hmmmm..she is little..I might have kept her in a pot for another 5 years, then planted when the cover trees have grown out..but you know me and pots lol
This is probably my favourite cultivar. My first one stayed very small for years and eventually died. I received a new one in June so haven't seen it during the nice season yet, let's hope it is a true 'Tsuma gaki' and not a crappy 'Tsuma beni'. I had someone pick it up for me when they were passing a maple specialist nursery in East Anglia, and was surprised to see that the printed label indicated it was from a large commercial outfit in Boskoop (but not Esveld or Dick van der Maat). It had obviously been juiced on steroids and greenhouses in Holland before suffering a little burn and dieback at the English nursery. I repotted it and put it in a shady place and it seems to have settled down now, signs look good that it will survive the winter and I can enjoy 'Tsuma gaki' again next spring!
No. 2 looks great! They seem to be a bit finnicky. Maybe they do better with some rootstocks than others? I have often wondered if 'Tsuma gaki' is not a "pure" A. amoenum but rather an exotic hybrid or even a mainland Asian species that was imported into Japan back in the day?