Art Garage Japanese Book Store (www.japanese-book.com) 
            Under the BONSAI, SUISEKI category are listed for sale hard-to-find and truely classic books about
bonsai and suiseki in Japan.

For web links to other bonsai suppliers see BONSAI RESOURCES at (www.bonsai-bci.com/resource.html)

ASSOCIATIONS

American Bonsai Society (www.absbonsai.org)
            Founded in 1967, the national organization publishes a journal and maintains a very
informative website.

International Bonsai Clubs (www.bonsai-bci.com)
            The website is full of useful bonsai references and information.  Of particular note are the
following: BONSAI BASICS, PUBLIC BONSAI EXHIBITS, the BONSAI SPECIES GUIDE, and the
BCI LIST OF INTERNET BONSAI SITES.

Mid-America Bonsai Alliance (mababonsai.org)
            MABA is an organization made up of local bonsai clubs and societies form nine Midwest
U.S. states and Canadian provinces.  The IBA is a member club.  The alliance holds a convention
every other year, the next tentatively scheduled for June 26-29, 2012, hosted by the Bonsai Society of
Greater Cincinnati..


BONSAI CLUBS
        There are a large number of bonsai clubs in North America, many now with a web
presence.  Noted below are only a few of neighboring Midwestern clubs that may be of
interest to Iowans.

Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis (www.stlbonsai.org)
            Monthly meetings are held at the Missouri Botanical Garden, home of the largest traditional
Japanese Garden in North America.  The BSGSL holds the second of its two annual exhibits in
collaboration with the Botanical Garden's annual Labor Day weekend Japanese Festival.  The
exhibit is held in conjunction with the Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) exhibit.  BSGSL hosted
a Shohin Convention in 2009 and will again in 2011.

Greater Cincinnati Bonsai Society (www.cincinnatibonsai.com)
            Founded in 1964, the GCBS is one of the oldest bonsai associations in the country.  The
website has links to bonsai MONTHLY TIPS, tip sheets issued monthly since April 1999.

Indianapolis Bonsai Club (www.indybonsai.org)
            IBC hosted MABA in 2008.

Midwest Bonsai Society (www.midwestbonsai.org)
            The MBS has a close relationship with the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois,
where it holds its regular meetings and its shows.  Their fall show is perhaps the most
significant bonsai event in the Midwest. 

Minnesota Bonsai Society (www.minnesotabonsai.com)
            Priding itself on being one of the largest and most active bonsai societies in the country,
this group of our northern neighbors hosts a number of interesting bonsai activities, including
two annual bonsai auctions, an annual spring show on Mother's Day at Como Park Conservatory
in St. Paul in conjunction with the Annual Flower Show, held in a beautiful bonsai exhibit room
that was new in 2005; and a two-day State Fair Bonsai Show every year on Friday-Saturday before
Labor Day at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul.

Nebraska Bonsai Society (nebonsai.blogspot.com)
            A new bonsai group in the Midwest, founded in 2009, located in Lincoln Nebraska.

Quad City Bonsai Club (www.quadcitybonsai.org)
            The club serves a membership in the Quad City area straddling the Mississippi River in
eastern Iowa and western Illinois defined as Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, Moline/East
Moline and Rock Island in Illinois, and surrounding communities.

BONSAI CARE

Bonsai 4me (www.bonsai4me.com)
            Quite probably the best authoritative quick reference source for bonsai selection and 
maintenance information on the internet.  The site is now divided into these main sections:  BONSAI 
BASICS, ADVANCED TECHNIQUES, SPECIES GUIDES, ARTICLES AND PHOTO SERIES, and BONSAI
GALLERIES.  It is the SPECIES GUIDES, which provides individual care, cultivation notes and images for
over 90 popular plant and tree species for bonsai, that is the most essential tool for the average bonsaiist.
Bear in mind that with respect to cultivation notes, this guide is written from a European (UK) perspective.

Index of Bonsai Species (www.bonsai-bci.com/species/indexgen.html)
            Compiled by Bonsai Clubs International, the site consists of guidelines for the care of tree
species as compiled from postings on various lists and newsgroups and from several bonsai
periodicals and standard bonsai reference works.  Listed by both botanical name and common
name.

