With spring right around the corner it's time to get out and start seeing our gardens come to life. I have spent a lot of time this winter planning garden designs and plotting which maples I want to acquire this year. These are the trees I have purchased this year and have yet to receive: Shirasawanum Mr. Sun Ever Red Viridis Germain's Gyration Fireglow Asahi Zuru Hogyoku Goshiki Kotohime I also have Amber Ghost, Abigail Rose, and Ojishi I purchased late last year that have yet to be planted. What's on your list or what have you all already purchased this year?
I'd like to add an A. japonicum this year, I know that for sure, but I'm waiting to see if one my japonicum hybrid seedlings makes it through the cold. If it does, depending on its growth this year, I might just wait for it to mature. Other than that I'd like to add in a star-shaped upright green leaf. I was thinking it might be Saoshika, but then Ed Shinn posted photos of his A.p. 'Green Star' last fall, and it's stuck in my head. Mure hibare is another I've long wanted. All of this might be moot, however, since an entire bed of maples croaked late last summer, and because we're urban I got almost no response from our county extension office. When I asked the (all volunteer) staff there to send my branch samples into the state capitol for testing, they lectured me on watering and suggested I check out a website for happy urban trees. Ugh. Side question... if there are perfectly happy mature maples (one sugar maple, one Amur maple) within 30-40 feet of a spot where three Japanese maples died, then it's unlikely it was Verticillium wilt, correct? Otherwise I'll be looking at non-maple, non-magnolia varieties for that spot. :(
Not actually intending to seek anything out this year,though I often have impulse buys if I happen accross them. Just picked up 3L 'Inaba Shidare','Orangeola','Beni Kagami' & a 'Phoenix'(as a replacement for a death)purely because they were in an 'earlybird' sale at a tenner each....probably wouldn't have bought them otherwise. Having said that I've always fancied that 'Mr Sun' but haven't seen it over here yet :)
Mr. Sun is fairly hard to find and most of them are very small. I did find a 3G and it was fairly expensive but it was on my must have list.
Good find.I think only Junkers has it over here(maybe)but I'm not gonna order one in...I'll wait patiently 'til I see one(said that before) There's not many maples around different enough to inspire me to add presently but that one does stand out.Hope to see yours come spring :)
Here is the list of Acer palmatum cultivars I have on order for this spring: Ukigumo Aratama Ariadne Ornatum
Some really nice cultivars in your list. Ukigumo is the only one of those I currently have. Mine is very small but they become quite stunning as they grow.
Thanks! How much sun does your Ukigumo get? I'm thinking of planting mine in a spot with some early morning sun and with shade from a large magnolia most of the day.
It doesn't get a lot of sun. Dappled in the morning and not much at all in the afternoon. More shade is supposed to offer better color from what I understand. I'm not sure if the white leaves will show up more with age but so far it has produced green leaves with lighter colored spots. Some of the trees I've seen online show most of the tree being very white.
We moved from Kansas to northern Alabama mid-January, and while I brought the bulk of my plants along, there were several I either left behind or sold prior to moving. Some I definitely want to replace, others I'm on the fence about, but either way I have nearly an acre of pretty much blank canvas to work with at our new place. Daunting, challenging and exciting. A few on the way later this spring are Green Tea, Filigree, Kurenai jishi, Shinju (a small one, I had to leave mine behind, too big to move at 8ft tall and nearly as wide), Ariadne, Anne Irene, and Abby's Weeping. Some conifers on the way too - Catherine Elizabeth, Fukuzumi, Hamlet's Broom - and I have already scouted out some of the local nurseries, picking up two very nice Black Dragon (large 3g for only $25 each), and Hillside Winter Gold. I also picked up the cutest little dwarf holly, Scallywag, the first week we were here at the nursery just down the street from our place.
I was one of the lucky recipients of some of Andrea's trees before she moved. So I am really excited to see how they look this spring: Nuresagi Radiant Summer Gold Momoiro koyasan Kawaii Lilleanne's Jewel Late in the fall, I received these trees: Yama hime Emmitt's Pumpkin Samidare Kevin in KC
This was a nice surprise for me yesterday. A 45 gallon Beni Shichihenge that was priced near the 15 gallon trees. It also carries a lifetime money back guarantee if it ever dies. It will be about 9'-10' tall in the ground.
Sweet find indeed!! Do try to get that puppy out of the pot and roots detangled and trimmed before it breaks leaf. I've found that trees that size are often terribly rootbound :-( Keep us posted with pics! Kevin in KC
Sounds like some great maples on the horizon! Kevin, you will love Emmet's Pumpkin. The fall colours are really a super pumpkin orange. I'm not huge on many new cultivars but this one certainly merits a name. I've got a few new JMs in, mostly replacements for ones I've killed and haven't found easily: Okagami -- was one of my favs, oddly difficult to find here Pixie Red Pygmy Arakawa Eddisbury And also shirasawanum 'Moonrise' Demi-sec Additionally a very good samaritan (who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons, but many thanks!) gave me a few young grafts to bring back into the country: Hana Matoi Noel sieboldianum 'Kumoi nishiki' sieboldianum 'Shoryu no tsume' japonicum 'Blushing Beauty' (eval) I have a new nipponicum just rec'd and will probably snatch a few other species as availability permits. Really looking forward to seeing A. fansipanense as it leafs out. -E
Not a lot of experience with most of your new cultivars but I do have a small Red Pygmy (which most of the time is anything but red LOL). It is a cool tree. I also have a Moonrise but no pics because it was pretty rough when I got it last year. Looking forward to seeing it after a winter of root growth. A nice list you have for sure.
