Our Gallery
Taxodium distichum, "Ghoul"
"Ghoul" is an American bald cypress that was collected by Nate Murray, 2019. I wanted to see more bald cypress shown on the thinnest possible planting prospective so I went with a piece of Colorado blue flag stone that was carved by Bill Butler. This tree was styled in 2022 and then planted onto the stone in 2023. "Ghoul" is also part of an ongoing series of bald cypress bonsai that I am called the Coastal Restoration collection.
Planera aquatica
This water elm wild broom style was originally collected out of Lake Catahoula by Zach Smith, where a lot of water elms are historically found for bonsai. It's hard to find the exact date of collection but looking at early photos of this tree sent to me by Doug and knowing about recovery time needed for a tree this size, I'm estimating this tree to have been collected in 2006. The first image is the best view of what the silhouette looks like in full leaf but not it's current container. Once the tree is recovered from its little tour across the States I'll upload a better picture. The second photo shows the beautiful ramification that water elms are capable of. This tree was shown at the 8th National Bonsai Exhibition in 2023. It was also shown at the American Bonsai Learning Seminar show within the same year.
Taxodium distichum
An American bald cypress that was purchased from about yamadori collector in southeast Louisiana. If I ever get the name of the collector I will post it later on. This is a client's tree of mine. I really like the transitional feel of a mid age bald cypress on its way to becoming a flattop. Seemed appropriate at the time I created it as it relates to a turning point for me and the way I'm starting to approach bonsai design now.
Conocarpus erectus
This is a buttonwood that was originally collected by the wonderful Mary Madison. I had the pleasure of meeting her in 2021. I obtained this amazing little clump of twisted deadwood of a tree from her then and now it's one of my personal favorite bonsai. This is a test show photo in preparation of showing it at the Louisiana Day of Bonsai 2023. Hopefully this will be the first of many shows to come for this tree.
Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Alps'
It's not often I got a great piece of conifer material to work on at the bonsai shop. Junipers are not very popular in Louisiana as they are overshadowed by the easier to maintain bald cypresses and elms. This was a client of mine's tree that needed a serious redesign. I changed everything from the front to the planting angle of the tree to really show off the beautiful trunk line and add some drama to the other all design.
Ulmus alata "New Hope"
This winged elm is a very special tree to me, Doug, and the nursery. It was collected by Doug Green in 1987 or that's the year he recalls. He told me it was definitely towards the end of the 80's. Its name comes from the collection location being in New Hope, Alabama, as simple stump. Doug then grew it out in the shape it is now over the coarse of 30 years. Flash forward to the events of hurricane Katrina. The after effects of the category 4 storm left a lot of Louisiana residents in a state near hopelessness. For Doug, he lost a good number of his bonsai just as many other bonsai enthusiasts had as well in the New Orleans area. "New Hope", this winged elm, was one of the few trees that bounced back. Doug refers to this tree as the savior of Underhill Bonsai nursery. He has told me that if it wasn't for this tree he would have given up all hope on bonsai and never pursued opening the nursery. I restyled this tree in 2019 and then repotted it into an updated Byron Myrick container in 2020. It went to show at the 7th National Bonsai Exhibition in 2021. Doug gifted it to me after the show and it now resides in my personal collection.
Carnivorous kusamono
A kusamono I created with all carnivorous plants, save the latter fern. In collaboration with Living Dead Domes, Ray Mulkey's carnivorous plants, I created this planting to accompany my water elm at the ABS show and 8th National Bonsai Exhibition in 2023. It is planted in a shallow Chuck Iker dish style pot.