I must say that I find this post a bit of a head scratcher. There is no reason to be envious of Croatia or Europe for deciduous stock for crying out loud. Americans have been developing deciduous natives for a very long time. Just check the National Arboretum's North American collection for Christ Sakes.
MANY American collectors have been using some spectacular collected broad leafed deciduous stock for, well DECADES. If some folks weren't so focused on collected US western conifers, they'd know that.
As Zach Smith said, he's been collecting stock (and he won't say this) superior to that pictured for well over 25 years in the deep south. I know, because I visited his house back in the 90s to select a bald cypress stump for bonsai. There were some jaw droppers back then, from BC and a host of other deciduous species -- from Hawthorn to willow oak. My tree has now been in bonsai culture for over 20 years. Zach regularly collects great deciduous stock and has an eye that's been sharpened by 25 years of looking and finding and digging.
https://bonsai-south.com/
I also know some spectacular collected native deciduous stock came out of Guy Guidry's place, Bonsai Northshore in Covington, La., for a very long time and not just Bald Cypress.
I'd also bet that Alvaro Arceniegas in Dallas at
Cho bonsai has exponentially better and more stock than all of the hornbeam bonsai stock candidates residing in Croatia. I know that because I have family that lives two miles from him. They've visited his location. They said this oak (which I bought online from him) is outshined by a lot of the other stock that packs his yard.
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These are just a few of the collectors I've worked with. There are more.
The argument that there are no developed U.S. native deciduous bonsai or stock comparable to Croatia or Europe is silly. There are. Tthey reside mostly in private collections and don't get out to shows. I know of more than a dozen collected deciduous tree bonsai here in Va. that are comparable to anything coming out of Europe. Their owners aren't interested in showing them off though.
The argument also misses the people who pioneered use of native species. For instance, in Texas, Cedar elm is pretty damn common and it shames hornbeam, ANY hornbeam, as bonsai material. Collectors in Texas know that and have been working the species for decades. Vito Megna, an Austin area collector, sold hundreds of extremely fine cedar elm stumps back in the 90's, as well as other species, including Texas live oak. I have one of each of those from that period.
This is the live oak I bought from Vito in '98 or so.
It's been redesigned twice in the 20 years I've had it. May not be his best, but it's trunk chop has filled in well and its apex is well along at this point--which may not be the case with those hornbeam in 25 years...
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A 35-40 year old developed cedar elm in the National Arboretum
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A person that might add some perspective to what kind of developed stock is actually out there is Don Blackmond. He buys older collections. He has some pretty spectacular older native deciduous bonsai, including a jaw-dropping southern live oak.
To say that we haven't done anything worthwhile with our wealth of deciduous species (there are more species in an acre of Appalachian cove forest than in all of Europe) is not accurate.
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Smooth leafed elm---National Arboretum-- in training since 1982...