Hi my name is Steve and I have a problem Group speak "Hi Steve" Three years ago while building our home I met with a landscape designer. He had a plan for our home that included crepe myrtles and other shrubs and trees. Now at that time I had never grown anything besides the occasional mold on a cheese in the fridge, but I still asked "so what do these plants look like?". Well that's when it started. He told me I could go to a local nursery and see the plants. When I went to see the trees they really didn't do much for me and the landscapers services weren't exactly cheap. At the nursery I did come across these trees I did like called....Japanese Maples. 17 JMs, lots of holes dug, a three JMs killed off by a late frost, and three years of experience later. I am now an official Japanese Maple nut. I just wanted to share my story and a few pics of some of my favorites. Osakazuki Rubrum 14ft. Ukigumo 8-9 ft. Chitoseyama 8-9ft. P.S. I will also add some pics to the gallery, because I know that's a fantastic resource that has really helped.
ha ha steve. Great post! I too come to this hobby with little experience but this is what I love about JMs - I think they make me look like a better gardener than I am. Like the photos- ukigumo in particular. Please come to share your affliction often. The basis of my affliction can be blamed on two people: The first is named JD Vertrees. I like my maples in the front courtyard and ran across a book on Amazon that I thought would make a nice coffee table book. Big mistake :) The second man I blame is named Daniel Mosquin - he helped create a dangerous forum whereby fellow addicts can trade secrets and enable!
If you like the one with pink in the leaves, maybe you would like Tricolor beech too. Seen them? Have one? My preference are the red leafed Japanese maples. I'm not inclined to plant coral bark, but did get one with the house we just bought. Plus what's probably a 16 foot tall Bloodgood. Nothin' fancy - but healthy anyhow. Leaves look very good on yours.
Thanks all for the welcome. Alex, the Osakazuki I have was purchased at a local nursery. What struck me about the cultivar is the one I purchased has far more color then the one in the Vertrees book. I recently noticed that at Greer Garden they recently added two additional cultivar listings to Osakazuki, " Aureum and " Rubrum, which would answer why my Osakazuki appears so different then the traditional Osakazuki.
MM, Hi. My name is K4 and I'm a 'maple-a-holic'! LOL!! Loved your intro! Steve, you're just down the road from me - I'm in Dickson, TN. You may have gotten bitten by the bug, but I think I've got more of a problem than you right now. I'm fast approaching 90 cultivars! There is no cure for this one, I'm afraid! Hope you have a big yard... Regards, K4 P.S. Which nursery do you go to?
Wow, you said 90 with a nine and a zero. I do have a few acres to play with and that is part of the problem. I see a spot and then the wheels turn,"hmm, that would be a nice area for JMs". We had part of our back property hit by a tornado in February and that opened up a huge area to plant with great soil. Would love to see all your JMs. I go to a local nursery in Nashville, and have ordered quite a few from Greer Garden. I also suffer from no-patience-******, which is bad new with JMs. So I'm forced to only buy older cultivars which are slowly stealing from my daughter's college fund,lol.
Tornado damage - sounds like an opportunity! I have 22 acres, so space isn't a big worry up here. Just have to be able to water it. (I have LOTS of hoses!) I've bought a decent number or larger plants from Greers and other on-line vendors. Does get pricey, but its nice to have a larger plant to start with. Greers is definitely one of my favorites. I've also bought new grafts from a few vendors, and they are coming along nicely. But I do prefer the larger ones - I'm impatient too! A lot of my trees are still in pots. It's taking a while to beat back the woods, privet, poison ivy, and other delightful Tennessee flora and fauna to make a home for them all. Here's my current list (brace yourself). And yes, I MUST be crazy!! :-D ~~~ PALMATUMS ~~~ A. p. 'Aekan Ie's' A. p. 'Aka shigitatsu sawa' A. p. 'Akita yatsubusa' A. p. 'Aocha nishiki' A. p. 'Aoyagi' A. p. 'Ariadne' A. p. 'Baby Ghost' A. p.' Beni hoshi' A. p. 'Beni Maiko' A. p. 'Beni Shichihenge' A. p. 'Beni tsukasa' A. p. 'Beni ubi gohan' A. p. 'Bloodgood' A. p. 'bloodgood seedling' A. p. 'Chiba' A. p. 'Chishio improved' A. p. 'Chitseo yama' A. p. 