Puget Sound Bonsai Association

06/03/2026

THIS SATURDAY! The 20th iteration of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association’s famous Annual Auction will take place at the Pacific Bonsai Museum. Come bid on 80 specimen bonsai in the live auction, or try your luck on over 50 items in the silent auction. If you live in the PNW and are looking for quality material, you won’t want to miss this lively event. For more details, a sample gallery of the trees, and to purchase your bidding paddle, click the image below.

Register for our bonsai auction to be held September 25th at the Pacific Bonsai Museum

04/27/2026

Day two of Mr. Che's (Zhao Che) workshop with Puget Sound Bonsai Association. Don't miss this evening's demo where Mr. Che will be teaching techniques from the Lingnan School of Penjing.

If you're in the greater Seattle area and are practicing bonsai, join the Puget Sound Bonsai Association where you will get opportunities to learn from bonsai & penjing masters around the world. Check out their website at https://www.pugetsoundbonsai.org/ to learn more.

04/27/2026

Don't miss Mr Che's PSBA penjing demo tomorrow evening at the Center for Urban Horticulture! Check out the "Asia Pacific Garden" YouTube channel and Mr Che's "The Man Behind the Penjing" channel for lots of great content!

Mr. Che from Huntington Library is in town for a workshop with Puget Sound Bonsai Association ! Getting to film some new content for our YouTube channel as well. Stay tuned!

If you're in the Seattle area, check out this bonsai club for a wealth of information.

04/09/2026

Spring is here, and that means we’re shifting gears from repotting to keeping up with the fresh new spring growth—especially on our deciduous trees. As bonsai move into refinement, staying on top of pinching is crucial to develop a dense and twiggy canopy. The brief article below from David DeGroot breaks down some practical techniques for managing spring growth on beech.

QUICK SNIP — Spring Work on Beeches

Spring management of new shoots on beeches is similar to that of many other broadleaf trees, maples in particular. The way to avoid long internodes is to pinch the terminal bud before all cells behind it have formed.

The most compact growth on beeches is obtained when the bud is pinched while the tip is green but before the leaves have expanded. This is done by firmly holding the base of the bud with one hand while the green tip is plucked off with the other using a slight twisting motion. Warning – this technique takes practice to achieve consistently pinched shoots. A safer way is to pinch out with tweezers everything beyond the two leaves nearest the base of the bud as the bud has started to open.

Remember that cells elongate after they form, so stopping cell production early is important for achieving the best results.

03/23/2026

Reminder! No general club meeting tonight. We will be meeting next Monday, March 30. See you all then!

02/07/2026

02/01/2026

Celebrating Winter Form at the Winter Silhouette Show

We’re incredibly proud of our members who’ve dedicated years of care and refinement to bring these exquisite bonsai to the Winter Silhouette Show at Bellevue Botanical Garden. In the quiet beauty of winter, the structure and movement of each tree truly shine. 

These are just a few of the many outstanding displays on view through 4pm today — come see how elegant bonsai can be when their silhouette takes center stage. 

At 1:00pm, join us for a special guided tour with Dave DeGroot, who will be offering thoughtful critiques and design insights into the displays. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from one of our own.

01/25/2026

January General Meeting — Tomorrow!

We’re excited to welcome Todd Schlafer as our guest demonstrator. Todd is an American bonsai professional based in Lakewood, Colorado, and the artist behind First Branch Bonsai. He is best known for his work with native conifers, particularly the rugged and expressive trees of the Rocky Mountain region.
For the demonstration, Todd will be working on a collected mountain hemlock, which will be raffled off at the end of the meeting. Be sure to bring some extra cash—the tree is sure to be one you won’t want to leave behind.

Slides 2–4 feature examples of Todd’s work, showcasing the character and beauty of Colorado’s native trees.

Before the main meeting, Will Schnicke will present the technical skills lecture from 5:30–6:30 PM, focusing on healing and managing wounds in bonsai. Will is a dedicated bonsai student and hobbyist whose interest in the art has grown steadily over the past four years. In 2025, he served as an intern at the Pacific Bonsai Museum. His interests include contemporary display, mixed media, and conceptual bonsai art. While he still isn’t quite sure how to answer the question “Why did you get into bonsai?”, he has plenty of reasons for why he’s stayed.

We hope to see you there! 🌲

01/21/2026

Cold temperatures have arrived, PSBA family! Overnight lows around much of the Puget Sound will be dipping into the high 20s for the next 5+ nights. If you have not yet taken measures to protect your trees with this mild winter, now is the time to do so!

As a reminder, here are basic measures you can take to protect your trees moving from easiest/lowest protection to hardest/most protection.
1) Move trees from benches to ground. Residual heat from the earth can help protect the roots when freezing temperatures are brief and are not too severe. Shelter them close to a wall out of the wind to offer more protection.
2) Heal your trees in. Surround the pots with leaves, mulch, blankets, or some other insulating material. Be sure to allow water/air exchange into the soil and definitely do not pile mulch over the foliage.
3) Move into unheated garage. If cold temps will be sticking around for a while moving trees into a space that stays around 35ºF until outdoor temps rise is a great way to protect. Be sure to get those trees moved back outside as soon as possible to keep sun exposure up.
4) Move trees into a greenhouse/cold frame. This option carries the most financial and square footage burden but has the potential to offer the most protection. Keep in mind that greenhouse can warm quickly when the sun is out! Often, keeping a greenhouse cold enough is the biggest challenge.

01/05/2026

Welcome to the first Monday of 2026, PSBA members and friends! Winter so far has been mild but don't let yourselves become complacent—historically we still see a few days down to nearly 20ºF into mid February. Most of us are likely still a few weeks away from starting repotting so continue to enjoy those beautiful winter silhouettes we've worked so hard on. And, if you're participating in the Silhouette show and haven't finalized your display yet, now is the perfect time to do so!

Those of you who found this page but have not joined our wonderful club, let me encourage you to do so! We have a wonderful lineup of guest presenters for 2026, starting with Todd Schlaffer on the 26th of this month. More info on the club can be found at pugetsoundbonsai.com.