Hiya, I finally got a third edition copy of the Vertrees bible and noticed a JM cultivar named 'Mary Catherine' (see Appendix C: Cultivars Not Yet Assessed). Has anyone got any experience/information about this cultivar? I would love nothing more than to get my hands on one to give to my grandmother Mary Catherine, for whom I am also named. :) So, actually I'd need 2. If you have ever heard or seen it (it is supposedly a dwarf red), please do respond. Any little bit of information helps! Thanks yall!
Well you probably tried this but googling acer palmatum mary catherine brings up a stanley and sons nursery link is dead but this one works: http://www.stanleyandsons.com/index.cfm Maybe a call there might help (says its a wholesale nursery though)
Hi Paxi, Yes - you are exactly right... After I noticed the cultivar name in the Vertrees book, I did an Internet search and saw the same link. I was thrilled to see it and wrote an e-mail to Stanley and Sons immediately. They did respond promptly, but only to tell me that they "don't carry that variety". I was tempted to send them the link, but I didn't. Thank you for taking the time to help me search though. I appreciate it!
Stanley and Sons do apparently sell to retail customers but not always enthusiastically, and so they may have been offputting on purpose to a query about a single plant. Personally, I would mention the link and explain your query as you have done here, or try by phone which sometimes connects better than email. Alternatively, ask them for the name of a local nursery that orders from them, and place the order through the nursery. Or, don't go back to Stanley but start with asking a nursery (probably a big one, or one that deals in specialty material) to get it for you.
Well take this for what its worth, but you can dig up a few more hits if you search with "Mary Katherine acer palmatum" This brought up this lead: http://www.lgyp.com/brochure.asp?c=434012&mode=plants
I was given an A.P. 'Mary Catherine' buy a friend that collects scion wood in my garden. I am not that familiar with this cultivar as far as the growth habits go. I have had this for three years and it came as a one gal. plant. I have attached photos below. I am meeting with the person that provided me with this plant this weekend and will ask him for more details. Ed
that is a very nice little tree. Seems like a bushy little vigorous grower! May I ask how you made those wonderful signs?
NJACER - THANK YOU! I am so happy to know that 'Mary Catherine' is out there - and to know what she looks like! If you think of it, please do ask your friend where he/she came by this cultivar. I would be so grateful. I am just desperate to have a couple. Thanks again!
Hi Y'all, Well, it has been almost a year since my search for 'Mary Catherine' began and, unfortunately, I still can't find her. I thought I would refresh the topic and cross my fingers for new leads. THANK YOU!
Ed, Great pictures. The bushiness and whis4ey's comment about it looking like 'Shaina" made me zoom your photos and I see a very occasional shortened middle lobe. Is 'Mary C/Katharine' a witches broom?
Hey y'all, I sent e-mails to every maple nursery I could think of and Jay at Rare Find Nursery generously sent me the following information: 'Mary Catherine' is a dwarf red Japanese maple that was discovered as a slower growing mutation on a maple called 'Shaina'. The nurseryman who found it named it after his daughter. A mature plant would be less than two feet high and maybe three across. We don't have any in stock right now but may have it available in the fall of 2009. Maybe we can encourage Jay to stock 'Mary Catherine' if we let him know there is a demand. If you would be interested in a 'Mary Catherine', maybe let Jay know. He can be reached via his website at www.RareFindNursery.com.
UPDATE A friend in the know e-mailed me about Miss 'Mary Catherine': It originated at a now out of business nursery called John Benkie and Sons Nursery in Deerfield, NJ. It was named after the owners daughter... By the way, it is a dwarf red cultivar, but not a broom off of Shaina, as one nursery incorrectly described it in the past. This maple enthusiast also told me that he does have one stock plant at his nursery, but has not propagated it in several years. He does not have any 'MC' available right now. Apparently, I am not the only one to inquire about 'Mary Catherine' and he said he is likely to propagate some this year. YAY! I don't feel right posting this friends name, as he is an involved member of this forum. Perhaps he will see this post and choose to respond with his contact information so that all of us jonesing for 'MC' might get on some sort of waiting list. If not, maybe we forum members that want a 'MC' can just post here in this thread so there will be a contact list, of sorts, for those that propagate this cultivar in the future. On a more general (and markedly sappier) topic, after e-mailing a scrillion nurseries and collectors for information about 'Mary Catherine', I want y'all to know I received a scrillion responses - even from those who had never heard of the cultivar! I am thrilled and grateful for all the generosity that maple lovers seem to share with others with the same passion. It is truly heartening and refreshing in a world that is all to often, harsh and unconcerned. It just made me feel really good, and proud, to be a part of this group of maple people. :) So, love and thanks to all my fellow maple nuts - you all deserve big hugs and pats on the back!
