"Best" JM's article

Fine Gardening's February 2007 issue boasts a front cover blurb "Selecting the Best Japanese Maples" by F. Schroeder and H. Eastwood. The actual article backs off of this claim a bit, saying only that they are some of the authors' favorite cultivars. Anyway it is interesting to see what they recommended:

Small (3-8 ft): Waterfall, Inaba shidare, Mikawa yatsubusa
Medium (9-14 ft): Aka shigitatsu sawa, Shin deshojo, Seiryu, Koto no ito
Tall (15+ ft): Sango kaku, Aconitifolium, Vitifolium

Interesting they would choose Inabe shidare as the representative red dissectum. Of course the choices in these sorts of articles are always subjective and relative. I think those are all good plants but niether Waterfall of Inabe shidare are really "small".

I think with maples it is easier to use growth habit and leaf type as a classification for dividing up the maples--small medium and tall is too subjective as we can see Inabe shidare is small to one person where Yuri hime or Beni hime might be small to another. When we talk maples, 3-8 feet tall also encompases many many plants, some of which will be 20ft feet wide!

Cheers!

Yes I agree with R.... I think they should have just named their fav cultivars with leaf shape color type of tree ( upright dwarf weeping etc) NOT size... I can gurantee ya where R. lives a AKA for example may get that big fairly quickly but here or where Todd lives it may NEVER... and he is right some may not get that tall but may spread out alot more than the tree height would imply. I think in picking a cultivar hardiness, color( spring,summer and fall knowing these too can vary), leaf shape, and tree shape are the most important... and if you like a tree you can always trim it to keep it a bit smaller cause there is really no way of knowing how big and how fast it will grow unless you live in an especially JM worthy place which I don't and many of you don't either . In addition as has been stated if kept potted you can throw out all those size estimates with your bath water ( keep the baby please ;>) ). David

This message was edited Dec 11, 2006 1:28 PM

This message was edited Dec 11, 2006 1:30 PM

Your Feb. 2007 issue of Fine Gardening is out already?! We won't get that one on our shelves until Jan.

Fine gardening actually had an article on JM in Feb. 1999 on JM for Spring Colour by Nancy Fiers. She did not classify the maples on height rather on the spring colour being hot, pastel or jewel toned. Under the hot category she recommended Shindeshojo as #1 and Beni maiko as #2. Others that were noteworthy were Wilsons Pink Dwarf, Katsura, Orange Dream, Otome zakura and Beni komachi.

Under pastel shades her fav. is Ukigumo and Kagiri nishiki. Noteables include Aoyagi, Beni tsukasa and A. circinatum Sunglow.

Under jewel-toned her fav. was Inaba shidare and Red Pygmy with other noteables being Umegae, Sherwood Flame, Burgundy Lace, Garnet, Shaina, Chitoseyama and the ubiquitous Bloodgood.

I cannot comment on all these as many I have never seen. I have a seedling that is somewhat like Shindeshojo with bright red spring growth that turns greenish in summer. I had Katsura but it got a rot into its graft union and suffered severe winter dieback besides. I must admit, it has been and always will be one of my personal favourites.

I have Inaba Shidare and Red Pygmy; Burgundy Lace and Garnet are popular in my area. The deep purple-red in spring are knockouts on these.

I think for pastels, my favourite is A. shirasawanum 'Aureum' which is every bit as good, if not better than A. circinatum' Sunglow' ( and hardier in my area).

In regards to JM being listed by size, it is indeed very relative. The tallest JM in Newfoundland is about 15-20 feet (Atropurpureum, Bloodgood and Osakazuki) and they are unlikely to ever get any taller...these trees seem to be growing outwards rather than upwards these days. Inaba Shidare is small in my area...I've never seen one over 6 feet and they have also been relatively narrow. Garnet and Burgundy Lace are also low but I've seen plants with 15 foot spreads...they are low but NOT small! Habit, leaf type, and foliage colour (spring, summer, fall) are the main characteristics one should keep in mind when selecting JM.

All relative of course. It's sort of like asking what purple daylily is your favorite.

Of the trees I have that are listed, I love each one. But when he puts aconitifolium there he really can't be talking about the size of the tree. Perhaps this is just his recommendation for landscape situations. And of course on the west coast the heights don't make any sense, or in the cold places either.

I do have to admit though that I have shopped by 'size' as all of you know. It's a useful thing to attempt anyway.

And as to spring color - I don't know why they have left out Beni Fushigi.

This message was edited Dec 11, 2006 2:24 PM

" I do have to admit though that I have shopped by 'size' as all of you know. It's a useful thing to attempt anyway."


I agree Doss if you see a tree listed on a web site that maxes at 25 ft and one at 12 ft ( according to "them" even though it most likely is someone estimate for a certain area at 25 years ...it still gives you something to go by...RE: one will "probably" be smaller ...I just don't think that is the best way to choose although i have done so myself and it can , as I said , be of some limited help especially for smaller spaces or what will do best left in a pot ( some trees are NOT ideal for containers) ( BTW Vertrees does a good job on specing out those that do well in containers ) if used as a "relative" tool....but should not be the determining factor in most cases. David

I'm not sure that it should determine what kind of a tree you buy, but it sure makes a difference if you are going to plant it IN the ground. Luckily there is such a wide array of trees in each size that there are vast choices.

This is spoken, of course, from someone who has planted trees in the ground that have outgrown their spaces, even with fairly aggressive pruning. But then my aconitifolium is one of my favorite trees and I have kept it at 8 feet. Depends on the tree?