Milwaukee Bonsai Society — Hales Corners / Milwaukee, WI clubs

What it is

The Milwaukee Bonsai Society (MBS) is a member-run, non-profit bonsai society for Milwaukee / Southeastern Wisconsin, founded in 1969 (Our Story page: about 50 people met in late September 1969 at the Mitchell Park Pavilion after a Harold Lenz demonstration). Its main identity is the monthly meeting on the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM in the lower level of Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI, plus member workshops, beginner-to-advanced classes, an annual exhibit, a Wisconsin State Fair show, a Folk Fair exhibit and a winter Silhouette Show. The 2026 brochure says monthly meetings are free to attend and the public is always invited. It is not a commercial nursery and not a public-garden tuition class series (Boerner Botanical Gardens is the meeting venue).

Who it’s for

Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin bonsai enthusiasts, from first-tree beginners to advanced students, who want free monthly meetings, guest-artist demonstrations, member workshops and multi-session classes. Guests can attend regular meetings at no charge. People who only want a single ticketed botanic-garden class should look under Learning listings instead.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party club site. It prints a first-Saturday meeting cadence with a public venue and street address, a dated 2026 schedule of meetings, workshops and exhibits, a downloadable 2026 brochure with a membership form and printed dues, and a club history back to 1969. It is not a Facebook-only club and not a scraped directory card.

Club identity / cadence (Meetings + Schedule + Society + Our Story, checked 2026-10-06):
- Founded 1969; non-profit organization (Our Story; About; 2026 brochure).
- Meets the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM, lower level of Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI (brochure prints ZIP 53130). The 2026 schedule moves July to July 18 (picnic / swap meet).
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 240822, Milwaukee, WI 53223 (Society page; brochure).
- Phone printed in the site footer: (414) 350-5924.
Membership / dues (2026 MBS Brochure membership form, checked today):
- Individual: $35 (1 year) / $62 (2 years) / $89 (3 years).
- Family: $47 (1 year) / $86 (2 years) / $125 (3 years).
- Join online through the society’s Join It page (linked from the home page), by mailed check, or at a monthly meeting (brochure).
Upcoming program sample (Schedule / Upcoming, checked today):
- Saturday, November 7, 2026, 9:00 AM — Winter Preparation (Fall Cutback of Trees in Development).
- November 20–22, 2026 — Folk Fair exhibit of member trees.
- Saturday, December 5, 2026, 9:00 AM — Holiday Party (no education content).
- February 27, 2027 — Silhouette Show at the Domes (Eventbrite link from the schedule).
- Most recent past items on the schedule: October 3, 2026 guest artist David DeGroot (meeting + workshop) and October 4, 2026 DeGroot bring-your-own-tree workshop.
Classes (Classes page, checked today): Beginner class (usually fall, sometimes early spring), a five-session Fundamentals series using Tom Zane’s “Introduction to Bonsai,” Skill Building, and a three-year Advance Class (page says it is in its second year with Peter Tea). Artist workshops are by reservation for members; open workshops are free for members (Schedule).

Meeting times, dues, and event samples above are what the official pages showed on the check date. They can change. Confirm on the live Schedule page and the current brochure before joining or traveling.

Official URL

https://milwaukeebonsai.org/ (redirects to /index.shtml)

Meetings (first Saturday, Boerner venue): https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_meetings.shtml
Full 2026 schedule: https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_schedule.shtml
Upcoming schedule: https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_upcoming.shtml
Our Story (1969 history): https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_history.shtml
Society and contacts: https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_society.shtml
Classes: https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_classes.shtml
2026 brochure + membership form (PDF): https://milwaukeebonsai.org/docs/2026/MBS%20Brochure%202026.pdf
Join / renew (society’s Join It page): https://app.joinit.com/o/milwaukee-bonsai-society/

Location

Region: Milwaukee / Southeastern Wisconsin.
Regular meetings: First Saturday each month, 9:00 AM, lower level of Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI 53130 (Whitnall Park). Exhibits are usually at Boerner too; the 2026 annual exhibit was at Lynden Sculpture Garden and the Silhouette Show is at the Mitchell Park Domes.

This is a club meeting identity. It is not a retail nursery showroom and not a botanic-garden tuition desk (even though a public garden hosts the meetings).

Notes

Category is Clubs. MBS is a first-party, member-run non-profit society with printed dues, a first-Saturday cadence at Boerner Botanical Gardens, and a dated 2026 schedule. Not a nursery. Its member classes and workshops stay club programming and do not move this card into Learning.
Cadence conflict on site: the Meetings page, Schedule page and 2026 brochure all say first Saturday, 9:00 AM, but the older About page still says “meets the first Tuesday of the month from February through November” and notes the schedule is being updated. This card follows the Schedule / brochure. Confirm before traveling.
Stale home widget: at check the home page “Upcoming Events” box still showed “September 5 – Monthly Meeting”; the Schedule and Upcoming pages are current through 2026–2027. The Upcoming page’s Classes block also still prints 2025 session dates for the “2026” Skills 101 / 201 classes.
Dues source: dues come from the 2026 brochure PDF on milwaukeebonsai.org. The Join It page returned HTTP 200 but renders by script, so live online prices were not readable there — not stated on site HTML.
Dues, the first-Saturday 9 AM cadence and the November / December 2026 samples come from official pages checked on 2026-10-06 and may change.
Geographic spread: Hales Corners / Milwaukee WI is the plaza’s first Wisconsin listing, away from Mon Indianapolis, Fri Sarasota, Thu Cleveland, Wed Ann Arbor, Tue Nashville and Mon Sep 28 St. Louis club geos. It is a different state from the already-listed Midwest Bonsai Society (Chicago area, IL), which MBS’s schedule cross-references.
Listing image: official MBS logo at /images/milwaukee-bonsai-society.png (first-party asset from milwaukeebonsai.org).
Not affiliated with Bonsai Plaza.
No Bonsai Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: When and where does the Milwaukee Bonsai Society meet?
A: The Meetings and Schedule pages and the 2026 brochure (checked 2026-10-06) say the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM in the lower level of Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI. An older About page still says first Tuesday, so confirm the next date on https://milwaukeebonsai.org/mbs_schedule.shtml before traveling.

Q: What are the dues, and can guests attend?
A: The 2026 brochure membership form lists Individual $35 / $62 / $89 (1 / 2 / 3 years) and Family $47 / $86 / $125. The brochure also says monthly meetings are free and the public is always invited. Artist workshops and classes are for members.

Q: Is this a nursery or a Learning class?
A: Neither, for Bonsai Plaza category purposes. MBS publishes dues and a member meeting schedule, so the card is Clubs. Tree retail with shop prices belongs under Nurseries; garden or nursery tuition classes with printed fees belong under Learning.