'Coonora pygmy' A. p. 'Elmwood' A. p. 'First Ghost' A. p. 'Glowing Embers' A. p. 'Green Elf' A. p. 'Hogyoku' A. P. 'Ichigyoo ji' A. p. 'Iijima sunago' A. p. 'JJ' A. p. 'Kamagata' A. p. 'Kasagi yama' A. p. 'Katsura' A. p. 'Kogane sakae' A. p. 'Kokyo' A. p. 'Koshibori nishiki' A. p. 'Koto no ito' A. p. 'Lozita' A. p. 'Midori no teiboku' A. p. 'Mikawa yatsubusa' A. p. 'Mizuho beni' A. p. 'Murasaki kiyohime' A. p. 'Nishiki momiji' A. p. 'Ogon sarasa' A. p. 'Okushimo' A. p. 'Olsen's Frosted Strawberry' A. p. 'Omato' A. p. 'Orange Dream' A. p. 'Osakazuki' A. p. 'Otome zakura' A. p. 'Peaches and Cream' A. p. 'Ryuzu' A. p. 'Sangu Kaku' A. p. 'Saoshika' A. p. 'Sensu' A. p. 'Shaina' A. p. 'Sharp's Pygmy' A. p. 'Sherwood Elfin' A. p. 'Shigarami' A. p. 'Shigitatsu sawa' A. p. 'Shindeshojo' A. p. 'Shishio hime' A. p. 'Suminagashi' A. p. 'Taiyo nishiki' A. p. 'Tana' A. p. 'Tiny Tim' A. p. 'Tsukushigata' A. p. 'Tsuma gaki' A. p. 'Tsuri nishiki' A. p. 'Ukigumo' A. p. 'Umegae' A. p. 'Utsu Semi' A. p. 'Volubile' A. p. 'Watnog' A. p. 'Wou nishiki' A. p. 'Yezo Nishiki' A. p. 'Yama hime' ~~~ DISSECTUMS~~~ A. p. d. 'Brocade' A. p. d. 'Crimson Queen' A. p. d. 'Edgewood Golden' A. p. d. 'Filigree' A. p. d. 'Germaine's Gyration' A. p. d. 'Lemon Lime Lace' A. p. d. 'Orangeola' A. p. d. 'Seiryu' A. p. d. 'Shu shidare' A. p. d. 'Virdigris' A. p. d. 'Waterfall' ~~~ SHIRASAWANUMS ~~~ A. s. 'Autumn Moon' A. s. 'Full Moon' A. s. 'Junihitoe'
Thank You K4. You are my hero. Now due to your post I can convince my wife that we are obviously way behind in the JM curve. So when she asked 'how many more are we gonna get?", I can say well we only have 60+ to catch up to K4 in Dickson. Have you been growing most in pots or in the ground? I'm guessing you have a fair amount of shade to deal with our TN sun?
I do have a fair amount of shade, but I can easily make some sun with a chain saw! :-0 I have some in the ground, more in pots. All the smaller 1st year grafts are still in pots (many on their second or 3rd pot). I've got a few large (one VERY large) landscaping projects I'm finishing up before I plant some of the larger ones. These include stone walls, rock gardens, burying my power lines, installing irrigation lines, and a huge pond. Some of that won't be done for another year. Plus, I've found that it helps to acclimate the trees to TN by keeping them in the pot for a while. I always repot the trees when they come in. I have a great potting soil mix I use that has all kinds of organic goodies in it which gets them off to a great start. It has all the good soil bacteria in it, which will boost growth down the road. I also harvest 5 different kinds of mosses and 2 ground lichens from my woods and cover the soil in the pots with sheets of it. This introduces more (native) soil micorbes to the pot, it cools the soil, and its a great way to see if the pot needs watering. Moss goes dull the minute it starts to get dry. One other trick I'm learning is to pick what you think is a good spot for the tree, then plant the POT with the plant still in it up to the rim. This lets you see it as it will be when planted permanently, but also allows you to move it if the spot isn't right. So far this is turning out to be a good move. When things aren't under so much construction I'll be happy to give tours. :D Regards, K4
I beg your pardon? Did you say madness? did you say impatience? That´s what you call madness?? Ok, now you people try this: to live in the bottom of the world which is besides, located in the Third World, where nurseries doesn´t have JM or just the common Palmatum, an Atropurpureum and may be, and only may be one Viridis. But still, you has been inoculated with the JM virus and don´t have any chance to get it, even though you try to import because it is forbidden due Customer regulations!! So, the only way out is to get seeds. Then you buy the seeds over the web, they came and none of them sprout!!! So many times you fall, so many you stand up!!. Some nicely friend from this forum offers some seeds but he is in Ireland.Regular mail is not reliable here, so the seeds go first to Spain where they are picked up by a friend of mine who came for Christmas. Seeds arrived, went to the fridge and to wait for 90 days, as well as literature says.... And what happend? Nothing!!! Another fall, a KO one for me, but still I stand up again and at month 6 they start to sprout. My favourite is Osakazuky for its stunning scarlet Fall colour. I think this is why they call Rubrum and Aureum. Some Osakazukys has a yellow Fall colour. Of course I don´t have Osakazuky, but I do have some seeds that get from Spain, thanks to the kindness of a spanish girl I met in other forum. She sent me some seeds that start to sprout after 8 months in fridge. ( Note: is the only fridge at home and is full of baggies. I also have and annoying wife because of this). So friends, every time you feel disappointed because JM, just remember me!!!! Enjoy yours amazing JM collections and the chance you have to get them!!! Regards from Mar del Plata, Argentina
