The George Harrison of trifoliate maples

Huh? You know, the "other" Beatle. Wrote "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." Great guitar player, great singer, great songwriter, just happened to be in a band where the best he could ever hope for was "to show." Well, how about Acer mandschuricum? Here is an absolutely great plant. Great form, great foliage, great fall color, but the only people who will ever grow it are those who've already got Acer griseum and Acer triflorum and still have a little room. Durn shame, because it is such a fine maple.

Scott

I'm not terribly pleased with the quality of this shot. My wife ran away for the weekend and must have hidden the digital camera under her dress. This is a scanned film 4 x 6. I will try to have a few better pictures follow soon.

Scott

We have that same problem here; cats and cameras always surreptitiously snuck somewhere.

Back to plants...

What about Acer negundo 'The Monkees'? That'd make you want to take the last train to Clarksville.

And I have to believe that Decussate is remiss in not opining over the lack of general knowledge of Acer maximowiczianum, ranking it as the Ringo Starr in the quadrumvirate of tantalizing trifoliates.

Do any of you grow Acer negundo violaceum., in my book Flora The Gardeners Bible, it shows a picture of its really pretty blooms. I do have A. n. Fllamingo.

And Decumbent, I do have A. mandshiricum, and A griseum (still small)

Donna

VV, Indeed, I am myself remiss in knowing Acer maximowiczianum. Still on my "to do" list. I have got an Acer henryanum probably en route to me as we speak. I'll report on that eventually.

Acer negundo? Well, now, what have we here? Actually, I did have an Acer negunda "Auratum" for a time. Beautiful glacial, milky blue stems. Nice gold foliage. Never could find a place for it, so I gave it to Rowe Arboretum. Have not seen the cultivar "Violaceum." From the name it sounds interesting. "Flamingo" always looks good in photographs.

Rutholive, You need Acer triflorum.

Scott

Some of us didn't listen to the Fab 4. Many of us looked desperatly for music that came from early guitars. Iron Butterfly, Cream, so a tree that is talented amongst the great ones is Called "Mick" in my yard. Hee Hee. Acer Triflorum I think I'll get one so I'll have something Donna doesn't . All gardens are about having one better. Ahhh competitive tree planting.
Anyway I planted an Acer Negundo in my parked out woodland garden in Woodinville washington. It was towards the back of the 2 acres and caught the early sunrise through the parked out lodge pole pine and various smaller trees. It would grab the sunlight and light up the woodland garden when ever the sun came out. Yes it was dirty but who cares when it falls in a wet forest woodland.

Didn't listen to the fab four? Heretic! Iron Butterfly. What is the point of slowed-down Motown? Cream, I'll grant you, but there was no Mick in Cream. Acer mandschuricum equated with Ginger Baker, I could accept that.

Scott

Steve, you better hurry to get that A. Triflorum as I am going to order it tomorrow from FF. HAHA.

My A. negundo Flamingo is a very pretty tree, It is about 10 years and probably 20 x 20. A robin thinks it is a great nesting spot, and has made a nest in it several years. it is planted to the north east of my house about 20 feet away.

I am having an ongoing problem with A. negundo Kelly's Gold. I really like the color of the leaves, but limbs/branches keep dying back to main trunk. I bought it from FF 3 or 4 years ago. The tallest leader is probably 8 or 9 feet now, and actually last year only a couple of limbs died. What do you think I could be doing wrong with it.

Donna

Well, competitive gardeners, I also have Acer cissifolium here! And my two A. maximowiczianum (syn. A. nikkoense) have a 30- year head start on yours.
Nyaah, nyaah, nyaah!

But, nuts. I don't have A. henryanum . . .

Guy S.

Alright, Guy, give it up. Let's see some pictures of these 30 yr Acer maximowiczianum!

Donna, don't have any clue about your "Kelly's Gold" troubles.

Here's a picture of the camera thief, in fact taken at the Dawe's Arboretum just days earlier with--I might add--the said camera. Doesn't the malevolent glare and the obvious darkness just give you the willies!

Scott

No, you gotta come back here and see them in person. And you gotta bring that sweet-looking young camera thief with you!
Hee-hee-hee!

Guy S.

It's Acer henryi, not henryanum, which triggers, in my mind, that infamous Viburnum, V. harryanum. What were they thinking???

It is hard to compete against old guys with big trees. I will settle to be less than the you O Great One! Bow Bow Bow in submission. Guy do you have a A. Guyanum? Hee Hee I too would like to see the maple A.Henryi.

Sofa may have stumbled on the ultimate "Trees and Shrub Forum" putdown folks. In the cattle business we used to say; "Big hat, No cows." Our answer might be: "Big yard, No trees".

Acer henryi has been described as the poison ivy maple by our Missouri friend TreeFrog. The leaves are a dead ringer. It grows fast, the leaves have a bit of fuzz to them, decent although dull red fall color. I don't know though, there is just something "weedy" about it, not as refined as its family members A. griseum and A. triflorum--maybe its more closely related to its cousin fron the other side of the tracks, A. negundo.

