Quiet around here. *crickets* Now that the holidays are over and winter's set in, I find myself looking at the gardening books and tree catalogs more often. Even though my yard and garden are full, I keep thinking there are a few more I'd love to try... I have Moonrise and think it's great, but I'd also like to try Autumn Moon. Red Dawn, another A. shirasawanum, looks equally tempting. My Shin deshojo is currently potted, but I'm thinking of giving away my second Emperor II and planting Shin deshojo in its place. And finally, someone posted a picture of the leaf shape of Ao meshime no uchi, and it's got me hooked. ...so that's four, or at least two, I need to squeeze in somewhere. What additions are you considering for the upcoming season?
Magpie, I'm also doing my shopping research, oohing and aahhing at pic after pic, and making out my wish-list. My current list includes: shirasawanum Aureum (taking the plunge despite all the negatives I've heard and read about--- I've admired this tree FAR too long to not try!!) Junihitoe Flavescens Shigure bato Koshimino Aratama Kurabu yama Mikawa yatsubusa At the very end of the season in mid-November, I received two new trees in one-gallon containers: Hime shojo and Beni hagoromo, so I'm anxiously awaiting spring even more! I ought to mention that both of these young trees' twigs/branches are more red than those on both of my Sango kaku trees :-) After a good snow, I'll have to take some pictures. Since many of my maples are in containers, I'm planning on repotting many of them this spring and trying out a different potting medium. That, along with dividing/moving hostas, ought to keep me busy enough so that I'm not out shopping for more maples. <crossing fingers> Kevin in KC
Although i would like to plant out a few more JM for the spring i have reached the stage of running out of garden!!!! Never thought this would happen but after the fall various trees were moved to better areas re light /shade, and larger trees were lifted and placed into containers basically to slow the growth rate down and give a more pleasing aspect to the garden with a broader colour spectrum for the coming season. What i did manage to plant out last year,and will be doing the same again this year is the incorperation of various dwarf conifers heathers and grasses. Have found that over the years once the leaves have dropped in the fall and if you have a large amount of JM they do tend to look a bit forlorn and drab,but now i have quite a selection of conifers the colours which they are showing at present is quite pleasing to the eye and gives me an added interest while waiting for the new JM leaf shoots to appear. These are what i have planted out at present: Wissels Saguaro, Summer Snow Hulsdonk yellow (favourite), Rubicon Spiralis , Flecklewood Hana Gracilis, Ellswood Gold White Smargd, Ellswood Pillar Pygmaea Argenta Wilma Blue Star Curley Tops Rheingold Golden Tuffet Fentusca intense blue grass and assorted Heathers Must admit they do blend in nicely as well, plus fill in any large gaps between the JM without being to over bearing and detracting from the JM. Would love to aquire another Amagi Shigure though had a young graft which was progressing nicely until my 9 year old nephew decided to stand on it and break off one of the branches,does look odd at the present time but it's still alive so we will see what happens this year,unlike you guys in the US this paticular cultivar is very hard to find/ buy a decent one and even finding decent grafts are few and far between. Happy new year to all and good luck for the coming year.
I bought a few maples later in the season last year - my lovely 7g Red Dragon (local), and a teeny Peve Starfish and Jade Dragon (Mr. Maple). The latter two I sent to a friend for better storage over the winter since they were so tiny. And when we visited my sister in Dallas mid-November, I picked up a Kuro hime and Crimson Queen from Dallas Bonsai for pretty inexpensive. Courtesy of Mr. Maple as well, I will be getting English Lace (upright red dissectum), Wild Fire and Lileeanne's Jewel that will be shipped to me once weather becomes more hospitable. Diana (Topiary Gardens) will also be shipping me a Harold's Seedling #3, Ueno yama, and Kumoi nishiki this spring. And *hopefully* my little Tequila Sunset will be big enough to send to me as well. Thinking of adding a few dwarf conifers as well, I'd love to replace my Kenwith Lebanon cedar that didn't make it through last winter...
I've read about English Lace... an upright red dissectum?? I'm so curious to see how that develops over the next several years.
