Kiani
Mame
Prices online seem a bit steep and House of bonsai in lakewood has ones for $95 at the cheapest. Anywhere else I can find a good price on one or are they just more pricey than other species?
Are you looking for the species or a variety?
It depends on what size you want. If it's a good sized tree, $95 might not be bad. If you don't care, then seedlings are about $15 from Dallas Bonsai.
you can certainly get better quality than that ... not sure about the pricing .... but capnk is the guy to talk to ....
Can you share some examples of what can be had for around the $95 range? It's a lot of money but I love the Japanese red maple and it's the next tree I have my sights on.
sadly I have no examples ... and the price range is something that is subjective to each area ... at a range like that you will not find much great material ... however you should be able to find some decent project trees.... the one in the pic you posted however has some serious life long issues like bulges and bad nebari , lack of taper, no lower branching etc that will take far too long to correct ... living in CA do know what is required to maintain maples in your area?? etc...
take you $95... save it... and add some more to it over the next 6mnths .... then re-evaluate the idea of such a tree and have a higher price range to look at...
I don't know if Chris (capnk) has any of what you are looking for but if he does it will have more potential than what I see in your pic... I can't speak to the pricing either but I have always found him to have the most reasonably priced quality material in my area ...
if you are looking for something a little closer to home then take your time ... enjoy the slow pace of bonsai and have an adventure spending the next year looking for just that right one ... enjoy the hunt .... the results will be worth it...
Shade like crazy in our climate, well 50% at least, the past weekend when temperatures rose, burned a few of the leaves on mine, and they were only out for a few hours. I have about 12 different, and if you are just looking for a maple to grow, you can always order from Eastfork Nursery, they have always sent me good trees, albeit not trained for bonsai, but in time possibly. Otherwise, maples in bonsai material are kind of scarce, I've been looking around to replace a crimson (i sold another one I had), and looking for a larger one. No luck so far in maples, but it is still early considering our weather, and the mild winter we had. I know Vicky (house of bonsai) mentioned they were getting more maples from Oregon in soon, you may want to check again if she puts some up for sale.
Kiani,
In my personal experience, JM does not do very well in our hot climate. I had several before ( I still have a few pre-bonsai) and all of them suffer from severe leaf burning. Hopefully this year it may be a different story since I installed a new shade clothe with a 70 shade percentage (vs the 50 I had before) still, I know our hard water its also an issue for them.
If you are looking into getting a maple, I will consider a Trident Maple over a Japanese Maple. They resist better our climate same for our hard water. If this is the case, you might want to contact "treekutter" (forum member) and ask if there's any TM left for purchase, he will dig it up for you and ship it, and you will receive a nice 2-4 inch trunk dia starter TM, for a very affordable price.
Japanese maples, although harder to keep up in our climate, is doable. I have a few rarer ones that have done well even though I have to leave them in 50% shade. I know a few people that will plant them in the ground, and as long as the keep them well watered, especially in summer months, they normally turn out fine. Normally in our climate bloodgoods, and emperors thrive the best, but with a bit extra care and placement, almost any of them can survive and do well. Normally I have mine get some early morning sun, and then they are shaded by 50% fabric the rest of the day. Here is one of my Orange Dream maples taken just last week.
View attachment 21628
Kiani,
We do grow Acer palmatum 'atropurpureum' on native roots (not grafted).
The plain red maple is not as popular for bonsai as the green, but we do have a few.
Email me at tfarms@wvi.com, and we'll see what we can do.
Thanks,
Chris Kirk
Telperion Farms
kiani HOB, has full time staff to tend plants and often under shade cloth. pro tekt by dyna grow helps. the santa ana winds will burn leaves also. i kick my self for not buying a arakawa maple from her. in spite of my best efforts i still burned leaves every summer.
have you seen oriental liquid amber, more so cal hardy good color show, leaves reduce , and available for decent $ in so cal.
Just actually took a trip to HOB to get some soil materials, and she hasn't got her new maples in yet, those were the 'left overs' from last year. She does take good care of her material. As the previous person mentioned, liquid amber does well, and Lakewood Nursery (I noticed the other day), has a ton in their back lot (kinda hidden), they would have to be cut down, but the trunks are fairly large.
As for oriental liquid amber, no I haven't seen it, what is it?
this one just got potted into a better pot this year as well.... never liked the pot it was in