Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis — Monthly Meetings & Workshops (St. Louis, MO)

What it is

The Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis (BSGSTL) is a member-run bonsai club in St. Louis, Missouri. Its main identity is the monthly meeting at the Commerce Bank Center for Science Education (CBEC), 4651 Shaw Blvd, plus member-only hands-on workshops, calendar-year dues, and an annual club auction. The official About page says the club was established by a small group of hobbyists to promote the knowledge, interest, and enjoyment of bonsai. It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors that encourages members to collect and exhibit bonsai. It is not a commercial nursery and not a garden tuition class series.

Who it’s for

St. Louis–area bonsai enthusiasts, from beginners to experienced growers, who want evening club meetings with programs and demos, a show-and-tell table, and a monthly raffle. Meetings are open to the general public (About). Hands-on workshops and the annual auction are for current members only, so newcomers usually attend a meeting first and then join. Guests should confirm each date on the club calendar, because some months move (for example, the November 2026 meeting moves to a Monday).

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party club site. It lists a meeting place and regular cadence, a meeting-night schedule, dues with an online join link, and a board roster, and it links to the club’s own published calendar with dated 2026 events. It is not a Facebook-only club and not a scraped directory card.

Meeting place / cadence (About + Meetings + home, checked 2026-09-28):
- Meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 PM (About) at the CBEC building, 4651 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110, unless otherwise specified. About describes CBEC as part of the Missouri Botanical Garden, at the corner of Shaw and Kingshighway.
- Meeting-night schedule (Meetings page): 6:45 early arrivals, meet and greet, show-and-tell table and offerings; 7:00 PM announcements, review of year-long demos, and club business; about 7:15 PM meeting and program; monthly raffle afterward.
- Workshops are held at Timberwinds Nursery, 54 Clarkson Rd, Ellisville, MO 63011, unless otherwise specified, and are open to current club members only.
Calendar samples (the club’s Google Calendar, linked from the Meetings page as “Add the STL Bonsai calendar to yours!”, checked today; times converted to Central):
- September 15, 2026, 7:00–9:00 PM: September meeting, “Beginning in Bonsai”.
- September 26, 2026, 9:30–11:30 AM: September Workshop, “Choosing nursery stock material and intro to wiring”, Timberwinds Nursery.
- October 6, 2026, 7:00–9:00 PM: October meeting.
- October 25, 2026, 12:15–4:30 PM: Club Auction, Deer Creek Park in Maplewood.
- November 2, 2026 (Monday), 7:00–9:00 PM: November meeting. The calendar notes it moves to Monday because of Election Day on Tuesday.
Membership / dues (Membership + About, checked today):
- $20 individual; $25 family (household) per year.
- Dues are valid for the calendar year in which they are paid and renew after January 1. About adds that first-time members who join after July 31 are covered through the end of the following calendar year.
- You can join or pay online at stlbonsai.com/join (with an optional auto-renew), or in person at any meeting, workshop, or get-together. All money goes to bonsai education, workshops, or direct club costs.
Club identity / contact (Directors + Contact, checked today): the board lists President Mike Vasek and Vice President Christian Oncken, plus committee directors for finance, membership and tech, programming and exhibitions, workshops and materials, and content. The Contact page offers email, the club Facebook page, and a call/text line, 314-379-6131. That line is labeled for “current President Nathan Bill”, while the Directors page lists Nathan Bill as Previous President, so check the live pages before calling. Club workshops do not make this a Learning card.

Meeting times, dues, and calendar samples above are what the official pages and the club’s linked calendar showed on the check date. They can change. Confirm on the live Meetings page and calendar before joining or traveling.

Official URL

https://stlbonsai.com/

Meetings (schedule + calendar link): https://stlbonsai.com/meetings/
Membership (dues): https://stlbonsai.com/membership/
Join / manage membership: https://stlbonsai.com/join/
About Us: https://stlbonsai.com/about-us/
Directors: https://stlbonsai.com/directors/
Contact Us: https://stlbonsai.com/contact-us/
Club calendar feed (linked from Meetings): https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/stlbonsai%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics

Location

Meeting place: Commerce Bank Center for Science Education (CBEC), 4651 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110, at the corner of Shaw and Kingshighway, unless otherwise specified.
Regular meetings: first Tuesday of the month, doors at 6:45 PM and meeting at 7:00 PM. The November 2, 2026 meeting is on a Monday.
Member workshops: Timberwinds Nursery, 54 Clarkson Rd, Ellisville, MO 63011, unless otherwise specified.
Club auction (2026): October 25, Deer Creek Park, Maplewood.

This is a club meeting / workshop / auction address. It is not a retail nursery showroom and not a botanic-garden tuition desk.

Notes

Category is Clubs. BSGSTL is a first-party, member-run club with a meeting place, a first-Tuesday cadence, a meeting-night schedule, dated calendar events, and dues. Not a nursery. Member workshops at Timberwinds Nursery do not make this card Learning, and Timberwinds is only the workshop venue.
The first Tuesday at 7 PM, CBEC at 4651 Shaw Blvd, $20 / $25 dues, the “join after July 31 counts for next year” rule, and the Sep 15 / Sep 26 / Oct 6 / Oct 25 / Nov 2 2026 samples come from official pages and the club’s linked calendar, checked on 2026-09-28. They may change.
The site’s Meetings page renders its event list from the club’s Google Calendar. Calendar times were published in UTC and are converted to Central time here.
Pics optional for this Monday card; no listing image saved beside this file.
Not affiliated with Bonsai Plaza.
No Bonsai Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: When and where does BSGSTL meet?
A: About and Meetings (checked 2026-09-28) say meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 PM, with early arrivals from 6:45, at CBEC, 4651 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110. The club calendar lists the October meeting on Oct 6, 2026 and the November meeting on Monday, Nov 2, 2026 (moved for Election Day). Confirm on https://stlbonsai.com/meetings/

Q: What are the dues?
A: The Membership page (checked 2026-09-28) lists $20 individual and $25 family per calendar year, renewing after January 1. About says first-time members who join after July 31 are covered through the end of the following year. Join online at https://stlbonsai.com/join/ or at any meeting.

Q: I’m new. Where do I start, and is this a Learning listing?
A: Come to a monthly meeting, which is open to the public, and join if you want access to the members-only hands-on workshops (usually at Timberwinds Nursery) and the Oct 25, 2026 club auction. BSGSTL stays Clubs. Its workshops are member programming, not a standalone curriculum-first Learning card.