Howdy, from Texas! I want to begin by saying that I am interested in purchasing a couple of Japanese Maples, but am a little reluctant since it gets hot here in south TX. I would love to be able to plant a Sango Kaku (coral bark) maple in my front yard which faces NW. I have had great luck with Roses, and African Violets, which in my opinion would have been easier to kill than a tree. There is more room for mistakes with a plant grown in a small container. I should visit the Japanese Tea Gardens here to see which kinds of maples are on exhibit. I know that the nurseries here sell Bloodgood, Emporor 1 (forgive my spelling), and another red variety that I cannot recall, Waterfall, and Emerald Lace. I would imagine that they only sell varieties of maples that thrive in this type of alkaline soil, and warm climate. I wanted to place a small green dwarf maple at the right front corner of the house as an accent plant, and maybe some small shrubs with it. Ferns and hostas are out of the question as they seem to thrive in shade. The house has brown brick, a dark red front door, with tan trim. The maples would be for all to enjoy, for me to dream and create a small Japanese-theme front yard. (the back yard is next) Tee-hee! I plan on preparing the place where I would like to plant the maples adding Protekt, and pine bark chips, and a good potting soil with no fertilizer. I may need to add Texas green sand or a little gypsum. The only thing keeping me from going ahead with my dream, is location, location, location... Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hello EvilWoman, welcome to the Forums. (Your post seemed to be complete, so I moved it from the Test Bed to Introductions.) Funny how people in hot areas want to grow plants that like it cool and many of us in Vancouver and other cool areas want to grow tropicals. I know from reading the Forums that a lot of people do have success with Japonese maples in some very hot climates. You may wish to read through some of the old posts in the Maple Forum to see what others have grown. If you want to know about specific cultivars for San Antonio, you can ask about them in the Maple Forum. Happy planting,
Thanks for the reply, Eric! I really wanted to plant a 'Lipstick Palm' in my front yard so that I would be the envy of the neighborhood, but those beautiful palms only grow in tropical climates. I believe they originated somewhere near Thailand, and the palms will perish in temperatures that dip below 60 degrees for any given time. It gets a little to cool for them in southern Texas, so I will have to admire them by looking at pictures. I know how you must feel about not being able to grow something you love because the weather where you live is too cold for tropicals. Bringing the palm inside over the winter would not work because they grow quite tall. I will continue to research and find the perfect maple for my small front yard. I have some internet sites in mind for ordering a healthy specimen. By the way, this is a wonderful forum, and I really enjoy the pictures. One day I will be able to post and share mine. Forever...