MV Bonsai Club
Unless otherwise noted, regular meetings are second Saturdays, 1-3:30 p.m. When the temperatures are above freezing, we meet at D'Alessandro's Nursery. Cooler weather locations will be announced. All MVBC meetings are open to prospective new members. Invite friends and share with them our love for bonsai.
We can be reached at mohawkvalleybonsai@gmail.com
"The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make a bonsai look like a tree." — John Naka
Our next meeting is Saturday, February 14
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION AND TIME
2026 meetings - Feb. 14 and Mar. 14, from 1 to 3:30 pm, at NY Energy Zone (next to Utica Zoo; 35 Utica Zoo Way)
Discuss our club annual exhibition and how to start getting ready now; continue with wiring basics. We will be focusing on wiring trees at most of our meetings this year. The club copper and aluminum wire will be available, as well as club tools. Bring a tree(s) to work on and please bring a towel to set your tree on; you are responsible for cleaning your work area before you leave.
You can do detail wiring (no heavy bends) on some tropical trees and any temperate trees that are dormant and kept in a protected area (not trees that are kept outside). Any questions you have are always welcome — particularly questions regarding repotting.
It is a nice big space on the lower level with lots of tables and chairs as well as good lighting; there is an elevator for accessibility.
The Hoshun-in Bonsai Collection at Daitoku-ji temple complex, Kyoto, Japan Photo Catherine D Brown Nov 2025
MVBC sends a big thank you to Jon Stewart and Brandon Herwick from the Mohawk Hudson Bonsai Society for their informative and enjoyable presentation about the craft of stand making and display.
Many thanks to everyone who has attended our annual exhibitions! We appreciate all the members who prepared trees for the show, helped with set up and take down and those who staffed the exhibition and answered questions from our hundreds of visitors!
MORE PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE >>
Thank you Mark Arpag for another great lecture/demonstration! We are always grateful when you come and share your expertise.
A little inspiration from the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition, February 2020 (photo C. Brown)
Award-winning Japanese White Pine, Pinus parviflora, at the Kokufu-ten, Tokyo, February 13, 2020
Award-winning Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles japonica 'Chojubai,' at the Kokufu-ten, Tokyo, February 13, 2020
KOKUFU-TEN PHOTOS BY C. BROWN
The Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club was invited to have a display table at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute members' opening reception for the exhibition Kimono! (June 9, 2018). We are grateful to MWPAI for this wonderful opportunity.
Some past meetings and items of interest:
Photos from our shohin roundup meeting:
A bonsai is considered a shohin if it measures approximately 20 cm or 8 inches from the top of the pot to the top of the tree.
The image below is from the Gafu-ten shohin exhibition which was held in Kyoto in January 2016. More shohin photos >>
Our thanks to Art Doremus for an interesting and informative presentation on insect and fungal problems — how to recognize and control them.
Reference links from the presentation:
fingerlakesbonsai.weebly.com/bonsai-info.html
www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/bonsai-care/advanced/pests-diseases
www.bonsai-and-blooms.com/bonsai-tree-diseases.html
nebonsai.com/home/pests-and-diseases/
Pre-bonsai search party at D’Alessandro’s Landscape Nursery, where we enjoyed a presentation on mugo pine by club member Doug Whitfield. More photos >>
(Below) January 2016; Chojubai (flowering quince) displayed in tokonoma at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en bonsai museum in Tokyo.
(Below) January 2016; flowering Ume (Japanese apricot) displayed in tokonoma at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en bonsai museum in Tokyo.
Browse the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (Saitama, Japan) website:
Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club Mission
Providing opportunities to have fun while developing skills, the Mohawk Valley Bonsai Club is a forum for learning, inspiring, building knowledge, and connecting with the greater bonsai community.
The group first met in a park in July 2005 and has grown to include newcomers to the hobby as well as those with 20+ years of experience!
"The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make a bonsai look like a tree." — John Naka