Japanese Maples: J. Maples in pots? Please post pics, 0 by Ryuzu

Ryuzu wrote:
David has a good point. We usally see a good deal of rose-pink on Aka shigitatsu sawa in the spring as Todd shows, but there are some environmental conditions that will cause changes in the coloration. Ours was a little more orange this year or amber in color, probably due to an organic fertilizer that was applied. In summer, if given too little sun or too much fertilizer the reticulation and variegation on this plant can be obscured entirely. It is common for the second flush of growth to be less characteristic in leaf shape and color (this is common for many veriegates and reticulates). Again as David says, in a pot we can get drastic changes in characteristics, but in the ground, over time, we will see a more consistent display from the plant. I think overally Todd's plant is pretty representative.

For those of us that will view the photos in the Vertrees texts we will see a plant with a lot more red in the leaf. Most if not all of the original Aka shigitatsu sawa that were brought to this country from Japan perished. It was those plants that gave a great red color. In there place there are a number of selected seedling offspring as well as a couple selected varieties. We lump all of these replacement plants under the heading of Beni shigitatsu sawa as they will never quite have the red of Aka and display a mostly rose-pink coloration in all phases. They are beautiful plants and a must have for very collector, but just to advise, the Aka you buy is probably not truly an Aka from a historic perspective, but it doesn't really matter that much either.

Most all of the shigitatsu sawas, Reticulatum, Kasagiyama, etc. hold their characteristics well through the year depending on the culture of the plant. From those there have been many seedling selctions, Peaches and Cream, Tiger Rose, all the Ghosts, Will D, Ariadne, and many other new introductions. When you begin taking seedling selections from reticulated parents it is common for the desired characteristics of reticulation and variegation to more quickly fade in a growing season, where the parent plants hold their characteristics longer. So for any of you just getting started with reticulated maples, you would be best served by buying the older varieties of the Shigitatsu sawas and Kasagiyama before investing in the newer-named plants. The performance is usually much better overall, but we can get a great burst of color from the newer named varieties as well, it just does not always persist.

Attached: Amber Ghost--similar eh?

Cheers!