Fort Wayne Bonsai Club turns spring show into public celebration

Visitors were invited to vote, watch live techniques and talk face-to-face with growers as the Fort Wayne Bonsai Club turned its spring show into a public celebration at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory. The People’s Choice contest, paired with placarded trees and on-site members, made the display as interactive as it was visual.

The show ran Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1100 S. Calhoun St. in Fort Wayne. Admission was $7 for adults, $5 for children and free for children 2 and under, with show entry included in general admission. Beginning bonsai specimens and pots were also available for cash-only purchase, giving newcomers an immediate way to start.

Inside the conservatory, dozens of carefully shaped pines, junipers and other trees filled the room. Club president Steve Moore said bonsai is both creative and horticultural work, and that balance was on display throughout the day as members discussed technique, styling and the long-term maintenance that keeps a tree alive and improving year after year.

The Fort Wayne Bonsai Club has about 50 members, and that range showed in the spring exhibit. Some members brought only a few trees, while others displayed nearly 20, creating a spread that let visitors see everything from early development to polished display material. Moore said the voting can be especially revealing when children take part, because they tend to be direct about what they like.

Practical learning was built into the event. Moore had recently given a live repotting demonstration, a maintenance step that keeps bonsai healthy over the long term, and another member showed how the hobby can begin without a large investment by shaping small junipers that cost less than $10. One pine that Moore has been developing for more than a decade was styled as a semi-cascade, echoing a tree clinging to a cliff and reaching toward light and water.

That mix of hands-on instruction and public access reflected the club’s stated mission to cultivate knowledge, artistic talent and public appreciation for bonsai. By putting voting, questions and entry-level material alongside finished trees, the Fort Wayne Bonsai Club lowered the barrier to entry and gave curious visitors a clear view of how the art grows, literally, over time.