The Sunset Bonsai Club was started in 1998 and is located on the west side of Portland Oregon. We are a small informal group of people that meet monthly to learn and teach the ancient art form of bonsai. So the question is “What is bonsai”?

A.) Some thing that you yell when you swing a samurai sword.

B.) The art of dwarfing trees or plants and developing them into an aesthetically appealing shape by growing, pruning and training those in containers according to prescribed techniques.


If you know the correct answer, but are still amused by option “A”, then there is a place for you in the Sunset Bonsai Club. While the club fully recognizes that bonsai is a serious art form that requires patience, horticultural expertise, technique training, and an eye for balance, we also believe that learning and improving bonsai skill should be fun and enjoyable.
 
The Sunset Bonsai Club is dedicated to both introducing the novice to bonsai and to share expertise amongst experienced aficionados. While we take an occasional field trip, most of our 2 hour meetings combine a short topical lecture followed with a hands-on session. Before jumping into the assigned theme, we have a general question and answer period. By conscious design, the modus operandi of the SBC is informal. While it is nice to know the correct Japanese pronunciation for a given bonsai style, it is simpler, quicker, and easier to use English. For most, it's hard to tell, let alone understand, jokes in Japanese .
     

In Memory of Paul Rathjen,
Sunset Bonsai Club founder, teacher and friend

Paul Rathjen