Any japanese maple lovers?

[mcpesq817]

Japanese maples can be a bit addicting. I have a few specialty cultivars in the landscape as well as in pots. Not sure if they will ever be "bonsai," but I enjoy the variation in spring and fall colors.

Beni Maiko is one of my favorites, with bright engine-red small leaves in the early spring, but it's a very slow growing cultivar and doesn't seem to thicken up all that much.

 

[mcpesq817]

Shishigashira is another cool cultivar, with small, clustered, crinkled bright green leaves that turn a gorgeous orange/red in the fall.

 

[Dirty Nails]

I like the Maples. I started some seedlings 3 years ago in the "grow out" method. 8 tridents, 2 green palmatum and 2 red palmatum. They are all growing like crazy. Looking forward to developing these in the coming years. I would like some more varieties but not sure which others can stand the middle TN summers.

 

[mcpesq817]

I like the Maples. I started some seedlings 3 years ago in the "grow out" method. 8 tridents, 2 green palmatum and 2 red palmatum. They are all growing like crazy. Looking forward to developing these in the coming years. I would like some more varieties but not sure which others can stand the middle TN summers.

I move my JMs to a shadier spot in my yard during the summer. TMs seem to do just fine for me in relatively full sun during the hot summers we have here in DC.

 

[milehigh_7]

If I ever move from Vegas to somewhere more hospitable, the first thing I am going to do is invest in a few nice Acer palmatum. Maples are very special to me as there are some absolutely huge ones that line the streets of my home town.


My first Trident is growing well.

 

[Dav4]

I've always love A. palmatums...I had over 20 different cultivars planted in the landscape or in pots...until I moved to GA. Unfortunately, the summers are hotter and drier here then in MA and the soil on my property kinda stinks. I brought about 10 palmatums in 1 gal pots with me and planted them out in my new yard 4 years ago...so far, I've lost 4 despite watering ALL the time. Anyway, here are some of the survivors, plus a few newcomers I couldn't resist.

The first is "corallinum", a dwarf with brilliant pink spring foliage.
The next two are of "seiryu", an upright dissectum along with a close up of the foliage.
The next two are two semi-dwarf palmatums, IDs lost in the move...they like it here and have tripled in size over the last 3 years.

 

[mcpesq817]

Nice maples. I love the corallinum colors. I had a small grafted one a few years ago that didn't make it.

I have a seiryu started from a cutting in my yard. It's just starting to bud out. Not sure if they can make good bonsai or not, but the light feathery bright green dissectum leaves are really pretty.

I also have an Aratama, which is another dwarf that comes out with almost purple leaves and has a bright orange fall color. I'll try to take a picture when it starts budding out.

 

[Dav4]

A few more:

I think this one is "Beni himi", but I could be wrong. Definitely a dwarf that loves GA...it was in a 1 gal pot 4 years ago, and today it's 4 foot across!
The next one is "shishigashiri"
The last one is "shaina" a semi-dwarf that I'm planing to keep potted. I've got a bunch of others in the landscape or in pots that havn't pushed enough foliage to be worth photographing: sharps pygmy, red dragon, inaba shidare, waterfall, tamuke yama, crimson queen, atrolineare, and a coral bark...I think that's it.

 

[tmmason10]

A few more:

I think this one is "Beni himi", but I could be wrong. Definitely a dwarf that loves GA...it was in a 1 gal pot 4 years ago, and today it's 4 foot across!
The next one is "shishigashiri"
The last one is "shaina" a semi-dwarf that I'm planing to keep potted. I've got a bunch of others in the landscape or in pots that havn't pushed enough foliage to be worth photographing: sharps pygmy, red dragon, inaba shidare, waterfall, tamuke yama, crimson queen, atrolineare, and a coral bark...I think that's it.

The Ben himi looks amazing! Very cool. Do you have plans for any of them to be trained, or only to landscape?

 

[Dav4]

The Ben himi looks amazing! Very cool. Do you have plans for any of them to be trained, or only to landscape?

I may air layer one of the larger branches next year off of the beni hime next year. Some of the others may get layered as well as they thicken up.

 

[fourteener]

I am blessed to be in a great relationship with a nursery that tries to push their luck with zone issues. I'm currently in an experiment where they gave me 5 maples to put in my yard to see how well they will do in our climate. The exchange is a garden tour in the summer that comes through. It's fun to see people with their untrained, non-critiquing enjoyment of Bonsai. It is a reminder to look at trees and enjoy them, without having to give all my criticism of it!! Funny part is they seem to like the worthless stuff and are less interested in the really cool things. Oh Well!!

In the mean time, I'm gathering seeds, doing cuttings and will air layer at least one this summer.

 

[mcpesq817]

A few more:

I think this one is "Beni himi", but I could be wrong. Definitely a dwarf that loves GA...it was in a 1 gal pot 4 years ago, and today it's 4 foot across!
The next one is "shishigashiri"
The last one is "shaina" a semi-dwarf that I'm planing to keep potted. I've got a bunch of others in the landscape or in pots that havn't pushed enough foliage to be worth photographing: sharps pygmy, red dragon, inaba shidare, waterfall, tamuke yama, crimson queen, atrolineare, and a coral bark...I think that's it.

