Orlando bonsai workshop pairs bougainvillea styling with cocktails

The first thing beginners needed to know was simple: Bonsai & Cheers had moved. The May 14 workshop, originally tied to Forward Slash Distillery & Blending House in Winter Park, was shifted to The Drake Kitchen + Bar at 361 N Rosalind Ave. #Ste 1 in downtown Orlando, about a 10-minute drive away, and attendees were told to check email for the update. The timing stayed the same, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., keeping the event squarely in the after-work window that makes it feel more like a night out than a formal class.

That was the point. The two-hour DIY session centered on bougainvillea, a tropical bonsai favorite known for its vigor, color and fast visual payoff. Each ticket included a live bougainvillea bonsai tree, a pot, soil, bonsai shears, a welcome cocktail and one drink of choice during the class. Participants could also choose from multiple colors, which pushed the workshop further toward the lifestyle end of the bonsai spectrum, where a finished tree is as much part of the evening as the process of styling it.

No prior experience was required, and the structure reflected that. Rather than asking newcomers to arrive with tools, wiring knowledge or pruning confidence, Bonsai & Cheers handed them the basics and built the rest around atmosphere. Bougainvillea was a smart fit for that format. Bonsai references describe it as a vibrant, fast-growing species that responds well to pruning and styling, the kind of material that can give a first-timer visible progress in a single sitting.

The event came from L&J Nursery, also known as Bonsai Classes Orlando FL, which says it was established in 2008 in Venice, Florida, and later expanded to Orlando. The nursery describes Bonsai & Cheers as its signature event series, and that background helps explain the shape of the night: less club meeting, more social entry point into plant culture. In that framing, the cocktails were not a gimmick. They were part of the invitation.

Orlando also has a deeper bonsai base than a casual workshop might suggest. The Central Florida Bonsai Club says it has been celebrating bonsai for 50 years and focuses on training, inspiration and examples for developing bonsai. Events like Bonsai & Cheers widen that circle by bringing in people who may never walk into a formal club meeting first. At The Drake, the relocated class kept that door open, with bougainvillea, drinks and a downtown setting doing the welcoming.