Yeah -- what a fun group of people / phenomenon / activity to be a part of. I've also found these forums to be full of supportive and knowledgeable people! Fantastic. And, just because I am excited and have to tell SOMEBODY it, I ordered a Hogyoku and an Acer Shirasawanum "Moonrise" yesterday. I can hardly wait.... Tom
I have grown a plant under the name 'Mary Catherine' for ten years or so, and it seems to correspond to the descriptions, so I suspect it's correctly named (although I'm not sure whether it's Catherine or Katherine--my plant label is the former). It has all the characteristics, good and bad, that I associate with red-leaved witches' brooms--slow congested growth, tight habit, shortened center lobe on some leaves, and a tendency for some twigs to die back for no apparent reason. If I recall correctly, I originally got it from a bonsai place on Cape Cod that no longer exists. The owner was from, I think, Philadelphia, and his family there was in the nursery trade, so maybe he knew the Benkie place. I'm in zone 6 here, in a sheltered spot in Ithaca, NY. I grew it outside for five or six years, so it's at least borderline hardy. But I seem to remember that outside, there was widespread but not serious tip damage every year--by that I mean, lots of branch tips died back an inch or two, but I never had more serious damage. It made a nice red ball in the garden; it's now about 18" tall and 30" wide. Anyway, thinking the tip damage was due to cold, I dug it up a few years ago and stuck it in a pot, and that's where it has grown ever since. I bring most of my potted maples in in the winter, but (again, this is all from memory, so I could be wrong on some particulars) even though it no longer spends the winter in severe cold, I think I'm still getting tip dieback. And so I wonder--maybe this is witches' broom dieback such as I've seen before, and not a result of cold. Or maybe under ideal culture it wouldn't die back. In the garden, I grew it in 3/4 sun with no supplemental water. Growth is slow, an inch or two a year in all directions. And over the last two years, I have for the first time lost a significant branch, and the gap is taking a long time to fill in. But I think it's a pretty good plant. With it's proclivity for dieback, though, it's probably not a good prospect for bonsai. The leaves are individually rather delicate--five-lobed, lobes narrow and finely toothed, divided almost to the petiole, 1 1/2" - 2" wide and long. It's funny, but the growth is so congested I never really noticed the individual leaves before--pretty nice. It's a good red, too--my wife the painter struggled to name the color, but came up with "pale wine, with a touch of salmony orange," which seems about right, although it may be hard to visualize. It may be rare because it must be a pain to graft--scions of the current year would be just an inch or two long, so you might have to resort to 2-year-old or older wood. So, Spookie Jenkins--I have the tree, and if you can find someone to graft it, I'll try to send scions. After all this work, you deserve it!
Daniel, you dear, sweet man! Thank you most sincerely for your offer of scion wood. (I am sure all the industry folks I have repeatedly pestered about 'Mary Catherine' thank you too!) I wouldn't dare attempt something as artful and challenging as grafting though, so perhaps another dear, sweet soul in this forum will volunteer their skill in this particular regard. Any takers? Anyway... Daniel, thank you again for the offer and thank you as well - for sharing your personal experience with this cultivar. It will prove very helpful to me (assuming I ever get my paws on one!) and anyone else growing this cultivar. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
spookiejenkins, I have had Diana Smith for Topiary gardens graft scions for me before for a very nominal rate. I am not sure if you have dealt with her before. xman
Topiery Gardens are really very pleasant, and Diana is a very nice person, or I do know someone who may be interested for a scion as well. I can not post their name, as this would be wrong without their permission if you wish me to ask, and go from there. P
