your JM planed planting(s) for next spring

FESS UP everyone ... tell us what JM's you plan on planting next spring/summer or just would like to plant. The site seems dead and that's most likely cause it's winter ...but lets get things going and post our plans ... I've got to think a bit on it but have decided on a 'Seiryu' .....but anyone who knows please let us know...David

'Seiryu' is high on my list as well. I was also thinking of A. japonicum 'Aconitifolium' and the dwarf 'Koto no Ito'. Very few are offered locally and within Canada I only know of one nursery in BC that ships them. They offer some 15 cultivars but I either have them or they become too large for the space I have left. The Seiryu and Aconitifolium will be kept in pots to keep them smaller but I can probably plant out Koto no Ito as it tops at 6 feet (probably just over half that height here as I am at the limits for JM)

i want to plant 2 dwarf jm. i was thinking of sharps pygmy along on the stream. it will be planted where the mulch and newspaper ends. do you have a suggestion for a small weeping jm, it will be planted at the start of the stream. i have a red weeping one and i would like another variety. belinda

Most weeping ones are red, but if you want a nice green one try 'Waterfall' or 'Viridis'

i have viridis. is there a variegated dwarf jm that would look good?

Some dwarf variegated ones include Coral Pink (6 ft), Ariadne (9 ft), Nishiki gasane (9 ft), Ukigumo (9 ft) and Peaches and Cream (9 ft). These are upright and can be trimmed to keep them smaller.

Toyama nishiki is a dissectum weeper that is greenish-purple with pink and white variegation

Wilsons Pink Dwarf starts off pink then turns green...it is upright to 6 ft.

Baldsmith is a weeping cut-leaf that starts off orange, then become green with pinkish tips...very striking and a great contrast for other red dissectums and green ones like Viridis. Another good one is Orangeola, starts off orange-pink then turns red. Pink Filigree starts off rose-pink then becomes red.

I have added the following two JM'S to my spring purchases:
Orido nishiki
Nishiki gasane

Come on lets here from more folks I know there are a bunch of you out there scheeming to purchase some choice JM cultivars ;>) David

myersphcf, where did you order yours from?

I hope to start propagating some to add to our inventory someday. However, I hope to get some of all these different wonderful ones ya'll keep attracting my attention to! I'm going crazy with all these pics!

Shoe

I buy almost all of my stuff now from Della at JD's backyard Nursery

http://nurserygirl1.tripod.com/index.html


She both has stock herself and works as sort of a JM "broker" hand picking what you want ( you give her a list and if she see's something(s) on it that meets her standards she gets it for you) from a large distibutor ( the stuff she got last week was really nice some VERY rare stuff too). She is great at sending photos and accurate size measurments . She also has really inexpensive shipping and packs like a mack truck. All her trees are older 4+ years so you ain't getting twigs.
I've also bought from john herter ...He's a good guy if you like or want smaller stuff ( but still first rate product well branched etc) . He also has great shipping rates and packs well and like Della answers all email efficently ( which is a big selling point with me since most JM dealer suck at email). John can be reached at http://www.japanesemaple.net/japanesemaple.htm

hope this helps.... David

SHOE Oh I forgot to add both nurseries are in your area making shipping a two day deal or a nice day trip to just pick up....David

Wow! Great! Glad to hear they are close by! Thanks!

And thanks for the links to their sites, too!

I notice some JP's are grafted; wonder what stock they are grafted onto? Sounds like something I'd like to try sometime! (Course I guess I could also root cuttings to have enough trees to make a real showplace here, eh?)

Again, thanks! One day I'll have some pics to share in the forum!

Shoe.

Yes i mapquested della's place from yours and it's about 1 1/2 hours away!!! like right next door!!!... As far as grafting vs rooting .... supposedly a few types of jm's can be rooted but not many ...Todd has the info on that... I have also heard that mortality rate after a few years for rooted cuttings is HIGH and most reputable nurseries wont accept them for that reason ...I don't know why but thats the scuttlebutt. If you go to all that work and have em die on ya it's most likly NOT worth it . The preferred method is by grafting onto jm rootstock ...most use green generic seed grown JM's ...most likely cause they grow fast and are hardy... David

I have also added the following: ... pendulum julian, red spider web
( a relativly new JM ) and emerald lace...what an addict huh...should have these and others previously mentioned in the ground by mid march...yes my yard is becoming smaller ;>) David

did you get these from nurseygirl?

