Virginia Bonsai Society Show and Sale Returns to Norfolk Botanical Garden

Norfolk Botanical Garden will host the Virginia Bonsai Society Show and Sale on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., turning the garden into a public bonsai room for a day. The draw is simple and strong: visitors will be able to see bonsai on display, learn how to care for a bonsai, and buy one to take home.

That matters because Norfolk Botanical Garden says its bonsai display is the only public bonsai display in Virginia. The collection sits behind Baker Hall and along the Transition Garden, so the show and sale lands in a setting already known to garden visitors, not tucked away in a club space. For people who know bonsai as a distant specialty, the format lowers the barrier fast: there is a finished tree to study, advice to absorb, and a tree for sale if the display sparks the urge to start.

The partnership also carries real weight inside Virginia bonsai culture. Norfolk Botanical Garden says the display began with the Virginia Bonsai Society in 2009 and moved fully into the garden’s care in 2015. That history gives the event a sense of continuity rather than novelty. It is not a pop-up market dropped into the calendar; it is the public face of a relationship that has already shaped the state’s only year-round public bonsai display.

The Virginia Bonsai Society itself dates back to May 1975, which makes the club a half-century institution by 2026. The society describes itself as an inclusive community of bonsai practitioners at every skill level, and its monthly meetings include general tree care, a featured species and a Beginners Corner where newer members can get questions answered. Membership dues are listed at $36 a year for individuals and $54 for families, a practical detail that helps explain why the show and sale works as both exhibition and recruiting ground.

For casual visitors, the event should also fit neatly into a Norfolk garden outing. A 2025 garden listing described the show and sale as included with garden admission and as a chance to learn how to care for a bonsai and purchase one for home use. A 2024 listing showed a two-day Saturday-Sunday format, but this year’s single-day run gives the event a sharper edge. In a city with plenty of spring attractions, this is one of the clearest chances to see a living art form up close and maybe leave with a tree of your own.