Bonsai Directory
Welcome to our Bonsai Directory, a virtual "yellow pages" where we've compiled lists of organizations and businesses - both local and national - to help you find what you need in your bonsai journey! For learning and bonsai practice information, see our Bonsai Knowledge Base.
National Bonsai Foundation
The NBF promotes penjing and related art forms to visitors through masterpiece displays and educational programs. In partnership with the U.S. National Arboretum, they also provide programmatic and curatorial support for the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Our very own Felix Laughlin is the former President.
American Bonsai Society
A nonprofit national organization that publishes a journal (American Bonsai Society Journal), holds conventions, and provides training courses. Their website contains lots of useful information, including a list of all the bonsai clubs in the US and Canada.
World Bonsai Friendship Federation
Founded by the late bonsai master Saburo Kato who initiated World Bonsai Day, WBFF is an international organization that seeks to bring peace and goodwill to the world through the art of bonsai, hosting its quadrennial World Bonsai Conventions as well as regional bonsai conventions around the world.
Bonsai Clubs International
A directory of BCI member bonsai clubs, which are listed by continent and country. Also publishes the quarterly Bonsai & Stone Appreciation magazine.
Bonsai Organizations
National Bonsai Foundation
The NBF promotes penjing and related art forms to visitors through masterpiece displays and educational programs. In partnership with the U.S. National Arboretum, they also provide programmatic and curatorial support for the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Our very own Felix Laughlin is the former President.
American Bonsai Society
A nonprofit national organization that publishes a journal (American Bonsai Society Journal), holds conventions, and provides training courses. Their website contains lots of useful information, including a list of all the bonsai clubs in the US and Canada.
World Bonsai Friendship Federation
Founded by the late bonsai master Saburo Kato who initiated World Bonsai Day, WBFF is an international organization that seeks to bring peace and goodwill to the world through the art of bonsai, hosting its quadrennial World Bonsai Conventions as well as regional bonsai conventions around the world.
Bonsai Clubs International
A directory of BCI member bonsai clubs, which are listed by continent and country. Also publishes the quarterly Bonsai & Stone Appreciation magazine.
Local Suppliers
Bonsai Learning Center
While primarily a provider of classes and workshops, the BLC also sells a wide variety of tools, supplies and prebonsai all the way up to finished trees. In business for over 30 years now, the BLC is located in Statesville and is a regional mainstay of bonsai vending.
Wallace Woods Pottery
Run by club member Rob Wallace, Wallace Woods Pottery offers one-of-a-kind show quality pots that feature stunning glazes, stains and textures in a variety of shapes. A perfect source for premium containers and also one few the few potters in the US making high quality extra large pieces.
Appalachian Plantworks
A small nursery located in West Asheville/Enka area and run by club member Billy Schweig, Appalachian Plantworks specializes in affordable starts for bonsai, including hard-to-find species. He also offers a variety of Chinese and Korean pots. Local delivery available.
Mountain Meadows Nursery
General nursery (not bonsai-focused) that specializes in dwarf and rare conifers. Good material for bonsai development.
Fifth Season Gardening
Good source for soils, hydroponics, and other gardening supplies
Maples n More
A local nursery ships across the US and sells Japanese Maple liners at great prices and also carries a nice variety of Japanese Maples and other nursery trees.
Mr. Maple
Another local Japanese Maple-specialized nursery shat ships nationally. Often carries some of the rarer varieties sought out by maple aficionados.
National Suppliers
Stone Lantern
A fantastic online vendor with a huge variety of supplies, tools, pots and related bonsai products. Stone Lantern also runs Stone Lantern Publishing, which has released a number of influential publications and books in-house.
Evergreen Gardenworks
Long time West Coast growers of traditional, rare and unusual species of plants for use as bonsai. They carry an especially expansive collection of elms, cherries, pines, quince, apple, and maple - including cutting grown stock of traditionally grated Japanese Maple.
Bonsai Tonight Store
High quality books, tools, and supplies - many of which are not available at other retailers - are on offer at this website owned and operated by Jonas Dupuich.
New England Bonsai Gardens
In business for over 30 years, NEBG is one of the largest bonsai nurseries on the East Coast. They offer classes and other educational services, a large variety of prebonsai material, pots, and soil and supplies.
Wigerts Bonsai
A huge Florida-based nursery and retailer, Wigerts offers a wide variety of starter trees and prebonsai - including many tropical species. Also carries a good selection of bulk-produced pots at reasonable prices.
