Orange Dream

Does anybody out there have any Z5 experience with this one? I got a supposedly 3 yr, 30-36" one coming this week and didn't know if they have been tested by any of you folks. I will probably keep it in a pot next year as the bed won't be ready until the fall at least. Just didn't know if I should plan on a permanent pot on the deck or placing it in the landscape. If it stays in a planter, it won't be so bad as I can put the Chishio Improved in one corner of the deck and the Orange Dream in the other. They would probably work well like that with their respective spring and fall shows.

Willis

I got one about that size and age from Herter last spring ...it is in the ground in a semi protected spot ...it did JUST ok this summer in semi shade and didn't grow alot ...we can compare notes on ours as time passes...It seems like a nice tree but I have not gone ape over it like some other cultivars I have...but it is young it may knock me out in a few years.Be aware that it can get hit by early frosts so you might have to keep an eye on it in the spring if it leafs out early like some have stated it does. It is ALSO always a little dicey on placement of trees that burn easily like OD is suppose to ...getting the right spot ( like the three bears pourage) with enough sun to make it pop and not too much to burn it to a crisp is a big problem not only with this one but especially with the full moon and golden full moon and even the autumn moon and many other similar ones ...David

This message was edited Dec 18, 2006 12:16 PM

I still need to get my paws on the autumn and golden moons so I can have that predicament. I read that it leafs out later than Katsura if that means anything as I don't know when Katsura would leaf out for me here. So it is a challenge you are proposing then David. I will wait until the tree arrives before accepting said challenge. Thanks for the info

Willis

Hope it does better than my Katsura! The first winter my Katsura lost half its growth, then the second winter it expired. Broke my heart. Katsura kept growing into the fall here thus did not ripen its wood at all.

Todd.... I have stayed away from Katsura for that reason..... you have stated that in the past and others have also thusly stated that.......have you ever heard of :
Acer palmatum 'Ueno yama'
Very similar to Katsura (orange in spring and fall) only better--a little more vigorous and less temperamental. Zone 5.

At least that is what one dealer that I trust has stated ...if they say it is true I'd believe it ...but may or probably isn't available in Canada or where you are anyway...David

Never seen that one locally...nor the Orange Dream although I have heard good things about Orange Dream...I just don't know how hardy it is compared to Katsura.

I might add in looking the 'Ueno yama' on th eastwoods CD they say it is an early leafer and may need protection from a late frost...whether that is true of "their" cultivars or all ueno's is unclear and placement in a shady spot where it doesn't get much early spring sun would most likely keep it from popping too early thus effected by late frosts. And in just checking asnd editing this post the orange dream is speced out on the eastwoods cd the same ..."leafs out early and needs protection from late frost " Again it depends on what late means... Eastwoods is in the south east and they get spring in March and there are alot of cold spells that sweep across the country at that time and probably hit them BAD ...whereas here we usually get it late april after most of those cold fronts have ended... so that is a questionable call ...I do though try to stay away from stuff that leafs out early ..... David


This message was edited Dec 18, 2006 4:34 PM

Since it will be in a pot this winter and spring it will be hard for me to tell when it would naturally leaf out in whatever site I choose for it. I'll have to wait and see when David's leafs out and base it off that. Good to know somebody in the same general climate and weather patterns can provide info like that.

Willis

The Orange Dream is a nice shrubby tree, but it cannot hold a candle to Katsura or Ueno yama or homare for color. OD's spring color is good, but very short-lived and its color does not have the brillance of Katsura.

Too bad you folks can't make Katsura happen in zone 5. It burns bright both spring and fall--people never give it much credit for fall color. In your situation, what ever you can get to survive is a happy compromise.

I have had OD for 3 years and like it. It is dependable and hardy, but pretty reponsive to nitrogen. As with many plants fo this type, if you get some long shoots, you will need to snip them back. Catch the spring color while you can--it is very fleeting.

Cheers!

For those who are have not heard of R's last choice ( I hadn't but eventually found it) it is unabbreviated as Ueno homare...It is in the plant files.

And as a point of order the plant files at Dave's unless otherwise "changed" by a poster (IE:Todd from experience) have ALL JM's listed as a maximum zone 6 as do most woosie web dealers and resouces as that IS the safest zone north for most JM's.... We shall see if that is just a CYB or folks like Willis and I are just wishfull thinkers ;>) ...David

Oops....yes, my short hand was not too complete. Ueno homare is one that I just got at the end of the growing season last year so maybe I can do a comparison of it next to Orange Dream and Katsura next spring. The Ueno is much smaller than the other two, the OD in a large pot and 5 years old and the Kastura in the ground at about 5 ft tall.

Thanks David!

Ryuzu, during the fleating time I had Katsura, it actually had some excellent fall colours. The spring was glowing orange for many weeks then bright yellow-grren with ornage highlights all summer. In the fall it turned a glowing pinkish-orange...really different from most JM...it's colour was somewhat close to that of my Acer pseudosieboldianum. It was so heart-breaking when it died on me.

