"What is this crap ??? The reason the foilage on the FL tree looked like a pond cypress, was that it probally was !!! Who ever collected it probally did not notice the difference... they can often time be found here in FL growing almost side by side.
Listen I love LA as well and I am not trying to take anything away from it, but to just come out with some nonsense to try and justify your love for "only LA trees" is just dumb. I know this is only your opinion... but perhaps it should be stated as such...
As far as only your FL tree going toes up after a winter that didn't see temps much below the teens... Perhaps one should have been a little smarter than to leave it out in such conditions... seeing that here in FL, where the tree came from, we don't get temps. that cold ??? Hmmmmm.... Doesn't seem like the tree's fault, perhaps operator error ???
Hmm, maybe someone doesn't really understand winter conditions and storage north of Fla....?? Yo, dude, I stand by opinion. Fla. collected BC up here in Va. simply don't fare nearly as well as those collected in La. Can't really help it if you think that's some kind of insult. As far as "operator error" yeah, it was my error for expecting similar results with a tree collected in Fla. If you do some research, you will find similar remarks among university research that note regional differences in this species...
I obtained the Fla. tree after I had had the La. tree for a decade. I expected the same performance. Didn't happen. Fla-collected trees require additional (if not complete) protection from freezing--I've heard and seen this not only at the National Arboretum, but from many local growers in the region who have been doing bonsai for decades. The foliage is coarser. It is consistently awl shaped and harder to work--at least for me). I have no intention of investing in a greenhouse for one tree.
My love for La. trees is hardly based on state preference. It is based on experience over two decades of growing this species here in Va. If I had my druthers, I'd be growing VIRGINIA grown BC, but collecting them here is problematic since most grow in protected wetlands in the Southern part of the state.
In any case, La. trees (and Ark., North Carolina, and Texas BC) are, in my experience, simply hardier in colder climates. I've grown both La. and Fla. collected trees side by side. The Fla. tree failed to thrive under the same treatment that the La. tree received. The La. tree outperformed the Fla. tree IN MY CLIMATE...