Artists
Bjorn Bjornholm
American bonsai professional Bjorn Bjorholm—former apprentice under Keiichi Fujikawa—has relocated his renowned Eisei‑en Bonsai Garden from Tennessee to Kyoto, Japan. He does demonstrations and classes internationally, leads bonsai tours to Japan, and has created online beginners' and intermediate bonsai courses. www.bjornbjorholm.com
Arthur Joura (local)
Arthur has been Bonsai Curator at the NC Arboretum since the beginning of their bonsai collection. He supervised the design and constructions of the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, started and still organizes the annual Carolina Bonsai Expo, lectures widely and is a good friend to all bonsai clubs. www.curatorsjournal.net
Tyler Sherrod (local)
After working at the Bonsai Learning Center and attending several workshops with Boon Manakitivipart of Bonsai Boon, Tyler did his apprenticeship with Sinji Suzuki in Obuse, Japan. Tyler is now a professional bonsai who offers workshops and classes locally in Hickory, NC. He has certification from the Nippon Bonsai Association. www.dogwoodstudiosnc.com
Danny Coffey (local)
Danny has experience both as an intern at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum and as a multi-year apprentices under Junichiro Tanaka, fourth-generation owner of Aichien Bonsai Nursery in Nagoya, Japan. He runs a private nursery in Rutherford County, NC and offers individual lessons. www.treethepeople.com
Boon Manakitivipart
Having studied under Kihachiro Kamiya at Kihachi-En became, Boon makes his living as a full-time bonsai artist in Northern California. He styles client trees, lectures, puts on demonstrations, holds workshops, and finds show-quality bonsai for clients. www.bonsaiboon.com
Jonas Dupuich
Jonas got his start studying with Boon Manakitivipart over 20 years ago and started working with bonsai professionally in 2015. A prolific writer and educator, Jonas runs the excellent blog Bonsai Tonight and has authored many helpful books and articles. He is co-founder of the Pacific Bonsai Expo. www.bonsaitonight.com
Walter Pall
When it comes to the promotion of bonsai and it’s exploration as not only an eastern art-form, but an art form capable of being practiced as something uniquely western, no other modern-day western bonsai artist has had more influence than Walter Pall. A tireless teacher and enthusiastic proponent of the “natural style,” Walter lives near Munich, Germany and has been practicing bonsai since 1980. www.instagram.com/walter_pall
Dan Robinson
For 65 years, Dan Robinson has been cultivating a distinctive approach to American bonsai bonsai in defiance of tradition and informed only by his experiences and explorations in the wild. It is through these radical and avant-garde interpretations of the ancient form that he has become known as a promoter of "ancient and gnarly trees." bonsaimirai.com/blog/elandan-gardens
Michael Hagedorn
Michael's bonsai work bridges tradition and innovative design. He apprenticed with bonsai master Shinji Suzuki in Obuse, Japan from 2003-2006 and is the author of several books and articles, including Bonsai Heresy and Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. He runs the excellent and informative website www.crataegus.com
Jennifer Price
Jennifer has studied with numerous artist such as Jim Doyle, Mauro Stemberger, and Ryan Neil and her ongoing apprenticeship continues to this day with mentor Walter Pall. She has taught workshops and given demonstrations throughout the United States and worldwide. www.instagram.com/jenniferpricebonsai
Sergio Cuan
Sergio is a Cuban-American bonsai artists who has made a name for himself creating stunning, often very large deciduous compositions. Although he has also taken workshops with prominent bonsai masters like Bill Valavanis, Mauro Stemberger and Bjorn Bjorholm, Sergio is a largely self taught bonsai artist. www.m5bonsaiworks.com
Ryan Neil
Ryan works out of Oregon and is one of the foremost American bonsai professionals. He is now pioneering the American form of bonsai at his garden, Bonsai Mirai. Mirai hosts classes, trains apprentices, sells to collectors, and offers an online learning platform. Neil apprenticed under Japanese bonsai artist Masahiko Kimura for six years and is the only westerner to complete Kimura's full apprenticeship. www.bonsaimirai.com
Bill Valvanis
Bill Valavanis is a Greek-American bonsai master who carries on Yuji Yoshimura's tradition of teaching Japanese techniques and aesthetics to enthusiasts in the West. Bill has studied bonsai for over 40 years and organizes the biennial U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition in Rochester, NY. In October 2017, Valavanis became the third inductee into the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum's Bonsai Hall of Fame. www.internationalbonsai.com
Marija Hajdić
Marija owns collection of about 100 domestic trees, almost all yamadori trees collected by herself. She works in a naturalistic style and if known for her unique deciduous trees. She runs Meleda Bonsai Studio in Dicmo, Croatia. www.meledabonsai.com
Rodney Clemmons
Owns Allgood Bonsai nursery and studio in the Atlanta area, is the curator of the bonsai collection at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, and is a frequent presenter at expos and workshops. He is a specialist in boxwood bonsai. www.allgoodbonsai.com
Owen Reich
Owen has a degree in ornamental horticulture and has spent much time in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, but he is also a well-known speaker on Japanese styling and display standards for bonsai and kusomono (companion plants). His website includes a blog. www.bonsaiunearthed.com
Kathy Shaner
Kathy is internationally known as a Master Bonsai professional, who apprenticed under the contemporary Bonsai Master Yasuo Mitsuya in Japan and became the first non-Japanese citizen and the first woman to be certified as a professional Bonsai artist and instructor by the Nippon Bonsai Association of Japan. She has been a devoted Bonsai practitioner for over 30 years.
Chris Baker
After volunteering for a few years at the U.S. National Arboretum, Chris secured a six-month apprenticeship at the Daiju-en garden in Japan with Toru Suzuki. Upon returning to the U.S. in late 2012, Baker was awarded the “First Curators” Internship at the U.S. National Arboretum and in 2014 Baker was hired as the first full time curator of bonsai at Chicago Botanic Garden. Baker is the President of the North American Bonsai Federation and a board member of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. www.chicagobotanic.org/gardens/bonsai
Arboretums & Gardens
North Carolina Arboretum
The NC Arboretum is located just outside Asheville and is a major resource for the western NC area. Its 434-acre campus offers beautiful gardens and natural areas, including the Bonsai Exhibition Garden, which houses the Arboretum's world renowned bonsai collection and features permanent landscape plantings designed to complement the manicured aesthetic of these unique specimens.The Curator of the bonsai collection and the expo is Arthur Joura.
www.ncarboretum.org/plan-a-visit/garden-exhibits/bonsai-exhibition-garden
National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
A free and public museum located on the grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC. This museum belongs to us all and is a truly wonderful place to visit. The National Bonsai Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and, as you may know, our very own Felix Laughlin is the former President.