I suggest :Acer shirasawanum Jordan ,Acer palmatum Orange dream,Acer Palmatum Geisha,Acer palmatum Koto no ito,Acer shirasawanum Suzanne..and my preferite japanese maple Acer palmatum Coral pink :)
OOH Andrea,I've been looking out for 'Tequila Sunset' since I first heard of it but haven't seen it in Europe as yet.Be sure to post some pics. when yours is ready.....and Alex,been wanting 'Geisha' for ages too.Seemed to disappear of the face of the earth suddenly ha ha though I think Malliot might have them back in now...it's just I've always hoped it will never be necessary to import anything I want..I think I'll be patient :)
Houzi, this is a picture of my little 1g Tequila Sunset that I got from Del the summer he retired (his last little one left). Alas, the following spring it quickly declined and I ended up losing it. Thankfully, though, I had taken four small cuttings from it before it leafed out and sent them to a friend to be grafted (in retrospect, I should have taken more!). Two or three made it, and she's been growing them on the past two years; I'm hoping one or more will be big/hardy enough to survive the extremes of Kansas weather this year. As I got the tree in summer, the lovely purple and orange of spring had faded, but the summer colors - to me anyway - were every bit as lovely, a deep green with a pale chartreuse. I truly cannot wait to get this tree back!
Ah! look after that one Andrea,seems like it must be quite rare then....doubt if I'll ever get my hands on one by the sound of it.Maybe it'll hold the orange longer as it gets older,I hope it does :) Oh I've already got 'Shirazz' Alex but I don't consider them very similar.I reckon 'Shirazz' et all are more likely reversions as it's less variegated and quite vigorous though I think they're all claimed to be seedlings..A couple of places have told me they aren't grafting 'Geisha' any more as it's not a strong plant.I've always wanted a maple that has pretty much permanent pink leaves and 'Geisha' seemed a good bet.'Taylor' seems to hold it's spring pink leaves most of the year but as you know it's also unreliable.....still it's looking ok at the moment(my 2nd one)after it's 2nd winter with me,just hope I can keep this one going as despite it's reputation it is unusual and quite pretty.
My "Taylor" finally decieded to call it a day after two seasons of desperately trying to get established, one half has completely died off and the other half doesn't look very promising either.Only had the one and i am affraid this one will not be replaced.
Houzi if you are wanting a lovely pink coloured tree try 'Hinotori Nishiki' really stands out all year slight variagation in the autumn but very pretty strong pinks in the summer. Hippopottering in Lincs always tend to have quite a few of these.
Thanks for the link Alex,still not sure I want to import just yet but if desperate it's another source to try. Hope your Taylor pulls thru Roebuk,I'm really mollycodling mine and taking no risks with it.That 'Hinotori Nishiki' does look nice,I'll have to look into that one.Funnily I've just ordered from Hippomaples....actually made enquiries last spring but circumstances my end and theirs let it slip by.Anyway they've still held the plants for me,Amber Ghost,Patricia,Rainbow and Hana Matoi.I'll ask them about Hinotori...maybe I'll be adding that one too :)
When i first started with JM quite alot of my stock came in young grafts from Hippo and they are all semi mature trees now excellent quality. Never been to a nursery before and seen so many grafts in so many different varieties. They had a beautiful 'Taylor' which was one of their show trees for sale last September when i last visited, if you can get these right and growing well they are stunning!! Will wait and see what the last remaining half of my tree will do this year?
Well if anyone had a decent sized Taylor I guess it would be them.Would liked to have seen that.I had a couple of plants from them last year.It's easy to say that you can get bigger for the price but they do maintain their maples are grown outdoors and not pushed in a growhouse.Sounds like it certainly pays off regarding your maples :) Accidentally? bought my 1st plant of the year today.Was at a garden centre looking for a sieve but noticed they had 50% off some maples.At the regular price I'm not surprised they didn't sell but I bought an A.S. Jordan.It had grown very vigorously since I saw it last year.They also had some Katsura & Phoenix on their own roots but these were a lot bigger than I've usually seen,about a 5year grafted size I'd say...looked healthy and vigorous enough though again all had double stems.
I have never had Geisha( and very seldom see it for sale), but I do have Shirazz and Geisha Gone Wild. Both plants are hardy and keep there color ALL summer here in the PNW. They appear to be very similar, but my Geisha Gone Wild is my favorite variegated maple of all. Hope you can find in in Europe.
