There's a French forum about "Erables du Japon" ( @opusoculi who also posts here does a great job there ) I discovered a nursery that provides about 80 Acer palm.cultivars, the comments from members were very positive, the prices are very decent, so I ordered three : 'Beni Otome', 'Como' (not listed in the cultivars sub-forum here) and 'Okushimo'. Here's the link to 'Como' : https://www.lafeuillade.com/arbre-ornement/erable-du-japon?product_id=1120 'Como' is a reticulated palmatum, maybe it's listed under another name elsewhere, maybe one of the "ghost" series...
maybe one of the ghost series Pictures and descriptions of the Buchholz Japanese maple introductions are linked to here: Buchholz & Buchholz Wholesale Nursery | Buchholz Introductions Full (buchholznursery.com)
Thanks for the link Ron, Acer palmatum 'Como' is widely available here (EU) from what I found online, but I haven't found information on its parentage or origins so far. I suppose there are other cultivars from other sources with reticulated leaves. Anyway, we'll see what it looks like when I get it.
2010 ? I wasnt even born then ! ;0) Blague à part, thanks for the link. So 'Como' is not a 'Ghost', but was it born in the land of Oz ? ;°)
I've always known this as Reticulatum Como. It has been described as 'ghost like', but not a ghost as per Buckholtz series. I received my first one in October this year, so as yet cannot post a photo of the leaves, but will do once Spring is upon us. I believe it is an Australian named cultivar.
Yes, Vertrees lists 'Reticulatum Como' (an illegitimate name) as being Australian. I somehow think it predates the Ghost series, though I can't think of any proof.
The 'Beni otome' was out of stock, but I received the 'Como' and the 'Okushimo'. Very good value for money, in particular the 'Okushimo' which is very well ramified. I got them without the pots, in plastic bags, so I repotted them in pots I had at hand, larger than the original ones :
@AlainK is this what they're calling 4l size? Agree the Okushino looks good, prob 3 yrs. Not so sure about Como at the price. How're the roots? Still I think I'll give them a go, have been meaning to get a little 'Japanese Princess', 'Cripsii', a dissectum or so. Dwarfs for companion plantings! You think they can be trusted to deliver the real thing? I dislike seeing A. palmatum 'shirasawanum blahblah' :)
Yes, the size of the rootball fitted a 4L pot, or even maybe less. The roots were fine. I think so. This is my first order from them, but from what I've read on a French forum, people are very satisfied.
I just ordered theses: 'Kasagi Yama' 'Momoiro Koyasan' 'Pixie' It took me 2 weeks from the first contact by mail till today to get all the infos for the order. But otherwise the nursery owner (or the person that replied to me) seems to be honest and trustable. It seems that if you are not in France the web shop won't let you validate the basket. That's why I had to ask by mail and had to wait they calculate the shipping cost to my country. I will post pictures of the trees when I receive them. Btw, @AlainK thanks for sharing this nursery, I was able to order cultivars that i was looking for since long time and I couldn't find them at Maillot or anywhere on the european web. No Beni otome available for me aswell : (
La Feuillade has also been a good experience for me. I ordered 7 4l maples: 'Crimson Carol', "Crippsii', Flavescens', Wendy', Bewley's Red', 'Little Princess' and 'Stella Rossa' Crippsii, Flavescens and Wendy have been on the list for a long time, so after the recommendation, I figured: why not? The trees all had good roots and were very good value at the price, with well healed grafts. Only one was a very poor graft ('Stella Rossa') and the nursery very gracefully offered either credit or replacement with another variety. And apologized, which I very much appreciate. It is a delight to do business with an honest nursery that doesn't BS about "it will be fine" etc. I have asked them to send 'Komachi hime' as a replacement. (The 'Stella Rossa' may live or no, but will certainly struggle for some years.) I think these grafts came from Holland originally, from looking at the rootstock, and some were buried a bit deep, right from the grafting stage. In one case, 'Flavescens', the tree had put out a root way above the original root crown. Now, I could have cut it off -- without risk to the tree, you can see the rest of the root is healthy -- but why not make it an opportunity? For a little while I will recreate the "Pont d'Arc" in the Ardeche!
@Shin-Deshojo very nice trees you have on order, I can say that as I have them also. You will not be disappointed. Bet you can't wait.
@emery, well that's a treat, but as you say 'why not'. I've only seen pictures of Crimson Carol from @Cjart. The heavily serrated elongated deep red lobes against the green bark is a wonderful contrast. Will look forward to seeing all your new babies on the forum this year.
@Acerholic Yeah, I can't wait to see them at home and wake up in a month. I am looking forward to see pictures of yours this season. Now, like a few of us here, I am still hunting the so desired "japanese princess" cultivar... Maybe we should all make an importation request from Dick van der maat or Guy maillot.
Good morning, that is one cultivar I would find room for in my ever shrinking garden. It is a beautiful tree. Regarding photos, I think we are all looking forward to sharing all our leaves from all over the world. Not long now !!!
@Shin-Deshojo Not sure where you are precisely, but maybe it wouldn't be too far to visit Benoit Choteau in Binche. (Pepinières CECE) He may have Japanese Princess or be willing to graft it for you, and his plants are unsurpassed in quality. No mail order though, unfortunately. It's too late for this year unless he's already grafted some, his catalogue isn't very up to date typically. He does his own grafting.
Wow, thanks for thoses precious infos, if he happens to have it I'll definitely visit him. It is at 2 hours drive from my home but definitely worth the travel if I can get that cultivar. I will try to contact him first. If anyone from UK or elsewhere in europe wants one I will update this thread if there are some available and I could eventually ship them.
Whether he has Japanese Princesse or not, I would certainly visit him in your case. Really the best and a joy to visit, he has a lot of display trees that you can walk through, and of course buy, at very good prices. He controls the entire process from understock on. There really is no better quality anywhere.
Indeed, his nursery deserves a visit, he got a nice variety of trees that looks very healthy. I will definitly visit him in the future. Thank you for sharing those pictures. Btw, I don't know if this German nursery already got mentioned in the forums, they do not have so many cultivars available but certainly some interesting ones with a large choice of mature specimens. I plan to maybe buy 2 or 3 aged maples in a few months and I think I may find them there. Baumschule Nielsen für japanischer Ahorn und Rhododendron Sorry for off topic.
Any good maple nusery is always useful on the forum. A @sun has reccomended a very good German nursery she visited and bought from. Perhaps you could start a thread entitled 'German maple nurseries' or something similar. Just a thought....
Sure, it could be a good idea, but I live in belgium and I don't speak German so it is the only one I found so far. I can talk about Belgian ones but there are not many and as you can see I didn't't even heard about the one that Emery suggested me. But I do know a small familial one near my town that do not ship but that is worth a visit if you are in belgium, they specialize in maples and rare trees including many conifers that you cannot find in traditional nurseries. The married owners that created the nursery in their garden with a very big pond are very smart and passionated.
Would be great to start a Belgian nursery thread. The more the merrier. People are always coming onto the forum just to browse and any information and recommendations about Maples is always appreciated.
