East Texas is a large place. Houston is considered East Texas, but it really ain't ;-)
My folks have a place in Tyler that I've been collecting stuff from for years. Tyler is not far from the La. line behind the "pine curtain ;-)". All sorts of stuff to look at--skip the red maple. Ain't worth the trouble, as it has some bad habits, like looooooooong internodes that you have to fight, and their trunks and bark bore me to tears...Why bother putting up with that, when you have one of the best native North American species for bonsai at your doorstep--Cedar elm
CEDAR ELM is the primary tree to go after, either in the ground or at local nurseries. They are superior in growth habit, leaf reduction and overall vigor than most Asian species - it gives Chinese elm a run for its money as easy bonsai material and has more character. Collected cedar elm can have spectacular trunks and overall character and can take only a couple of years to build into a great bonsai. They are all over the place, from seedling size to 8 inch diameter and larger monsters. They're easily collected (about now or into late Feb). Bald cypress is another species that's worth looking for. I know they're extremely common in nurseries in Dallas (but that's north Texas ;-)). Cedar elm are the most common elm in Texas, but any elm species (American elm, etc) you run across is worth collecting if it has a decent foot of trunk out of the ground. All elms are extremely easy to collect and keep as bonsai.
Wild plum --there are a number of varieties Chickasaw Plum ( Prunus Angustifolia) at least I think that's what it is..., Texas Persimmon (diospyros Texana) is another likely candidate, as is black tupelo, aka Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), sweetgum (liquidambar styraciflua) too. Carolina hornbeam is around if you look closely in bottomland, while you're looking for bald cypress.
Texas live oak (also known as escarpment live oak--Quercus fusiformis) is also pretty common, although it is more common over towards Dallas, where it is EVERYWHERE as a landscape tree. I have one as bonsai for the last 25 years. I didn't dig it, but got it from a collector near Austin. I know they're not all that easy to dig, as you have to get some feeder roots, but once in a container the species is EXCELLENT as bonsai. They are easily obtained from local nurseries already containerized either as a sapling or burlapped larger trees (Which can be expensive). These are also farmed around East Texas using graduated containers--from one gallon to 200 gallon pots in fields.
East Texas, at least up near Tyler, is home to dozens of varieties of oak. Most I think, can be candidates, with a few notable exceptions. Willow oak (quercus phellos) is a great candidate and tends to be shallow rooted. Blackjack oak (quercus marlinandica) has gorgeous bark on old trunks, BUT it also has HUGE leathery leaves. Oaks are an underused species and it's a pretty wide open field as far as experimenting with them as bonsai.
Closer to home, in backyards, crape myrtle and azalea are great candidates. Both are common and you can find older specimens if you look around and have the stones to ask landowners if they "want that old shrub removed" ;-)
Good luck!
My Texas live oak
