I will be in Vancouver in mid-October. Does anyone know if the UBC BG or VanDusen BG sell Japanese Maple seeds? Does this vary from year to year, as the seed is taken from their own plants? Would there be fresh seed that that time of the year? I don't care what variety they are.
Japanese maple is very common in local plantings. You should be able to find seeds easily, even just walking around some neighborhoods - where you could encounter mature street trees with fruits. Maybe you can access Dr. Straley's Vancouver tree guide and get some good locations from that. Ideally these would be gathered before becoming hard and brown, as germination is more quickly and easily gotten if the fruits are fully developed but still soft and green. It is possible that by October this phase will have passed.
The only maple listed on VanDusen Seed Collectors web site was sold out: acer griseum. Here is a link to a query form; perhaps they take requests: http://www.plantexplorers.com/vandusen/contact_us.php?PlantExID=04ea96f663f1cdfc422ce6d213e6bfbd
Thanks! I didn't see that site. I hadn't really thought of just picking seeds from street trees. So, green seeds are best for Japanese Maple? I'll have a look when I'm there.
Is that organization affiliated with Van Dusen? I didn't see a link to the garden web site. Are the seeds on the site available for sale at the gardens too?
Non-hardened fruits of maples generally. They are "best" in that they germinate more readily. Once the hard and brown stage occurs there is a dormancy that then has to be overcome.
Seeds are sold on the deck in the summer months. Not all seeds listed online are among the seeds on the deck. There is a link from VanDusen's web site to the online shop.