You sound as bad as me Love the beni himi.

I have an inaba shidare too, which I blame for getting me into bonsai When I first bought my house five years ago, I bought one for my backyard. I then started researching other cultivars that would do well in my area to add to other parts of my yard and came across pictures of japanese maple bonsai. The addiction started immediately thereafter.

 

[Dan W.]

I am blessed to be in a great relationship with a nursery that tries to push their luck with zone issues. I'm currently in an experiment where they gave me 5 maples to put in my yard to see how well they will do in our climate. The exchange is a garden tour in the summer that comes through. It's fun to see people with their untrained, non-critiquing enjoyment of Bonsai. It is a reminder to look at trees and enjoy them, without having to give all my criticism of it!! Funny part is they seem to like the worthless stuff and are less interested in the really cool things. Oh Well!!

In the mean time, I'm gathering seeds, doing cuttings and will air layer at least one this summer.

Fortune er, what zone are you there in Duluth MN? I have a few different JM's as bonsai that need protection. But the Korean Maple in my yard is doing great.

 

[fourteener]

Fortune er, what zone are you there in Duluth MN? I have a few different JM's as bonsai that need protection. But the Korean Maple in my yard is doing great.

Lake Superior offers some strange realities zone wise. Central MN is zone 3 no doubt. Duluth is set on a hill, I live at the bottom. A 33 degree lake keeps us warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. Down by the lake we are a zone 4. This nursery presses their luck trying to pull off some zone 5 things in yards that are protected from the wind. We also have an almost guaranteed covering of a foot of snow. It's that one one winter when it doesn't come though...

Things in my front yard get blown away as we have a golf course to the west of us. Things in my backyard are super protected.

Amur maples are used a lot in landscape around here, they are a zone 2 plant I think. What zone is a Korean Maple?

 

[Dan W.]

Acer Pseudosieboldianum: they are saying zone 3, and it looks very similar to a palmatum. Beautiful fall color too. I havn't tried bonsai with them yet but I have seen that the leaves can stay fairly small onmy yard tree. Mine is coming out of two winters this spring and looking healthy. And it grew about 3' last year!

I have read that the snow covering can really help plants that aren't hardy to survive in the colder climates. Insulation and all... Our problem here is that there really isn't much snow covering most of the year, and it can get really cold without the snow. Most of the snow that we do get blows to nebraska anyway...lol

This was the first fall after I planted my Korean Maple. One of the largest leaves on it.
......

 

[MACH5]

What a nice thread! I am myself a huge Japanese maple lover!! 90% of my bonsai collection is comprised solely of these trees. Not so much into Tridents but Japanese maples. I love how they change through the seasons, bringing something new and exciting every time. Their Autumn colors can be absolutely breathtaking!! They have a refined look to them that's hard to beat in the deciduous world. I love the endless variety of maples, but in the end I prefer just a few for bonsai, specially the 'ol true and tried green mountain maple variety. In my opinion some can be just simply too showy (ie. thread leaf varieties) and can easily overpower your design.

I have mostly all standard green leaf varieties (or very similar) but also have a few others such as Sharp's Pigmy, Shishigashira, Carlis Corner, Kiyohime, Shishi Yatsubusa, Kashima among others. Some are bonsai already while others are just happily growing in the ground waiting for perhaps one day to be turned into one

 

[Dan W.]

I love your trees and the pictures you share Mach5!

I'm a big time JM lover too! I love living in WY but I could certainly stand living somewhere only one climate zone warmer... I'd probably go crazy with JM's if I did though... Maybe it's a good thing I dont :/

 

[tmmason10]

I love your trees and the pictures you share Mach5!

I'm a big time JM lover too! I love living in WY but I could certainly stand living somewhere only one climate zone warmer... I'd probably go crazy with JM's if I did though... Maybe it's a good thing I dont :/

It's probably a good thing. JMs can get pretty expensive around in these parts. Highly desirable and they all get shipped from cross country.

 

[0soyoung]

Japanese maples can be a bit addicting.

Lemme see, I have Green cascade, Tsukushigata, Ukigumo (floating cloud), Shishigashira, Okushimo, Orange Dream, Aka Shigatatsu sawa, Shin deshojo, Higasayama, Hogyoku, and prostrate as well as upright red dissectums in the yard. Sharps pygmy, golden full moon (shirasawanum), Seiryu, and Fire Glow in pots as bonsai or on their way. I added a Beni Hime bonsai this year and am still looking to replace a Koto no ito I managed to kill last year (potting mistake). Leaving aside the generations of air-layers of several of these trees and 4 generations of generic green acer palmatum air-layers as 'potensai' in various states. My favorite one is the one in front of me.

BTW, I also have some trees that aren't JMs.

 

[togishi]

Super addicting

here are a few of mine that I got photos of (mostly just leaves from this year). I will try to get more full shots.

- Katsura
- Jordan
- Gloria
- Crimson Queen
- Acer Palmatum