Hidden Lake Gardens — Fall Bonsai Exhibition Workshops

Category: Learning Also called: Hidden Lake Gardens Bonsai Workshops; Fall Fruit & Foliage Bonsai Exhibition workshops; Hidden Lake Gardens (Tipton, MI) Last checked: 2026-10-16

What it is

Hidden Lake Gardens’ bonsai workshops are paid, instructor-led sessions at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Road (M-50), Tipton, Michigan, a Michigan State University garden. They are part of the inaugural 2026 Fall Fruit & Foliage Bonsai Exhibition, October 17 and 18, 2026, presented with the North American Bonsai Federation. The garden’s own online event shop lists six workshops with leaders, times, prices and materials.

Who it’s for

Michigan and Great Lakes learners, from beginners (Bonsai Basics, children’s workshop) to people with trees to work on (Bring Your Own Tree) and makers who want to build pots or display stands.

Why it’s listed

It is a real, dated, bookable set of classes on the garden’s own registration shop. Offerings on the check date (2026-10-16):

A – Designing Bonsai Using Junipers, Bill Valavanis: Sat Oct 17, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, $150, pre-wired Itoigawa Shimpaku junipers.
B – Pinch Pots, Mark and Becky Hanner: Sat Oct 17, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, $100, up to two pounds of stoneware clay.
C – Bonsai Basics, Kurt Smith: Sat Oct 17, 12:30–2:30 PM, tropical Tiger Bark Ficus in a 6-inch pot to take home. Sold out.
D – Root Stand Creation, Sean Smith: Sat Oct 17, 12:30–3:30 PM, $150; bring a corded Dremel and safety glasses.
E – Children’s Workshop, Eric Newton: Sun Oct 18, 9:30–11:00 AM, $10, tree included.
F – Bring Your Own Tree, Steve Jetzer: Sun Oct 18, 9:30 AM–12:00 PM, $75, for autumn work on conifers and deciduous trees; no repotting.
Terms (shop): registrations are final and nonrefundable; the email receipt is the ticket.

Dates, prices and availability are what the shop showed on the check date. They change.

Official URL

Official workshop registration shop: https://hidden-lake-gardens-tipton.cloveronline.com/shop/Events

Fall Fruit & Foliage Bonsai Exhibition page (Hidden Lake Gardens, MSU): https://ipf.msu.edu/hidden-lake-gardens/fall-exhibition

Location

Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Road (M-50), Tipton, MI 49287. Phone 517-431-2060, [email protected]. The shop shows daily hours of 9:00 AM–4:30 PM.

Notes

Category is Learning: dated workshops with leaders, prices and registration, run by a public garden.
The workshops are tomorrow and the next day (Oct 17–18, 2026) and Bonsai Basics is sold out. There is no later bonsai class on the shop yet; the garden’s separate Art of Bonsai event page says it is returning in 2027, date to be announced. Treat this as a short-notice and event-bound listing.
The exhibition page on ipf.msu.edu returns HTTP 200 but sits behind a bot-check script, so a scripted request sees an empty page; its content was read through a normal fetch.
Michigan is not new (Ann Arbor Bonsai Society is listed). Georgia, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Delaware were avoided.
Listing image: no logo, og:image or social avatar could be fetched (the MSU page is bot-checked; Facebook and Instagram require login), so the image is the garden’s own workshop graphic for “Designing Bonsai Using Junipers” from its Clover shop, cropped to the card, 645×675, saved as hidden-lake-gardens-fall-bonsai-workshops.png. Replace it with the official logo if one becomes available.
Not affiliated with Bonsai Plaza. No registration, purchase or contact was made.

FAQ

Q: Where are the workshops held?
A: At Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Road (M-50), Tipton, Michigan 49287.

Q: When are they?
A: Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, 2026, during the Fall Fruit & Foliage Bonsai Exhibition. Start times range from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

Q: How much do they cost?
A: $10 for the children’s workshop, $75 for Bring Your Own Tree, $100 for Pinch Pots, and $150 each for the juniper design and root stand workshops.

Q: Is there a beginner workshop?
A: Bonsai Basics with Kurt Smith is for beginners and includes a Tiger Bark Ficus, but it showed as sold out on the check date. The children’s workshop was still listed.

Q: Can I get a refund?
A: No. The shop says all registrations are final and nonrefundable.

Q: Will there be more workshops later?
A: None were listed after October 18. The garden’s Art of Bonsai event page says it returns in 2027, with the date to be announced.