Guy Joseph Guidry fondly remembers the moment he first encountered a bonsai tree, three decades ago.
Guidry spotted a cluster of the miniature trees in his neighbor's backyard in New Orleans. They were neglected, so Guidry adopted them. He became obsessed with figuring out how to care for bonsai.
"I would be late for work and didn't want to go inside," Guidry said. "I desperately wanted to learn."
He pored over books, picked up trimming tools and found mentors to help him get into the art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers. The practice is derived from an ancient Chinese one known as penjing that was adopted by Japan.
Bonsai artists aim to realistically represent nature in the form of a miniature mature tree.