The magic of Yuji Yoshimura, the founder of the Bonsai Society of Greater NY and the man who brought bonsai to the US went beyond his well known genius as a bonsai artist. Mr. Y, as he was called by his students, did more than introduce the trees to Americans. He made bonsai accessible. While he himself was a Japanese bonsai master, born into bonsai, he believed that bonsai should not be a restricted art, but rather one that should be open to the world. His mission was to educate and it is still the mission of BSGNY.

Our club, BSGNY is a venerable bonsai whose grafts, seedlings, and air layers propagated the Northeast and beyond with bonsai societies and clubs. BSGNY members along with their mentor, Yoshimura helped establish the national and regional clubs as well. Even now, when our members travel or meet someone in bonsai for the first time, we often hear: "Oh, I used to be a member of your club." Those words are testament to the success of our organization. Our earliest members, who traveled miles to attend meetings, took the ideas of BSGNY back to their own locales and began new clubs.

We are proud of our role in the history of bonsai in America and remain true to Yoshimura’s tradition of welcoming and educating any and all who love those little trees.

At BSGNY, we believe no one is ever too 'green' or too 'knowledgeable' to be part of our society. For the experienced bonsai enthusiasts, it's the perfect place to exchange valuable experiences in bonsai care and growth; for the novice who wants to learn a few things about the art, our society have members with decades of bonsai experience, especially in growing trees suitable for the New York Metropolitan region; these experienced bonsai members are always glad to provide help and answers to any bonsai related questions.

On this site you will find information about our current activities and future plans, as well as a memberhip application. From time to time, we invite bonsai masters from throughout the world to speak at our meetings; in addition, exciting workshops are always available for our members, on all levels of topics; afterall, nothing beats learning through hands-on experience. Please visit our site on a regular basis to keep abreast of our activities.