If you had to choose one which would you choose between the two? For Bloodgood over Fireglow: - Tolerant of full sunlight - Slimmer but taller profile For Fireglow over Bloodgood: - Stunning in sunlight and less dull without sunlight - Better autumn colours - Wider and shorter profile - Smaller more dainty leaves I think I lean towards Fireglow although specimens I have seen in nurseries have always had more crispy leaves and that's even under a canopy! That makes me think that they are harder work than a Bloodgood although it could have been down to underwatering by the nursery!
Good afternoon Mani, very little to choose between the two tbh. Fireglow has slightly redder leaves, but if I had one, which I do, I would not buy the other and vice versa. Both can suffer in the Summer from crispy brown tips to their leaves. My choice btw would be Bloodgood, as it is an old cultivar with a strong root base. Do not look at nursery or garden centre maples thinking that this is a fault in the particular variety. I've seen Saturday staff spraying maples in full afternoon sun. Not their fault as not properly trained. But the trees will NOT look anywhere near their best. If I had to choose what one red maple to take with me from this particular group to a dessert island , I would chose Atropurpureum. This is the parent of Bloodgood btw. It has finer more brilliant reds IMO. Hope thats of a little help Mani.
Hi Mani. I have both and to the untrained eye they are almost identical. I second what Acerholic said, in that my Bloodgood has a much deeper red, almost purple through most of the year. The leaves are bigger too giving the impression of more colour. The second flush (which is happening as I write this) makes you realise how dark the older leaves are as the newer ones are brighter. The autumn colour is fantastic. Very bright fully saturated red. Mine is in full sun, not a minute of shade throughout the day and only suffers minimal burn in the summer. The Fireglow is in a large container and gets an couple of hours sun in the morning and late afternoon. It stays red all year and the autumn colour is a nice red but to me doesn’t look as spectacular as the Bloodgood. The Fireglow seems slower growing but with a nice open, airy structure. I wish my Bloodgood was the shape of the Fireglow but other that that I think the Bloodgood wins. I hope that helps.
Hi Mani, I also have both and prefer the brighter colour of Fireglow. My favourite though is O kagami. My specimen has brighter and larger leaves than both the others, keeping the colour throughout the summer in full sun and great fall colour. It will however make a larger final tree so I suppose it depends on the space you have. Best.
Yes O kagami is lovely. Just this evening I put mine next to my Shojo nomura to compare them as they are roughly same age and size. Both are a much richer colour than both above trees. And to be honest the leaf shape on both, although slightly different to each other are prettier too. Definitely worth looking in to. I also want to give a little shout out to Suminigashi. I have this and love it. Lovely bright red all year and was one of my brightest reds last autumn. It was near to Trompenburg and it was definitely better than that.
Ooh, and whilst we are on the subject. I have just ordered a Hi no tsukasa. It looks stunning. Taken from Mr Maple - This Japanese maple is an amazing red upright selection from Tsukasa Nursery in Japan. According to Masayoshi Yano, this is the best red Japanese maple when given sunlight. 'Hi-no-tsukasa' is not a deep maroon, but yet in morning sun holds that bright red spring color throughout most of the growing season. Fall color is a bright scarlet. 'Hi-no-tsukasa' forms mid-sized upright reaching 12-14ft in 20 years.
The area 51 coming out of Mr Maple are amazing. Going to be many years before they come over here though.
Hi Ken, Can I ask what the tree is behind your first O kagami photo ? It does set them both off beautifully.
The tree behind O kagami is Acer cappadocicum ´Aureum'. And also Acer plat. ´Drummondii' to the right.
Thanks! I may have to revisit the one nursery near me which has both in stock and keep an open mind about any scorching! I've seen a lot labelled as Atropurpureum but now I question of they really are what they are labelled as! Appreciate your insight! Interesting you find the Bloodgood's colour to be more spectacular! I wonder how much the differing amounts of sun each gets has to do with the intensity of the red. I think i am with you on the structure of the two trees. The airy structure of the Fireglow and it's tiny star like leaves is gorgeous! I'll need to look into a Hi No Tsukara!! Never heard of it before! Thanks for the tip off on O kagami! That another new one on me! I'll do some more research on it! Beautiful pictures of yours!!those leaves look massive!!
If it's of any interest I photographed three leaves side by side to compare. Assuming of course that I was sold the genuine article in each case, Bloodgood is the darkest purple at this time of year. I'll compare autumn / fall colour when the time comes around.
@Ken Hamilton, good evening Ken of course we are interested. A very good comparison for anybody considering any of these three or to compare what they think they actually have. Thankyou
Yes. At the moment it's O kagami. Simply because my specimen is so bright right through the summer. It will however grow quite big. For anyone with limited space I would recommend Fireglow.
Just to add a bit of interest here's another option. Red Emperor. This is my specimen about 10 years old. Some years it definitely looks a deeper tone than this year. We have had a very dry and warm three months and I wonder if this causes the colour of red/ purple maples to be lighter or brighter?? Any thoughts?
Good evening Ken, this is a strange year for colouring for all varieties. Not that I'm complaining, it's been and is amazing to watch. The exceptionally warm and dry Spring has definitely had an effect this season. A maple photo diary is the only way IMO to annalize this. It looks as though you are actually doing this. It should show some differences next year as long as we have a different Spring. Enjoyed your leaf comparison photo again and your Red Emperor is stunning btw.
Spraying plants in the afternoon does not cause leaf burn (link below). There's a history of incorrect plants being put on the market by wholesale production operations as 'Bloodgood' so that will affect any comparisons attempted. As in a body will have to be sure they are using true to name material before their study will be solidly based. Otherwise there is a dogma of saying that 'Fireglow' improves upon 'Bloodgood', as does 'Wolff' Emperor 1 - in the latter case because it flushes a little bit later than 'Bloodgood'. And is supposed to have better fall color. Otherwise of course there is an entire set of multiple different purple Amoenum Group cultivars just in western cultivation. A useful exercise would be to plant correct material of all those present at this time and make detailed observations over a period of many years. The Myth of Hot-Weather Watering https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/leaf-scorch.pdf