Pine Bonsai in the Midwest, by Douglas K. Hawley, MD (http://mababonsai.org/pages/articles.html)
            The author is a member of the Greater Cincinnati Bonsai Society.  This article along with a
companion article by the same author available on the same MABA articles page, Detailing Your
Pine, constitute the scripture of successfully maintaining pine bonsai in the Midwest.

BONSAI COLLECTIONS

National Arboretum National Bonsai & Penjing Museum Virtual Tour (www.usna.usda.
gov/Gardens/collections/VirtualTours/BonsaiVirtualTour.html)
            A virtual tour of the nation’s official bonsai collection.  Established in 1976, the National
Bonsai and Penjing Museum is the most comprehensive of it’s kind in North America.  It is
dedicated to the display, education and scholarly study of bonsai and related art forms.

National Bonsai Foundation (www.bonsai-nbf.org)
            The NBF is a support organization for the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.  The
Foundation website provides a wealth of information about the national collection and bonsai
events.  Of particular note is its COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITS page, which provides excellent
photos of the bonsai and Penjing collections and special Museum exhibits.

Chicago Botanic Garden Bonsai Collection (www.chicagobotanic.org/explore/bonsai.php)
            In 2002 renowned bonsai master Susumu Nakamura donated 19 specimen bonsai from
his personal collection to the Chicago Botanic Garden, therewith transforming their bonsai
collection into one of the best public collections of bonsai in the world.  The collection numbers
over 180 bonsai.  One can view the Nakamura portion of the collection in both summer and
winter aspect from this site.

For a listing of 20 public bonsai collections in the United States see BCI's PUBLIC BONSAI EXHIBITS
AND COLLECTIONS list (www.bonsai-bci.com/exhibits.htm).  This listing includes the bonsai collection
of the Des Moines Botanical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, for which the IBA contributes design and 
maintenance work.

JAPANESE GARDENS
        Some of the best Japanese Gardens in the country are within reasonable driving 
distance of Iowa.

Anderson Japanese Gardens, Rockford, IL  (www.andersongardens.org)
            Rated the best Japanese garden in North America by the Journal of Japanese Gardening.
A great visit opportunity in conjunction with the annual Mid-American Bonsai Show held each
August at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Carleton College, Northfield, MN  (apps.carleton.edu/campus/japanesegarden/)
            Rated number 9 of the top 25 Japanese Gardens in North America by the Journal of 
Japanese Gardening. A compact dry landscape garden nestled into the campus landscape of
this renowned Minnesota liberal arts college.

Chicago Botanic Garden Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden -- Sansho-en ("The garden
of three islands"), Glencoe, IL  (www.chicagobotanic.org/explore/japanese.php)
            A stroll garden.  A great visit opportunity in conjunction with the annual Mid-America
Bonsai Show held each August at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Missouri Botanical Garden Japanese Garden -- Seiwa-en ("Garden of pure, clear harmony 
and peace"), St. Louis, MO  (www.mobot.org/hort/gardens/Japanese/intro/)
            Rated number 13 of the top 25 Japanese Gardens in North America by the Journal
of Japanese Gardening. A wet stroll garden in design, it is the largest traditional Japanese
garden in North America.  Labor Day weekend Japanese Festival is an occasion for the 
annual Ikebana Show and an annual bonsai show by the Bonsai Society of Greater St.
Louis.  Adjoining the Japanese garden is The Margaret Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese
Garden, the most authentic Chinese garden of its size in the United States.

The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Japanese Garden -- Seisui Tei, 
Chaska, MN  (www.arboretum.umn.edu)
            Rated number 19 of the top 25 Japanese Gardens in North America by the Journal of 
Japanese Gardening. The Arboretum is part of the Department of Horticultural Science within
the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota.
It is located SW of the Twin Cities.


SUISEKI & VIEWING STONES
        Although viewing stones is a more correct and inclusive term, a majority of bonsai 
fans currently seem to prefer to use the Japanese term suiseki and to more or less
follow the Japanese classification system for viewing stones.  There is not yet the web
presence for viewing stone information that bonsai has developed, but below are a few
places from which to depart.

California Aiseki Kai  (www.aisekikai.com)
       Aiseki Kai maintains an online newsletter.

Felix Rivera Suiseki  (felixrivera-suiseki.com/home.html)

Nippon Suiseki Association  (suiseki-assn.gr.jp/en/index.html)

Sean Smith Custom Oriental Wood-Craft  (bonsai-suiseki.com/Suiseki.html)

Suiseki.com  (suiseki.com)

TEACHERS, SENSEI, AND PROPHETS
        There are many excellent teachers of bonsai now in North America.  The following are only a
selected few of the judges and instructors that the IBA has enjoyed working with.

