Where can i purchase Mikawa yatsubusa seeds? i have searched the net and cant seem to find anywhere that sales Mikawa yatsubusa.
JS do you want the seeds for a special purpose or are you interested in growing the particular plant 'Mikawa yatsubusa'?
Locating seeds, germinating them and watching it grow is a good learning experience but the plant you end up with may be more generic Japanese maple than the 'Mikawa yatsubusa' you're interested in. If you want a cultivar like MY it must be produced asexually so that it's characteristics are not diluted by another tree. That is why the cultivars are grafted. You can get one easily on ebay for about 10-12$ + shippng.
How safe is ebay in giving you the properly named tree so that when you start grafting you know through certification that it is the real tree that you want? Just a thought. Also, grafting takes some time and skill and you need to have a green Japanese Maple tree for the stock plant to graft the MY cuttings to.
Yes, by all means use a reputable dealer to obtain your A.p. 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'. There are a number of them out there with very reasonable rates and fine reputations. I assume you're on the West Coast? If so, I would suggest: EastFork Nursery Greer Gardens Mendocino Maples Essence of the Tree ForestFarm Wildwood Maples
I have noticed that Topiary Gardens now list seed as available on there website. You may want to contact Diana and see if she has them available. The information from PTB above is correct in that you will not get another MY by growing seed from a MY parent plant. With that said you can get some very interesting seedlings. The pictures below are of a seedling from one of the MY that I have in my collection. The seedling has very close internodes and I am waiting to see how it will behave in year three. Good luck in your search for seed or a grafted cultivar. It is a great cultivar. Ed
Wow Ed, Very impressive seedlings. It will be very exciting to see them develop. Were the samaras from MY very tiny? Do you notice that smaller samaras are less viable than larger ones? Thanks Gil
Gil, The samaras were small but not as small as other I have collected. There was seed on this tree for two years then none this year at all. I have worked with small seed from Lima Gold and Higasayama and they germinate very easly for me. Ed
Nice seedlings! What is your method of growing from seed? Do you stratify them in the fridge and put directly in the pots or do you use a baggy method to see the first germination?