oh Kaita you have a good number of jm ,but why only jm? and not another, like Davidii ,Tegmentosum or Campestre? ciao alex
Alex, Ahhh. Patience, my friend, patience! I'm sure I will have all of these and more, but right now the obsession is on JMs. I just ordered my first Japonicums, and I believe a circinatum(?). The list will continue to grow. :-) I also have MANY other trees, including hybrids of American varieties like October Glory, Autum Flame, Red Sunset; plus wild versions of Black Maple, Red Maple, Sugar Maple, etc. Where I live, on my wooded acres, is in the intersection of two climate and ecological zones. These transition zones are very rich areas for wildlife and for plant life, and I have many, many species from each zone. For example, I have at least 13 Oak species, nearly as many Hickory species, plus all the other beautiful natives like Dogwood, wild Cherry, Serviceberry, Sasafrass, Ash, Elm, Sourwood, Black Gum, Sycamore, Redbud, Holly, Beech, Walnut, Ironwood, Persimmon, Tulip Poplar (enormous! some of mine are over 100ft. tall), Catalpa, Willow, Basswood, Snowbell, Hawthorn, Honeylocust, Sumac, Red Cedar, several different types of pines, ...well, you get the idea. This is a tree-lover's heaven! I will continue to make room for many more trees, but it will take a little time. Rome was not built in a day, as they say! Ciao, K4
Caferman, You are indeed in a difficult place! I would have to become a 'tree smuggler' and would probably wind up in a prison down there or something! Maybe you can break the mold and get a nursery going for maples in your country? There must be a way to import, if you go through the right channels. Maybe a special permit is needed? I know many universities have special permits so they can import and exchange plants from around the world. Perhaps a large university with a good horticulture program could help you? I wish you luck my friend. Argentina is a beautiful country, from what I have seen. Keep making it more beautiful! Regards, K4
Here we have a saying that says: "Difficult that the pig whistle". I´ll keep on and won´t give up. This is an extra challenge. Argentina is a great country but hard to understand. Maybe we aren´t happy but we are very entertained in the process!!!! Thanks for the concept of Argentina.Indeed it is a great country but so difficult to understand. Maybe we are not happy but we are very entertained un the process. You growers of huge collections, pick up seeds for this JM fighter! I´ll contact on SEP-OCT!!!! Regards and thanks a lot for sharing pictures, data and knowledge.
wow -90 does indeed buy membership into the maple madness club. How long did it take you to collect this many? I have 10 and this feels like a lot. "Master" plan is to get about 10/year until I reach about 100 or the garden gets full, whichever comes first. Cafernan - you're welcome to seeds I might get, but so far my little guys have not yet been that bountiful
Actually I just counted, and I'm up to 92! How long? Well, I started about 13 years ago with 1 tree, and then 8 years ago I got another (fever still hadn't hit), and then all the rest (OK, I told you I'm crazy) I bought this year. (GULP!) K4
92 in one year!?! Well at least I have something to show my wife when this months credit card bill comes :)
Oops! Actually thats 93 - I forgot I had them throw an A.p. 'Shishigashira' in on my last order.... K4
K4 I see a propagation house in your future. Now you're only about 250 away from the whole collection. As an interesting side note, when you do collect all of the known JM cultivars and have them in one place a giant JM sprouts from the ground ala Jack and the Beanstock,lol.
Hmmm. Propagation house?? Now don't get me obsessing about another project! As for the 'K4 and the Maple Sprout' story, as long as there's a happy ending I'm OK with that! :)
this forum is incredible beautiful!remember ,to all that is possible become a member of The Maple Society... Paxi and you? ciao amici