I guess I'm just echoing what's already been said, but Katsura is one of the few JM's that turned up its toes for me (it lasted about three years), and Orange Dream so far doesn't make my heart thump, but it's o.k., and seems hardy so far (but I've only had it a couple of years).
Don

Todd~

I got my 'Katsura' after seeing a pic of yours somewhere, maybe Plantfiles. I have never had a plant exceed my expectations so much - just a great tree! Spring color is, of course, it's main draw - but it always has great fall color as well here in my mild 8a climate. It also has lovely reddish twig and stem color, a nice effect all winter. Just such a great tree, and I can imagine how you felt when yours didn't make it. I lost my Ukigumo this past season, and it darn near broke my heart to pull it out of the ground! Why is it always our favorites that we loose? :-(


Happy Holidays!
Jamie

Maybe I have been naughty this year, but santa did not deliver the orange dream yet. Sounds like nobody is in love with it yet. Maybe mine will be special though. Merry Christmas everybody, and may dreams of acers dance in your heads.

Willis

Willis~~ Merry Christmas to you! I forgot to mention that one of the 6-8 Acers I am planning to add to my new garden is the one that started this thread....I wanted one to follow on the heels of Katsura with lovely spring color, and this is right at the top 2 or three of my list.....can't wait to see pics of your Orange Dream....sounds lovely, if brief, in it's spring glory!

Jamie

Oh Jamie, you are killing me with that pic...it is absolutely lovely. Ahh to live in a mild climate..I can only dream. Ukigumo is potted for me (still a very small plant) and survived last winter. I nearly lost it as I moved it to a shadier spot thinking the sun might burn the white leaves. Well, it was not happy and mid-summer starting dropping leaves. I moved it back to the sun and it sent out a new flush. Guess I was fooling myself thinking our Newfoundland sun was going to be too hot! LOL! Anyway, it looks OK now so time will tell.

I have cleared a space next to my front steps for a new JM. There was a common Potentilla in the space which I could not stand any longer. I'm not sure which cultivar I will get...local selection is limited. Probably Inabare Shidare as it is relatively small and weeping and easily available.

I just dug this picture up from April of this year, I caught Orange Dream in its spring colors. Photo was taken on 22 April.

Laura

April! Mine are still under snow then! I wouldn't see leaves like that until the end of June. Now you know why its such a challenge to grow JM in Newfoundland! But boy, do I love a challenge! LOL! (either that or I'm a sick puppy!)

June, Oh my, I would probably not make it till then if I had to wait for leaves that long! I've lived in colder climates off and on and remember that Spring was always so long coming, but once it arrived, everything bloomed all at once.

This year, my maples and hostas started their growth the first week in April. I am finding it useful to take pictures throughout the growing season to help remember when things happened. Also, I find that after about 8 years, I am only now beginning to get a feel for the annual rhythms of my area, and to know what seems "normal" or not.

Here, the quince trees are beginning to bud, and bulbs are poking leaves through the soil to capture the winter sunlight. Winter is only really beginning, though. We had a couple of weeks of freezing temperatures at night, but the rest of the time daytime temps have been in the 50s and even 60s. This isn't unusual here, but January and February are usually much colder. We live close to the water and the gulfstream currents sometimes moderate our temperatures and weather.

Laura

That's the only advantage of living in a cooler climate...by June EVERYTHING seems to be blooming at once! Hard to keep up with the pictures! The JM generally leaf here during the first week of June. The earliest tree to leaf are the chokecherry, usually around mid May. Ash trees don't leaf until mid-late June! If we have a warm spring (that's an oxymoron!) the February Daphne may be open by the end of the first week of April, the same time as the first crocus and snowdrops open. Mind you, in really sheltered areas in St. John's, I have seen snowdrops open by late February, but that's exceptional. Amazingly I saw a spring heath in a garden yesterday that had half of its flowers open! Bizarre!

Here is our little O.D. nearly two years ago now April 4th. That year the buds broke about March 15th, but it is rarely earlier than that and will transition to as much a 2-3 weeks later depending on the year. This year we didn't see bud break until the first week of April which is more normal.

I am not sure if anyone has noticed that lives in a temperate climate, but early bud break is not always a blessing as leaf expansion can be painstakingly slow. Sometimes the newly unfolded leaves can sit nearly without change for a couple of weeks and rapid leaf expansion and development rarely happens until near the 1st of May. It alwas makes me a little nervous to have the little, barely open leaves, hanging out for a good frost. Fortunately, I have seen very little frost damge over the years.

Anyway, O.D. is a little dynamo when the leaves emerge, but it is quickly lost as the leaves begin to expand.

Yes that is a nice lookin tree but YIKES it does look like a disaster waiting to happen as far as late frosts... those leaves look downright fragile...but from what I have seen unless a total freeze it would likely releaf albiet less spectacular. In central Il bud break usually comes mid april for most of my JM's but with many new ones planted this year it will be interesting to see if any are "early"...I would think the farther north ya go without any warming systems like oceans or large lakes your problems with early leafing would increase with late HARD freezes...as far as frosts they can happen just about everywhere... in fact Herter in NC got hit pretty badly last year ...his OD's got pretty well socked but releafed and were ok... David

I guess that's the one good thing around here...our JM go from leafless to fully leaved in a week. In fact, I've seen mine put on 6" of growth in just 2 weeks! Guess they have to make hay while the sun shines around here!