the 21st: local bonsai artist and Texas Native Specialist Joey McCoy will present special techniques to collect trees from the wild and to salvage older landscape plants and convert them into bonsai art.
6:30PM Social time, 7:00-9:30PM meeting time .

Address

2220 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX
78746

Opening Hours

7pm - 9pm

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