I should have stressed that I respect Ryan. I've met him a few times. He's very easy going and good to talk to. I'm learning constantly when I watch his videos and live feeds. The Tier 3 membership is certainly worth the cost.
Here in the South, we're constantly amused by people coming here and just not getting us. We have our own culture. We live in a different environment. The more localized you get, the worse it gets. New Orleanians aren't really "Southerners". We're a Creole city. We're Cajuns. We're Swampers.
When we watch a national TV show try to recreate what they found in New Orleans, it's a cross between laughter and pity. For example: Disney put out a video on how to make New Orleans gumbo. I don't know what shit it was they were stirring in the end, but it wasn't gumbo. Quinoa instead of RICE? Idiots.
When I see someone from the Pacific Northwest, who is 1700 miles from the nearest bald cypress, giving out information on bald cypress, I just knew it was going to be an entertaining video. I wasn't disappointed.
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The more generalized information about styling the tree is certainly on point. I have a problem when it comes to the science. I'm not a scientist, but I do try to read up on the science of bald cypress as much as I can and see how it all fits with the trees that surround our cities. There are very good photographs of wonderful bald cypress in books and on the Internet. I get to look at the ugly ones that do not get photographed. The ancient survivors of everything Mother Nature can throw at them in the South. It's nice to look at a well-defined flat-top, but it's better when you can compare it to a poorly defined one. It gives us the chance to spot the flaws, to break down flat tops into just what it is we appreciate.
Ryan mentions four people who were instrumental in developing the flat top style: Vaughn Banting, Dave Degroot, Guy Guidry, and Gary Marchal. They were all in the Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society. I've been to three of their homes. Gary took me on my first swamp dig and I still have the tree I dug. Vaughn sat me down in his home office and explained the physiology that creates the flat top. Guy's nursery was a fantastic resource for inspiration and knowledge. And it's Vaughn's fault that when Dave is giving a demonstration, that he looks at me to make sure I'm not about to snap a pencil while he bends a branch. That's my pedigree. The education I received from these four and many others in the club has shaped my appreciation and obsession of bald cypress. These men, and women as well, have helped me develop an eye for bald cypress bonsai. Vaughn and Gary have passed and were a great loss. Dave no longer lives in New Orleans, but I'll see him next week, so that's going to be great. And Guy had to sell off his nursery during a bitter divorce. But we still have great minds shaping bonsai in New Orleans and across the Gulf South.
