Acer palmatum 'Ichigyoji' - Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, accession 1966. Photographs: first two August 24, 2001; October 15, 2002; last three October 15, 2005.
Japanese Maple List, 1882. Tree gets sun till late afternoon. "Japanese writers wisely suggest planting 'Ichigyoji' and 'Osakazuki' near each other and on a rise or hillside, or near a pond, to allow the full glory of the Fall brilliance to be appreciated.", from Vertrees 2nd edition. Pic 1- Oct.7/07, pic 2 - Oct. 12/07.
Acer palmatum "Ichigyoji". A couple of pictures from S Wales U.K.,taken 5 May 07 and 29 Oct 07. Coloured rather nicely this autumn/fall!
I am currently taken with the idea of a Harvest Orange, Ichigyoji, and Osakazuki combination. As I understand it, they all three have the same leaf shape because Harvest Orange is a sport of Osakazuki. I think this must be a brand new cultivar because I've only seen it offered online at wholesale nurseries and at one local retail nursery. Here is my concern: does Ichigyoji really color yellow in the fall? Looking at pics on this forum I'm seeing oranges. I had one snappy nursery horticulturist tell me, "then they don't have Ichigyoji" when I tried to ask him about it. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of adding the orange cultivar to the triad, whether it be Hogyoku or Harvest Orange? So, does anyone out there have an Ichigyoji that reliably colors yellow and yellow only in the fall? If so, what is the originating nursery?
According to Vertrees 3rd edition Ichigyoji "is an intense brilliant yellow or yellow-orange...." According to Maples of the World, "it is orange-yellow... probably deserves more attention, but better-known cultivars such as 'Heptalobum or 'Hogyoku' fulfill the same functions in a garden." So, I repeat, does anyone out there have one that is consistently yellow, or even mostly yellow? If so, in what growing conditions do you have your JM?
My 'Ichigyoji' is just barely turning (and will most likely get frozen tonight), but what is showing is mostly orange. If you really want a yellow cultivar, may I suggest 'Aocha nishiki'? Semi-dwarf to 9ft. Bright green stems, bright green leaves with very subtle lime and yellow "FU" variegation, and a reliable yellow-gold for fall.
I LOVE it. I literally just gasped and then oohed and awed out loud. That's what I want. I even love the leaf shape. It's perfect. I now need to learn everything about this cultivar. You must post these pics in the photo gallery under 'Aocha nishiki' so others may gasp and admire.
What about timing? I know you have a billion JM's K4, so you must have an Osakazuki as well as the Aocha nishiki. Do they color at the same tiime? Also a consideration is that Osakazuki is referenced as potentiall 36 feet. So next to 9 feet... I don't know. I do plan on planting the yellow uphill of the Osakazuki, but I don't know that I can compensate that much! Hmm. Osakazuki Rubrum supposedly only gets to 24' and leafs out pink. Closer. And Osakazuki Akame suposedly "Height 12-20 feet—width 10-20 feet" and "will retain the blush look to the leaves throughout the growing season." But what I really wanted was Osakazuki Aureum which leafs out yellow. But it gets to 36'. I guess I could always keep it trimmed short, really encourage lateral growth. I'll need to keep whatever I put there under 20' anyway to protect the view.
Timing is perfect. My 'Aocha' is at its peak, and my 'Osakazuki' is also at its peak. I don't think the height should be an issue. It should look quite natural to have a taller tree with a shorter one at its feet. Happens all the time in nature. K4
Two large specimens at Morris Arboretum. @maf , they are almost identical to ‘Osakazuki’. The samaras are the only major difference I could see at this time of year. ‘Ichigyoji’ A
I realized that it is not obvious from the pictures (because it was windy when I was talking them), what I meant about the difference in the samaras between ‘Ichigyoji’ and ‘Osakazuki’. On ‘Ichigyoji’ the vast majority of the samaras had an angle formed by the outer edges of the wings that is closer to 180 degrees. For ‘Osakazuki’, that angle was closer to 90 degrees.
