I have all of these and I'm just starting to wonder if I have correctly named cultivars or even named cultivars at all. They are all home depot trees so I'm not real sure how dependable the labels are but I'd like to think they are real cultivars and not just seedlings with a named cultivar tag slapped on them. I was able to find graft scars on most of them so that's a good sign. This all started because I was going to pick up another large Bloodgood because the prices on these 10-12 foot trees are impossible to beat at 50% off($70) but while trying to pick one I notice the many inconsistancys with the same named cultivars. The easiest thing to pick out is bark color. Most are a dark purple and a few are green. So I checked my trees at home. Mine all have purple bark. Now the new trees I'm looking at were all mixed, some bloodgoods had purple bark and some had green bark and the same with the other cultivars. 90% of them had purple bark. Is there any consistancy to these cultivars and what color bark they should have? It doesn't really matter to me that much because I'm happy with how my trees look whatever the cultivar but I just found it interesting. I'm going to get one with green bark just because none of mine have it but I would be interested to know if each cultivar should have a specific color or if it can change depending on environment/amount of sun. If it is specific, which color bark should each cultivar have?
Hmm,I'm surprised no-one has answered this...then again perhaps I'm not.I must say I was shocked to see how many people on the Bloodgood page have been sold the wrong tree,clearly evident by wrong foliage shape.Of this group I'd say Bloodgood is easiest to spot because of this,though there's no saying there aren't many seedlings with that characteristic amoneum leaf.So perhaps you'd get various answers from different people, but which is correct? I can only give my views on Bloodgood as it's the only one mentioned I have(assuming mine's correct ha) I bought three 6footers and a Suminagashi about 3years ago.All were nearly bare as late in the season 'bargains' but the Suminagashi stood apart because of it's green trunk,the others having brown.Looking at them now the Suminagashi remains green as expected,but the Bloodgoods have now turned more green than brown.However in the canopy all younger growth and many branches are still brown.So my guess is that age/environment etc. affects the colouration and so is not a definate way of differentiating these cultivars.Obviously certain cultivars are well known for having certain coloured bark but I'm not so sure about all these 'similar' red cultivars.Hopefully others with bigger collections can shed some light,assuming they've got the right trees Lol......but to be honest I'd have difficulty seperating Fireglow and suchlike from many red seedlings I've had without first hand experience of the right plant.Be intersting to see what others think.
Thanks for responding. I was starting to think no one had any interest in this. I think the bark color can give two different cultivars with almost identical leaves a nice different look from each other. I'm starting to really like the contrast of the red leaves on the green bark but maybe that's just because I don't have it and need an excuse to buy another lol. I was back looking at them again today and didn't pull the trigger yet but I've decided on which one I want. While browsing them I did notice most of the plants marked bloodgood had green bark compared to most of the emperor ones having purple. After doing a little research I can confirm you are correct that the bloodgood should have a greenish color bark. So that means the plant I have now that was marked bloodgood probably isn't bloodgood after all. Just one more reason to buy that one I've got my eye on. :-) It most likely isn't a true bloodgood but it's closer than the one I have now. Anyone want to fill us in on what color bark the other cultivars mentioned should have?
Not necessarily,as I said they started out with brown bark and I believe younger Bloodgoods usually have brown...but don't let that stop you getting a contrasting bark type :)