yes all of them from Della or I should say will get ..have seen photos and accurate size descriptions and will have them shipped in march when I can be sure not to freeze any body parts off planting ...a lesson I have learned but keep on ignoring...but not this time!!!! David

Very few JM are grown on their own roots. Essentially it is mostly restricted to really dwarf cultivars. I have Sharp's Pygmy on its own roots and so far it is doing fine. The really dwarfs are almost too small to graft, hence they are rooted from cuttings. If you grow JM from seed, then you might luck into some really nice cultivars that will be growing on their own roots (after all, that's where most JM cultivars had their beginnings), but if you ever want to increase them, then you have to resort back to grafting...and as mentioned, they are grafted onto no-thrills green JM root stock.

I might add that a grower I know sometimes roots the tops of his rootstock that he cuts off before grafting ...I think it is telling he NEVER uses THAT rooted rootstock for additional grafting for the next TWO years and he feels it is viable ... That may tell us something about the viability of cuttings reinforcing what other growers have said about the long term life expectacy of such cuttings in general ( aside from dwarf varieties as Todd has stated) ...David

Todd_B....did you start Sharp's Pigmy from seed? Or was that a cutting? (Just curious.)

Also was wondering what the full height/size of it would be (would it make a good container plant?). (Ya'll are getting me too hooked on JM's!)

My Sharp's Pygmy was grown from a cutting...all JM cultivars are either from cuttings or grafts...if I planted seeds from Sharp Pygmy (assuming they even set seed) I might get plants that are 20 feet! Sharp's Pygmy is a great container plant...it is also popular for bonsai. It is very slow and never exceeds 2 feet.

"Never exceeds two feet"! Wow...what a great little JP that must make! How interesting. And yes, would be the perfect specimen for bonsai. Ya gotta love it!

Here's a pic of mine from last summer. I got it in 1999 at 3" high. In 2001 the top broke off over the winter, bring it from 6" back to 3" again. Now it is about 9" tall.

Pretty. Looks very full, too.

Is it in a container? Or are they hardy in zone 5?

It's planted in the garden...ever since I lost the top in 2001 I invert a large plastic pot over it for the winter. Right now it, and the pot, are under 3 feet of snow!

Wow! I'm sure it's okay under the pot.

How about those other plants in the pic...looks like "hen and chicks" and some kind of cacti...?

The other plants in the pic are a primula rosea on the left corner and Sedum spathulifolium 'Capo Blanco' on the right...they are both perfectly hardy here.

Thanks! They make a nice arrangement planted together.

I am hoping to buy my first JPs this spring or summer. The ones I want to get are "Fireglow" and/or "Orangeola". I'll probably get them from Greer Gardens in Eugene, OR. They are only about 50 miles away so it won't take any great time and will save substantial in shipping. They also have a 10% discount for pickup. Greer has a quite a list of cultivars they carry so would be worth checking on by West Coast enthusiasts.

I have both of these trees and both are really nice. The orangeola is a real winner IMHO I would recommend it to everyone!!! Greers is an ok place .... I did get quoted one price and charged another but they fixed that and gave me the original price... so be sure to be careful. My tree arrived almost totally dried out like a big pot plant that had been hung in a barn!!!( I called it my crispy tree) but Mr greer assured me they had had a really dry summer and most of his JM's were like that and it would be fine next ( this) spring... I took him for his word on that and will know more this spring but I checked the other day and the stem i checked was still green ( slit bark slightly to check). I have to admit it was a beautiful multi branched LARGE specimen and well worth it ( it was a palmatum Ebony)...It was well packed but shipped regular ups during august which was NOT smart . I think it was a mistake cause when i told them they were a bit shocked it went that way rather than three day as they said it would. Overall I would use Greers again and think most of the "problems" were in bad communications rather than any bad business practices!! I think if you go in person YOU won't have the problems I did and I'm sure you can get great trees of size at good prices there...David

I was hoping to get an A.J. Acontifolium, an A.S. Aureum, an A.J. Green Cascade, and maybe an A.P. Virdis. Hopefully I can find a decent sized (5 Gal) Acontifolium and Virdis. I know I'll have to settle for a small Aureum and Green Cascade as they are pretty expensive. I'll probably end up impulsively buying a small Psuedosieboldian as well as a weeping red Palmatum like Garnet on Ebay sometime.