For Ryan, it’s Buttonwoods. The tropicals don’t do so well up in the PNW. What tree do you wish you could grow but aren’t able to? Let’s support each other through the very real ‘zone envy’ experience.
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I love the sounds and the colors, of the quaking aspen. There is a cluster in the Ft. Davis mountains in Texas, but that is still at 5K elevation. Too hot, too not cold, too sea level in Dallas to ever hope to keep one here. I’ve seen some that have been done as bonsai in CO tho.
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California cypress would be my choice.
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larch. best of all worlds, but not cold enough in oc.
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I’m tempted to move to a tropical region just so I can grow water jasmine. Those specimens from Vietnam are amazing. Tried one here (Rochester NY) for a few years but our summers just aren’t hot enough to make up for the long winter.
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For me it is a toss up between the Olives and Mountain Hemlock. I’m pretty cold up in Northern MI.
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Living in Oklahoma, the list of species that cant survive our heat is pretty long haha
JWP, Hemlocks, Larches, Beech, Stewartia are probably near the top of the my zone envy wish list
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Redwoods. Colorado is just way too cold for them without a greenhouse, but they’re such stunning trees.
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I love mediteranian trees,
Olives, Quercus Suber,Quercus Ilex and Bougainvillea.
But they do not really love to be in Hamburg 
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Japanese Maple for me. They don’t like the heat here in zone 9.
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I would have to go with Redwoods. Michigan is an ice box for 4-5 months out of the year and I don’t have a green house (yet…). There is something mystical about Redwoods that call to me.
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Japanese Maple followed closely by Japanese white pine (incidentally the 2 trees/species that first infected me w the bonsai bug); Houston heat and lack of winter is no bueno for these aspirations - I’ll just have to keep killing trees that do grow here!!! 
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I have to say Japanese Maple as well, but I would have to include just about any decent pine.
Being in the desert, it’s been a struggle to find a pine that will hold up to the summer heat, won’t exhaust itself from non-dormancy, and also has a decent needle size. I’m starting to experiment with getting shorter needles on Allepo and Italian Stone Pines, and I have Afghan Pines in my sights. Will probably take a few years before I see any results, but I have to try. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
I’m going to have to get my hands on one of these! Just looked up some pictures, and they look amazing in bloom! I may have problems with the humidity, but I think I may be able to make it work.
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Fraiser fir, too warm down here in the valley 
Would love to grow pines and junipers. It is too hot and humid where I am to grow them well.
Japanese Black pine do not do well in Iowa, do not like the hard freezes. Also Japanese maple and buttonwood, and rosemary do not tolerate my winter storage, either in the sunroom or the sheltered enclosure.
Have several cypress and one redwood as landscape plants, but they do not live well in pots for me.
Boy, I wish I could grow larches here in North Mississippi! It just doesn’t get consistently cold enough in the winters, and in the summers, it gets too hot.
I have though a lot about the “perfect” bonsai climate. Of course the PNW is great but still has limits, and I need my sunshine. I would love to have easy access to larch and mountain hemlock here in Colorado. Cypress seem super cool as well. If I ever build a new house I’m going to try to include a climate controlled green house…
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This is tough question for me. Walking out there I often picture every tree as a potential bonsai and my love for this plant is comparable to obsession to be honest 
hence I would love to have them all!
I guess I will start to long for specific one once having proper garden, my own house, small greenhouse hopefully and live miles away from where I’m learning ab trees and bonsai.
At the moment being in South of UK almost any tree seems to have a chance. Future in in heart of the Europe with proper 4 seasons…who knows
And who knows also if it’s gonna be central Europe 
Lived in Floirida for 20 years before moving to Oregon. I too miss doing buttowoods, but the biggie for me is Bougainvilla. My fist teacher Matt Sadowski, had a killer large bougie with a carved out trunk. SAdly after I moved ro Oregon he died and his collections was distrubuted to parts unknown. That one still haunts me.
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