Acer palmatum 'Omure yama'

Here is Acer palmatum 'Omure yama', a good cultivar that will grow well in full sun and can tolerate the heat and humidity of the Southeastern U.S.. This cultivar is noted for it's upright, weeping form. Like a Weeping Willow tree. I obtained this as a small, 1 gallon plant from Harold Johnston of Tallassee, AL. in 96'. I wanted something unusual and he suggested 'Omure yama'. I planted it into the landscape around 99'. I first noticed it starting to weep in the summer of 2002 but it still has a lot of growing to do before it shows it's full weeping potential. It seems a little slow but they say a watched pot never boils. I have seen a few planted at other nurseries and they were not staked. The resulting plants did not have the form that I am seeking out. They were a little bushy. I want a strong central leader and a full weeping crown. I therefore stake mine. It is also noted for it's crimson/gold fall color. I don't think this cultivar does as well as some others in a container so I have plans of lining my grafts of this out in the field and maintaining a stake for as long as it takes to develop a weeping form with a strong central leader. The pictures are dated, from left to right, September 2001, May 2002 and April 2003.

 

That tree is coming along very well Ellmore
My Omoruyama died on me last year for no apparent reason. I cut it off just above the graft and left the root in the ground. Lo and behold I have four new shoots. They are growing from above the graft point so I am hoping they will be Omoruyama. I have staked them to encourage them as four 'leaders' and wait to see what will happen. After all, I have nothing to lose

 

Mine is much smaller and has two trunks, which I've also staked. Looking forward to seeing its glory 10 years from now!

 

Acer palmatum 'Omure yama' - Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, accessions 1940. Their glorious color and weeping form are in the Woodland Garden.

 

Omureyama with Aka shigatatsu sawa in the foreground (Elegans is out of view in background) The contrast in spring foliage is striking!

 

This is such a gorgeous and elegant cultivar, especially in the spring and fall. Unlike the photo in Vertrees, my Omure Yama wants to so sideways more than upwards (even with assistance probably provided in Vertrees' photo). This photo was taken October 18, 2006.

 

Wada {1938}. Usually reliable glowing fall colour. Pic #1 Sept. 26/07 , Pic #2 Oct.8/07 .

 

I am thinking about putting my 2-yr old potted Omureyama in the landscape next spring.
I intend to put it in a full sun location. Don't know whether it can withstand the summer heat in philadelphia suburb. Does anyone have any experience growing this cultivar in full sun? I'd like some feed back.

My tree is about 3 foot tall and staked.

 

Hi,

My main Omure yama is in one of the hottest places in my garden (109˚ last summer), and while it's not exposed to direct sunlight all day long, it does get around 6 hours per day. It's never shown leaf burn, which I find amazing, and it's tolerated intense sunlight and heat very well. Mine does get an ample amount of water during the summer, however, which probably helps. Good luck. It's a gorgeous plant.

Mapledia

 

Heres a couple pics of 'Omure yama' in a small Western Washington public
garden. Beautifull

Enjoy
Cirque

 

Ooooh. Pretty. Want one.

Now that cultivar just migrated from the short list to the short-short list. Wow. Thanks for posting.

 

yes cirque, thanks for posting. That second pic shows (at least IMHO) nice pruning. the internal structure of the tree is on display.

 

I found it interesting that this year, our Omure yama had more yellow to its fall color than orange. Still lovely, but not what we usually see.

 

How long did it take for your tree to start displaying the "weeping" effect? Mine is tiny, but displayed the whole palette from yellow to orange to red.

 

I am beginning to wonder whether or not there are two forms of Omureyama, because I have come across some that are almost pure yellow and gold and some that are bright orange and red. Even this tree is very inconsistent or there are a couple of strains out there. I have access to both, so I plan to research it a bit and will get back to you all.

 

Thanks Matt. Please let us know what you find. It there are two strains I want them both!! This is one of my absolute favorites! :-)

 

It is kind of a so so tree during the year since it has limp looking leaves but fall is great.

 

Have you ever figured this out? Do you think it could just be a sun exposure thing? I have a few trees that turn more reds and oranges in the fall if planted in full sun but if planted in the shade you get more yellows.

I'm trying to decide where to plant my Omureyama and I'd like to get the oranges for fall because I don't have many oranges in fall. I'm wondering if this means I'm limited to a sunny location which would be much harder to find on my property. Any input would be great!

 

I haven't come to a conclusion on this one. I believe you are correct about the sun exposure on this cultivar (as well as others); sun revealing more reds and shade more yellows.
Soil conditions and weather also contribute, so it is difficult to pin down.

I still have my suspicions about there being some mislabeling or strain issues with this one as well as many other old cultivars.

I would suggest giving it at least partial sun if you want good orange/red colors.

 

Very young tree, but it's already starting to show that weeping habit:

 

You have just reminded me to post mine. It will be here tomorrow morning. Yours looks like it has settled very well Xi. Are you going to raise the pot at all to allow for the cascading habit?

 

Oh lovely - please do post yours when it arrives, D, I'm looking forward to seeing it!

I think I want to see if I can train the two main branches upwards so it has more room to cascade - it's only about 25cm tall at the moment so I think getting some height would be helpful before letting it do its thing. There's always another little project when it comes to these guys, isn't there?

 

Definitely Xi. Train it up and let it cascade down over the coming years.

 

16th May 2021 and as promised yesterday, here is my Omureyama first thing this morning.

 

Those leave are lovely, aren't they D? How is yours for size/structure?