AP Bene hime

I recently had the opportunity to enjoy the conifers section (which is lovely) of the Oregon Garden in Silverton, OR. Tucked at the base of conifers, I found this delightful Acer palmatum Bene hime. I hadn't realized how diminutive this maple is.

I will be out there next week and check and check on that one but that does not look like any BH I have seen maybe the jpeg is throwing itr iff .. size yes but leaves and color no .. it has been very cold and wet out there thermometer hasn't come even close to 70 even once so far so that may be the reason but it doesn't look right to me. Davidsdan

i will have to agree with davidsans that it does not look like a beni hime.i have had two that both have died and they never looked like that.


sorry granite

Mis- identifying cultivars is so common .. I have to cull allot of trees out by pro grafter growers that are just plain wrong mislabeled or somehow just not as marked .A certain % of trees have no tags and go into the no name area for those folks who just want a pretty jm at a cheap price. When you are growing and shipping thousands of trees and someone forget to tag a tree well they go back and guess by position or whatever it's better than getting yelled at by the boss and a few tags just fall off when being loaded for shipment. It is frustrating but better to leave off than to guess and leaving off and eating the loss which is what I do .many others just slap a name on it .. they figure correctly no one will know the differnce.. unethical and crappy but that is what most nursery's do.. Very few Jms are identifiable easily ... only the real different ones ( that's why it is so frustrating when folks post here and ask for an ID) .. you can often tell what it isn't but not what it is .... and sometimes you can check your order you can ID it by the process of elimination .. but sometimes you are just stuck with a no name... when it really kills ya is when they are really cool or beautiful and you have no idea what the heck it is ...

in this case it may have been mis-marked by the garden or grower.

As I said i am staying at that resort for two nights a week from Monday and Tues on our annual Oregon nursery visits so I will give it the evil eyeball and check it out...

David(san)

have a GREAT trip David!

David, did you get a chance to look for this tree in the gardens?

Couldn't find it... was a wonderful garden experience their dwarf conifers are very nice as well as there larger conifers ... Most of the Jms were fairly common for out there but some were very nice ... they are planning a big expansion ... some of the donated Jms were lets say cheapskate'ish especially from some big growers... It is worth the trip for the conifers and the resort is first rate... a late evening stoll is the way to go the lighting is fab there ... very nice collection .. Comparing it to the absolutely horrible dwarf conifer display at the St Louis Botanical gardens was a downer .. I don't know who picked their plants but they should be severely reprimanded .. IT STUNK... the Japanese gardens are very nice in St Louis ... except for many trees are not marked ... This summer was the first time ever I have made a summer trip .. it usually is WAY too hot and it was worth every minute.... just simply great much nicer than in spring and fall when i had seen it before on numerous occasions .. just happened to hit a cooler day ... My first summer visit ever ... well worth the drive!!!

MOBOT does have a lovely Japanese Garden, but I agree that it's frustrating that so few plants are labeled. They do have the most gorgeous Chinese elm there. I don't even remember where their confier garden is, which says something.

The Chicago Botanic Garden's new conifer garden is great; some beautiful specimens, and in 8 years or so it will be spectacular. They have some beautiful specimen trees, but few jms, understandably.

If you want to see a knocks-your-socks-off conifer collection, check out Hidden Lake Gardens in Southeastern Michigan. Check out their websiete at hiddenlakegardens.msu.edu The huge collection is fabulous. In addition to their rare and unusual conifer collection, they have lovely perennial gardens, a bonsai collection, a conservatory, and a large hosta collection maintained by the Michigan Hosta Society. Plan to spend a full day there and you still won't see it all! (A few JMs, too.)

their conifer garden is new and is aboout 10 -25 minis or dwarfs ... very very small maybe 20-30 ft max maybe less pitiful but it is a start

Davidsan: You're talking about Chicago's conifer garden, not Hidden Lake...right? Must be as the Michigan conifers take all day to enjoy.

NO st louis botanical garden pathetic attempt on a conifer n garden near the large hot house build just before it after you enter . go right after entering you can't miss it or maybe you should have .. I am not saying it won't look great eventually but... it looks pathetic now..and it is way too small considering all the conifers that would grow there I think it was an dwarf conifer area cause way to small needa to be 10 to 20 times larger just mfor dwarf species and believe you me they have plenty of other larger mplafvces to put it for big one a few did look cool but if I remember than were all the same cultivar... with the thousands of conifers out there many of dwarf varriety that don't take up much space it was a sad awakening form me of how they do things there NOW

Since their Japanese Garden is spectacular but that was done over as long period of time and still going on but many 75 or more years ago when it was developed they had a great vision .. this is like a fast food stand.... D-san