Michael Hagedorn  (www.crataegus.com), Portland, Oregon.
        Michael provided a weekend of bonsai workshops for the IBA in 2007, shortly after returning from
his apprenticeship with bonsai master Shinji Suzuki in Nagano, Japan.  A star still rising on the
American bonsai scene.  See his blog; read his book: Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent
Bonsai Monk.

Jerry "Bonsaihunk" Meislik  (www.bonsaihunk.us), Whitefish, Montana.
        Jerry was the judge for the 2010 Iowa State Fair Bonsai Show as well as the instructor for a very
informative workshop on tropical bonsai material for the IBA the same year.  A major influence in American
bonsai.  See the ART of BONSAI Feature Gallery, The Bonsai of Jerry Meislik,
(artofbonsai.org/galleries/meislik.php).

Ben Oki  (www.benokibonsai.com), Culver City, California.
        An internationally recognized bonsai artist and a seminal influence in American bonsai, he studied
under and then assisted the modern bonsai master John Naka.  Ben provided a weekend of workshops
for the IBA in 2005.  Very classical bonsai.  Pay attention; study photographs of his work.

Gary Wood  (Things of Wood: http://thingsofwood-gary.blogspot.com), Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Telperion
Farms, Oregon.
        Gary Wood is a talented teacher, grower, bonsai potter, and master mover of great bonsai material
around North America.  He was judge for the 2007 Iowa State Fair Bonsai Show, and has led workshops
for the IBA in 2003, 2005, and 2007.  He is a teacher and advocate of proper root development work for
bonsai material, which he began to blog about in 2010.  He is a bonsai master for study groups around
the country, including one here in Iowa. 

EVEN MORE INFORMATION

The Art of Bonsai Project (www.artofbonsai.org)
            An online journal and community for the examination and exploration of the bonsai art
form.  The masthead makes the claim that “this is the bonsai artist’s home on the Web."

Of Bonsai Magazine  (www.ofbonsai.org)
           Of Bonsai is "an on-line magazine for the examination and discussion of the cultivation,
technical design aspects, and artistic principles of bonsai.  It is meant to be a place where
information concerning bonsai can be freely exchanged in a professional and straight forward
manner without the obstacles commonly prevalent in other venues.  This is the serious bonsaist
home on the web."  This is an evolutionary descendant of the Knowledge of Bonsai Forums.

Lindsay Farr’s WorldOfBonsaiSeries (www.bonsaifarm.tv)
            These internationally acclaimed downloadable bonsai videos are wonderful short visits to
some of the more esoteric aspects of bonsai as it is enjoyed and described by the proprietor of
the oldest bonsai garden in Melbourne, Australia.

Magical Miniature Landscapes: The comprehensive history of bonsai and the related arts
(www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html)
            The most comprehensive bonsai history ever attempted, this site continues to evolve.

North American Bonsai Potters (www.gobbs.org/Potters.htm)
            The purpose of this site is to promote the art and craft of pottery for bonsai in North
America by providing a guide to the practitioners of this art form that is so essential to the art of
bonsai.  Photographs of pots and potters marks and contact or website linkage information if
available are provided. The compilers are particularly interested in historic pots and potters no
longer practicing.  The site list of bonsai potters includes Dave Lowman, Gary Wood, Sara
Rayner, and other favorites of IBA members.

Bonsai Forums  For those who feel the need to spend even more time on the web, particularly if you like
forums and chat sites, you might first want (or even need) to read the following long but significant
article about internet bonsai information sharing:
           Will Heath, "The Problem with Bonsai Forums"  (www.artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3088),
at the end of which there is a section entitled A Review of Internet Bonsai Forums, which is a critically 
annotated listing of the major internet bonsai forums at the time of writing.

Bonsai Pots  For the ultimate current summary of what there is to know and what you should know about 
bonsai pottery, including finding a good source and selecting the right pot, see the page:
           ABOUT BONSAI POTS AND POTTERS  (www.phoenixbonsai.com/BigPicture/Pots.html), which is a 
page within the ever growing, metastasizing, bonsai web monster noted above -- Magical Miniature 
Landscapes  (www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html).

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