My new Japanese Maple!

My grandma and I went to a local nursery yesterday, as she wanted to buy me a hardy hibiscus. She had seen one at her neighbor's house and thought I needed one. :-) Well, as we were strolling through the nursery, we came upon some wonderful JMs and grandma looked at me and said, "Maybe you need one of these, too." My eyes got wide and I couldn't believe she said it, but she was serious. I nearly jumped up and down right there. We picked one out and we'll get it planted today. It's from Monrovia and it's an Emperor I.

It's a beauty, yet I think they all are. I think I like uprights better at the moment!

Good for Grandma! It's beautiful and you will love it. I can understand your excitement, that's for sure.

Nice find. Did she still make you get that hibiscus :)

That is one smart, kind, and generous grandma! Oh, and it is a lovely tree, very gracious.

Laura

My grandma is a very special person. She'll be 92 her next birthday and she's in relatively good health. She could see how very excited I was about the tree and the look in her eyes as she realized this was just great. I knew that she loved being able to do that for me. I will never forget this day and will think of it and her forever when I look at my tree.

I got it planted and landscaped today. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. I had to dig out some grass and I planted a couple hostas under it.

And yes, she still made me get the hardy hibiscus! I did want that, though. Actually, she bought me two of those. One was a bush - 'Plum Crazy' - and one was a tree - 'Aphrodite.' Neither of those was expensive at all. The JM we thought was VERY reasonable at $115, for a tree that size. I saw one like it at a local discount store, except it was a bit smaller and it was $200.

That plant is a steal for $115! One that size would certainly cost $200 plus in my area.

I know, Todd. Here, too. And it is from Monrovia, so that surprises me even more, that a small local nursery would be selling a 5 gallon potted tree of this this size for that price. And they had bunches of them!

Here it is, planted. It looks closer to the house in this picture than it is, and I should have taken the picture earlier in the day. It gets direct sun for only about 3-4 hours, in the middle of the day. It's on the east side of our house and is protected by the shade of a large oak tree, which is about 40 feet away, in the morning, and by the house itself. It's a two-story house, which you can't tell in this picture because this is by the family room, which has no second story above it. The oak is huge and very old. It doesn't get any wind from the west, which is where we get most of our wind. It's the most protected area of the property.

Now all you need is a couple dozen more and you'll fit right in with the rest of us ;>) David

LOL!! I do still have the small one I got at Walmart for $16.97...

I would love to have a green one.

Very lovely specimen tree, and a good choice of positioning. I like your pergola too. Do you have anything growing on it/up it?

Yes, we have wisteria and trumpet vine, as well as a clematis. The trumpet vine ('Flava', which is supposed to be yellow, but is more of a peach color) is what covers it most. It is positioned in the middle part of the pergola. The wisteria, which we've had for about four years now, has never really amounted to much, although I'm hoping this will be its year to take off. It is at the far end. Here are some pictures taken a couple of years ago.

This message was edited May 25, 2006 10:52 AM

Another, taken of the top of it, looking out our bedroom window. This one was taken a couple of years ago.

This one shows the trumpet vine going up on the left, the wisteria on the far post in the middle, and a clematis on the post on the right.

EDIT: I guess you can't really see the wisteria in that picture. Probably because it's not done much. LOL. And wow, has the trellis area on the right sure changed since that picture was taken!!

This message was edited May 25, 2006 10:54 AM

What a beautiful and peaceful yard you have! I relaxed just looking at your pictures of it.

I aspire to have a pergola one day. I haven't decided what I will grow on it yet, though--there is so much to choose from. I already have trumpet vine, wisteria and clematis in my yard, so will have to decide if I want to move them to the pergola, or simply plant something new I don't have yet.

Thanks for sharing!

Now back to the regularly scheduled japanese maple forum...