No need for Negundo. And I am out of room for any more non-native trees. My 1 1/2 acre of native plants is looking throughout Montana for Native goodies. We have some beautiful Aspen that are birch white in bark color and haven't found a source yet for the tree. Also the name. I'll get a picture Guy and maybe you could tell me.

Oh Guy, don't be fooled by good looks. She's an evil one. You wouldn't want anything like that in your home. Her depravity is only equaled by this Yorkie-poo demon hell-hound, and I am condemned to live with them both. If it weren't for my garden, I would surely have slipped into complete insanity by now!

Scott

This message was edited Apr 12, 2006 9:27 PM

Tonight must not be the night.

For what? Going completely insane? Although there is indeed a gigantic full-moon outside my window as I type this, and the two evil ones are downstairs somewhere watching "Lost" and plotting against me, I actually think I'll keep it together for a little longer--at least through the end of this week.

Scott

A punch line from an old, old joke.

Ken, I remember that one -- from Johnny Carson!

Guy S.

I think I'm beginning to get it. Is this where I tap the microphone and ask, "Is this thing on?"

Scott

Scott, Johnny was polling the audience about the frequency of their amorous romps. He asked "several times a week" and a few held up their hands. Then he asked "once a week" and many more held up their hands. Then "once a month", "once every two months", etc., until he got down to to "once a year" and one person in the back row jumped up sreaming and waving. Johnny asked him why he was so excited, and the reply was, "Tonight's the night!!!"

I guess we'll see if this gets censored, but if it was innocent enough for national television in the 70s I suspect it oughta be OK for DG.

As for that viscious-looking Yorkie-Poo monster, I think I'll give him a very wide berth! But it's hard to believe your sweet-looking wife could be so evil. Hey -- I have your phone number -- maybe I should call her and ask her about it? I bet she'd enjoy this thread immensely! Hee-hee-hee! (At that point, I suspect Ken's guess would be on the money . . . )

Sofer, aspens do vary and they can be propagated by root cuttings. If you have an exceptional one, it's time to share with us! No holding back allowed . . .

Guy S.

She's seen it up to her picture, and she said: "Oh, that's funny." Not sarcastic, but like she thought it was funny. I'll show her the Basil the Yorkie poo hell-hound later tonight, and she'll really find that funny. Basil is the sweetest and most loving dog ever. Michele the second most.

Scott

Michelle is the second-most sweetest dog ever?

Wait 'til she sees THAT!

Guy S.

I went over to Rowe Arboretum today and got this picture of emerging foliage on the Acer negundo "Auratum" that I had given to them.

Scott

Scott - You DAWG!

I do think the wife and the dog share a certain gleam in the eye....your impending insanity??

My dad had a saying "Kids, wives, and dogs" but he never elaborated on it more than that, almost mournful shake of the head when he said it, who knew?

PG-13:

If your dad was from the South, he was referring to what you got back if you played a country album backward.

Followed by guns, boat, house, money, etc.

(Slapping forehead!)

Acer triflorum leaves and young bark.

Scott

Here's the bark part.

Scott

Scott, glad you posted the two photos as I didn't realized the leaves would be fuzzy/hairy. The trunk is surely interesting. FF is supposed to ship my little A. triflorum on Monday so I should receive it Thurs.

Donna

Oh just rub it in Donna. Naaa Naa naa na na na. The bark just looks like an obese baby eating too much and burstin out of its clothing. Nice Maple Scott!

Well, now I guess I know what an obese baby bursting out of its clothing looks like. I have to confess, I'd never seen that before.

Scott

Steve, did you order one of the A. triflorums or were you just kidding me. Anyway I really wanted to order the 4 to 6 ft. one but with FF you have to make your order conform to their shipping , which is multiples of 4 in the 1 gal. size, and the triflorum (I wanted because of my age and wanting to see it in its early at least maturity) was a 5 gal. so I settled for the 1 gal. size.

Donna

No I have no more room left in my acre and a half. The rest of the 3 acres is going to be native plants and trees. So no more fancy maples. I was just competing with you and your forest. I can't wait to see. Did you get 4 -1 gallon or one 5 gallon? I'm confused. Steve

What I really wanted was 3 -1gal and 1- 5 gal, forgetting that I couldn't do that so settled for 4-1 gal, meaning the triflorum is a 2 to 3 ft tree instead of 4-6ft. Did I leave you still confused?? Sorry if I did. Donna

well no I just wonder if you want to sell one? Then I can boast like Guy. I have room for more I just am stopping my obsessive compulsive tree buying. I am running out of Irrigation until some beds get established. I can't wait to get to your house and see the forest of trees. I am waiting though because I want to see them in full bloom.

sofer, you are most welcome anytime. I went to Wenatchee Friday. The cherries, peaches and nectarines in pretty much full bloom and very pretty, altho the day was quite cloudy and rainy. Not very good for photo taking. I still haven't mastered getting the pictures from my Canon Powershot 610 to computer. I can get the pictures to my screen but then can't do much from there. Guess I'll have to use my old Olympus camedia. I'll try to post a photo of the Nectarines. /sorry can't locate it.

Donna