I am not that experienced in the art of bonsai itself, but I do like to work with woody succulents and medicinal types. tropical plants are also a favorite of mine. I've never worked with conifers, before; however, I would very much like to, as they are some of my favorite species.

generally speaking, I try to avoid plants that are toxic to animals; if I cannot resist the plant species, I keep it separate from the rooms my animals use actively. the one plant species I absolutely refuse to cultivate are oleander shrubs; I just cannot trust them.

e-babe wrote: if I cannot resist the plant species, I keep it separate from the rooms my animals use actively.

Welcome to the forum.
Don't ever keep a bonsai indoors, and of course don't let them share the same space as your animals.
Back to the subject:
My favorite trees are tropicals (as I live in a tropical country), but I really like working with the pines (akamatsu and kuromatsu; goyomatsu are impossible in Brazil).
I hate boxwoods, podocarpus, mallsaiis in general and nowadays I am hating Azaleas (but only because I kill all of them, it's a divine gift I have, I guess).
No, in fact I love Azaleas during the short time they keep alive in my hands.

Hey Julie How’s your Jasmine doing? Me, as a beginner, I go through a Maple phase. Looks like I’ll collect them all, but my fav could change very well on the following years.

Clicio wrote: ..I hate boxwoods, podocarpus, mallsaiis in general and nowadays I am hating Azaleas...

Did you just forgot Serissas?

Felidae wrote: Did you just forgot Serissas?

Serissa?
Who is Serissa?

Not sure I have a favorite species. If I have to look at what I have sitting around.. I have a dozen or so maples. A handfull of Yews, a bunch of Larch, some olives Some dozen junipers and a bunch of hornbeams. Then some flowering species: A few Azaleas, a few malus and some cherries/plums. Then of some 10 other species to odd individual tree.

I think Yew are maybe the easiest to work with, as they backbud profusely, are easy to wire. Create good deadwood.
Quickest results I find you can get with Larch
Prettiest flowers the japanese plum, Prunus mume
Junipers are the most versatile
Carpinus are just a must

Ah well.. Yeah. No preferred species.
I do have the magic finger of death when it comes to pines though.

leatherback wrote: Ah well.. Yeah. No preferred species.
I do have the magic finger of death when it comes to pines though.

So what's your least favorite?

HELLO,

I'm in Tanzania, that's East Africa, and am also new to bonsai. So tropicals, as importing would make most other trees expensive, I intend to get much better before venturing down that road. So far I am working with broad-leaf species, I feel like I understand leaves as opposed to needles. That said the journey has just begun and deadwood on those old pines is makes some incredible trees.

@clicio
We have a tree here, duranta repens and other variants, they make some great bonsai. Going through the internet I found most of the picture were linked to blogs and sites in Portuguese. I hope you don't mind me asking; Do you have experience working with these trees.
ricardopaiva.wordpress.com/meus-bonsai-2/duranta-grande/

link attached has some great yamadori duranta. Added bonus is the natural look deadwood has on these beautiful trees.

DnS, hello.
yes, they are called "Drop of Gold" around here and grow like a weed.
Used as wedges, they are perhaps as common here as boxwood.
Very easy to grow, and they take hard pruning well.
I am thinking about buying one myself, me and Leatherback have seen some thick ones two weeks ago in a bonsai show in São Paulo.

Yeah, those were cool!