Golden fullmoon maple

This maple has really caught my eye recently, I'd like to get one.

Just a question about placement here in S.W. British Columbia. Will the yellow foliage always need some protection from full sun?

I haven't actually seen any in landscapes to get a feel for their preferences...the only plants I've found are at Cedar Rim...and they are quite noticeably blemished from the recent heat wave.

Also, why aren't these trees stocked at all nurseries, is there something negative I haven't heard about? Esp. leafing out in spring, they are strikingly eyecatching...

Glen

 

Hi Glen,

First try searching this and other online forums for Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'. This is the tree most typically sold as the fullmoon maple you are talking about. That will give you better results as far as opinion and comment.

This maple will need protection from the hot or direct sun and wind after late spring or as summer approaches. I was recently told by Robert from MendocinoMaples that with some of the lighter colored shirasawanums and japonicums that if we can get them good sun in the spring, we will see better color overall. With this approach, we would have to be growing and moving a potted specimen.

For a tree in the ground, it would depend on exposure and intensity. The most rewarding color will be protected from the intensity of direct sun, but not shaded. If we put the tree in a western or soutwestern exposure, then we will need to shade it by noon. If we can get the opposit exposure, we can give the tree more sun. It is one of the more delicate shriasawanums and will burn or scorch. I am not sure of the light intensity etc. in your area, but consider this a tender cultivar and compare it to other plants with a low tolerance for sun in your area.

If you look at this thread:
http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6393

You will see the Aureum I still have in full western exposure. It is potted, but has pretty much reached its max tolerance. In a few weeks, when the temps reach the 80's regularly and the light intensity increases, this tree will be toast if I don't move it. What the location is showing is how we can stress this tree to bring up some of the orange coloration that you will not see in the shade.

What I would do with it is put it in a good sized pot and either insulate it inside another pot or dig the pot into the ground and try a few locations.

As not to ramble too much more, if you read the rest of the threads on this tree, you will find that it has a reputation for being fussy and hard to grow. Often "dirty" and suseptible to dieback and decline or sudden death. I am on my second one, and I lose a small branch or two yearly, but I have also had as much a 8" of growth this year. Some people I know have lost more than one of this cultivar, and some will not try to grow it anymore. I almost always suggest looking at a group of these and picking the healthiest one if possible and to buy a 3-5gal specimen if you can afford it.

Enough for now.
MJH

 

Glen, this Maple was laden with Verticillium for years.
So much so that Don Kleim of Henderson Experimental
Gardens refused to grow this Maple. Maple Wood nursery
in Placerville, California, was able to graft this Maple onto
selected japonicum rootstock and cleaned this Maple up
enough so that many of those plants were introduced
and reintroduced back into Oregon to various nurseries.
I believe William Goddard also was working with this
Maple at the same time as Maple Wood to clean it up.
I know what happened here much better than I do what
was going on in British Columbia then. Even then Don
would only have one plant in his nursery and it was in
his Maple collection just to say he had one.

Don's original plants came out of Japan in the mid 60's
and in a few years time they were gone. That happened
to a number of people here in California as the leading
wholesale nurseries in Maples also refused to grow it
until they got some plants from Maple Wood. As more
of this Maple came in from Europe (Holland, van
Gelderen I was told) rather than from Japan the number
of plants dying out due to quick decline lessened
considerably but we still saw evidence of Verticillium
later with die back to large portions of some trees but
it would not kill them. Whole 5-6' branches would wilt
and die whereas the other branches were fine until the
next year in some cases in Oregon.

Now we can see scions of this Maple grafted onto
circinatum for cooler climates and on japonicum
still for warmer climates. I had one come in last
year, the first time I've ever owned this Maple. I
feel that for a warmer climate this Maple still has
to be protected from direct, hot afternoon sun
depending on where we are located. I've seen this
Maple burn a little in Eugene, Oregon, yet looked
like a million bucks in Boring, Oregon, on the same
day. Both only had some late afternoon protection.

One of our problems with this Maple here is that we
will see salt burn on the leaves when we fertilize with
the wrong content fertilizer. If we use an acid food
instead and in half strength amounts the Maples do
not burn nearly as much or as often for us here and
in parts of Oregon as well. Here we would have to
grow this one with morning sun and afternoon shade
in the early afternoon. We may see the golden colors
in the Spring but we will not see the nice Fall colors
that you will see.

For you, as long as you give this Maple ample water
during the growing season (you will know when it
needs water as the leaves will tell you right now if
you have any warm winds), do not over fertilize this
Maple, that you can give it as much sun as you want
with caution but I'd still want to give it some mid to
late afternoon protection. This Maple is still not clean.
If these plants are to die on us soon they will generally
do it within the first 5 years it seems now. It used to be
for a number of years that they would die out on us
while still in the greenhouse here. The old guard in
Maples loved the Maple when someone else had it but
hated trying to grow it on for themselves for many years.

Jim

 

Glen,

You might also be interested in this recent Botany Photo of the Day entry:

Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'

That plant is partially shaded most of the day, but receives the occasional direct light from the evening sun in the summer months.

 

Thanks to your help, I'll look over the available plants carefully before purchasing. Seemed like a lot to pay for the 5 gal. trees (I normally try to get small stuff and be patient and grow them on myself). In this case, I can see the false economy if that small tree struggles along forever.

I wish I knew where the few plants here came from, perhaps the folks at the one nursery I've seen them will give me a hint at their "history".

With the many capable maple growers in our valley here, it was hard to understand the scarcity of this variety. Makes much more sense hearing more of the story on them.

Glen

 

Hi Daniel:

Can you tell us or me through a private message the
sourcing (who the Maple came from and about when
this plant came to the Botanical Garden) of the Acer
shirasawanum 'Aureum', in reference to the Botany
Photo of the Day? Did the Maple come in as a
grafted plant or was it a cutting grown Maple?

Thanks,

Jim

 

That particular plant was received as a plant from Clay's Nursery in Langley, BC. However, even though it was accessioned in 1976, it was never identified until 1989 by the late Dr. Gerald Straley.