Thank YOU for all the nice comments! :-)

wisteria can take years to get established we had some that took almost 15 years to get just a few blooms it grew but nada blooming ...we thought we had some sort of male plant but eventually did get a few lousy blooms...of course in differnt non 5 zones that may be differnt ...trumpet vines and clematis on the other hand will bloom same year as planted or at least the next year...David

Our trumpet vine didn't bloom until year three. I know wisteria can be like that. Our local nursery has beautiful blooming wisteria and they said theirs performed once they ignored it. They said the more it's stressed, the greater chance of blooming.

yah we ignored ours for years and then noticed a few blooms but if my fractured ;>) memory serves me correcly that was the ONLY year it did so and only a few ...of course as with everyting location , winters etc play a part and in the 80's the winters were HORRIBLE aound here ..it may just be a better southern plant ...maybe some folks down dixie way would KNOW if they have had similar experiences ...it is hardy and I had no die back ...just no blooms!!! you are right it think it did take up a couple of years for the trumpets to bloom as i said fractured memory...david

What a lovely yard. And down to all the details like the decking around the tree and the hostas next to it.

Your new tree will be very happy and I agree that you got a good deal. Larger trees sure aren't cheap. And it looks in beautiful shape too.

I like that you've created an intimate dining space with the pergola. Makes it more intimate, that's for sure.

Vines sure take their time to get established unless you get an unholy one that will eat your yard. And who needs that?

Well, here's my 0.02 cents on the vines, since I started the convo with my pergola question. ;-).

I have been told that wisteria need about 5 years to get established and trumpet vine about 3 years before they will do profuse blooming of any kind. This timeframe did hold true for these vines in my yard. I think that the climate, soil, water amount, care that they receive, amount of sun vs. shade, etc., is going to certainly be an influence also. My clematis bloomed, once planted, in their second year in the ground.

Wanted to share that I have an 'Emperor One' Japanes Maple also, but it is less than half the size of your new tree, kbaumle. Just a baby yet, but holding that deep burgundy color well! As I aspire to have a pergola some day, I also aspire to have a Japanese Maple forest full of numerous varieties, perhaps all landscaped around an inground pond. I think that would be really neat, especially in the fall when their leaves change color!

Sounds so lovely hill. I hope that you have the yard you're dreaming of.

When I do, doss, I will share the pics of it here! :-)

Well, you'd better share photos along the way. It will take a long time to get from here to there - we need to celebrate every step!

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! You are right--it probably will take a long time!

Ok, I will share the process once it starts, however, I cannot promise there will be any level of real organization to it and that it will happen in a timely manner. Right now it is just in the dream stage, and has been there for several years now.

What I CAN say is that hubby and I are at least obtaining the maple trees that will be used in the landscape around my proposed future inground pond. We currently have around 20 or so varieties, adding to that number all the time as we find those that we like.

OK hill, start a new thread. We would love to see your trees!

We were working outside yesterday, and I walked by the JM and the sun was shining so beautifully through the leaves of it, I just had to run for the camera.

What a beautiful photo! It almost looks like a kalideoscope. I'm so glad that you are enjoying your tree.

Great idea, and a lovely pic!

Laura

Nice shot!

Here's an art shot my wife took of my Davidsan tree this spring ( will explain later) ...shows similar shadowing.. jm's can be VERY dramatic under differnt lighting conditions!!!!...David

Lovely photo David. Please send kudos to your DW!!

I agree...love the veins on the leaves and the shading of them.

Laura

Wow! Aren't Japanese Maples the coolest plants on earth?
I am so excited I fell in love with them this sumer. And, to my suprise, my husband didn't mind the 30 different ones I bought as babies. I tell ya, If it wasn't for gardening and pets, I wouldn't want to live in this world.
To me it is thanksgiving on a daily basis...
Love, Free

That's what gardening is all about. I love this quote - I can't remember where it's from but "The seasons come and go and come and go to teach men gratitude."

I had to laugh. I googled this to find out who said it and I got my own quote of it on the Happy Moose Forum. The world is a small place.

You are an absolute sweetheart Doss, I hear a lot of wisdom in your messages I've read. Yes, the seasons are to look forward to every 3 months. The anticipation of the new cycle of a certain plant, the fall leaves or spring buds, or even winter's rest from the garden chores. It is all a part of this mysterious plant world, and so much to learn about the earth its creator, and our selves and each other. Who is Dave (DG) by the way? And when did he start DG?

Love, freebird

I think that it would be a great question to ask on the DG forum. I don't really know!

I'm sure Todd knows he is an ubergardner ..whatever that means but it sounds important ;>) david

Means that he has done a lot of work in the plantfiles - but he's also a great participant. For his plantfiles work see:
http://davesgarden.com/members/todd_boland/

And he might very well know the DG story too.