Emery, if Emmett's Pumpkin is as orange as you say, I may have to look into that one. What are spring/summer colors typically? As for your donations from the good samaritan, I'm SO jealous of that japonicum :) I've seen pictures of the parent tree, and it's lovely; definitely a worthy introduction if the grafts keep the same characteristics. I've volunteered to evaluate it here (in the southeast), but he hasn't yet taken me up on the offer, lol.
Andrea, Emmett's is really exceptional and well named. It has the usual japonicum spring interest, summer is typical of the Vitifolium-type. I've become pretty suspicious of some of the new cultivars, but this one really deserved a name. Here are a couple of pics from last fall, I've since put it in the ground so fingers crossed! -E
Emery, I can only hope mine will be half as beautiful as yours come this fall after our summer heat!! Oddly enough, I just ordered a second Emmit's from the same seller on eBay (before reading your post, mind you!). Now I'm so glad that I did. His trees this time around looked so much nicer that late last fall. I can't wait for it to arrive next week! Looking around today, I see that Katsura is already starting to push! Now to keep those damn squirrels and birds from devouring all of those lush buds.... <sigh> I noticed that they'd already gotten to my Samidare and Nuresagi. #&@*^$% Thanks for showing off those beautiful pics! Kevin in KC
Wow that Emmit's Pumpkin is something else! I have a small Ilarian arriving today. I was unfamiliar with it and thought I would give it a place in the garden. It's a Orido Nishiki/Asahi Zuru type of foliage introduced by Talon Bucholz.
I'm guessing that 'Emmet's' will do pretty well in sun, I've planted it in a sunny spot. Of course there's a huge difference between Normandie sun and Missouri sun! Sorry to hear about the critters BTW, that's a constant battle here too. Well it's been a disappointing day on the maple front. I came across a place not too far away (in France) with some good prices and some interesting trees, so put an order in, which got here today: A. rubrum 'October Glory' 2 inches high, but decent at 6 bucks 2 x A. diabolicum -- these are pseudoplatanus. no chance they're diabolicum A. griseum -- it is A. triflorum, decent shape but I didn't need another. A. tegmentosum 'White Tigress' -- supposed to be grafted, it's not. Some sort of snakebark, maybe rufinerve. Not tegmentosum A. davidii ssp grosserii var hersii -- maybe true to type, can't tell A. davidii ssp grosserii 'Leiden' -- at least it's a graft! Maybe true. A x orientalia 'Minorient' -- a rooted cutting, but since it's a cappidocicum x it may be easy to root. Decent plant, can't evaluate until it leafs out. A. nipponicum -- looks OK. All in all nearly 1/2 the plants are definitely not true to type! :( We'll see what they do when I complain, but unlikely I order from them again.
That is disappointing! Is there an online gardening/supplier review where you can leave your experience for others to read? It might be helpful for future collectors. I know I've avoided a few good deals because of what was written on Dave's Garden reviews. Today, a full month before any reasonable person would take in spring-leafed plants (we're not past the threat of snow, though spring does seem to be here early this year), I got three in the mail-- a replacement Ariadne, a new Wilson's Pink Dwarf, and a new Sazanami. Now the challenge will be keeping them safe from the cats for the next month! I'm also waiting for two I ordered from Lucille at Whitman Farms, a Saoshika and an A. j. Maiku jaku. Spring!
Friday is Christmas in March for me. My entire internet over-winter order will be showing up. I should have about nine trees of various sizes coming on the same day so my wife will be thrilled I'm sure. :)
Congratulations, Bub. I bet you have a hard time sleeping tonight! I have one coming tomorrow, too--- a 2-gal. Kurabu Yama. Had never heard of it before, but the shape of the tree caught my eye. Sadly, winter is coming back tomorrow, too :-( Have fun unboxing! Kevin in KC
We were supposed to get some snow on Sunday but fortunately they have backed off the forecast and are now only calling for rain. I had six trees show up today and am really happy with all of them. The Goshiki Kotohime I received from Conifer Kingdom was beautiful for $40. It was sold as an "overgrown 1 gallon" and was quite mature for what I expected to get. I also receive a Hogyoku from them that is about 5' tall. It has yet to leaf out which I am excited about. Also picked up a large Asahi Zuru which is about 5' tall and 4' wide. The pink variegation in the bark is very beautiful. I have it potted up for now until I decide where it will best fit in the landscape. I purchased a Murasaki Kiyohime and Kamagata from Quality Maples and more and I am very impressed with both trees. I will look to them in the future for other trees. Finally I received a Mikazuki from Sam the Maple Lady and it's a beautiful tree as always. I still have trees to pick up in NC and GA and am waiting on a Mr. Sun from Davidsans. I will probably lay off any buying during the summer as most of my summer trees last year were in rough shape from being shipped in the hot weather. Can't wait to get these trees planted soon.
Great to hear that there are such good quality trees being shipped in the US. I must say I'm really impressed with the community of professional maple folks in the US. Not only is there a vast selection of Japanese and other maples available, but the group seems to really ensure great trees. For the most part of course, I'm sure there are exceptions, but those are rather the rule here in continental Europe. I think the UK is an exception to this. I sent an email with pics to the guy with the bad IDs. No answer. I called, he said he hadn't been in to the nursery in a few days. Hmm. Now it turns out the grosserii var hersii has only a tiny root, in my experience young trees like this usually die. Well I got my "last" box in the mail, this time from Esveld because there was an "irresistible". My family hopes I am done for the spring. A. tsinglingense A. negundo 'Winter Lightning' A. japonicum 'Oudenbosch' A. x 'Ample Surprise' A. paxii -E
