Does anyone have the new Acer palmatum 'Shirazz'?

wha - I'll bet they were the same pot size, just each taking a slitghly different direction in new growth. By the end of the season, if I havn't fried mine with its exposure, they will both be the same overall size. They do stand out in the landscape don't they!

Our street is going to be repaved beginning late June, including new sidewalks, gutters, curbs and a waterline (on our side unfortunately). It will be a horrendous three month mess. While I have all the front yard lansdcape beds well within the property line those constructions guys can get careless swinging an endloader bucket around. Last year one block over with a similar project they just wrecked a mature cherry tree by taking a mammouth slice out of the trunk clear to the heartwood. The homeowner wound up in small claimes court trying to get compensated for the value of the tree. I'm going to take a good set of photos before construction begins and as it progresses. Or just sit out front with my husband's 00 next to my lawn chair and a pitcher of iced tea for the duration. ;>) I'm all for the repaving, just not the carelessness.

Wow! My 'Shirazz' is planted on the southwest corner of my sunroom, with late afternoon shade, but good sun most of the day. In the morning light, it positively glows. What a nice sight to see at the start of the day. I hope it enjoys this location. So far, so good.

Oh boy HoosierGreen - I worry. Mine has the worst possible sighting for a JM. Morning shade - afternoon sun. You can all learn this one at my expense. Any one ever tried an anti-dessicant on a JM?

Sure is a pretty one. Hope that it grows well for you.

Supposedly, 'Shirazz' needs good sun to keep the variegation. I think with sufficient moisture it might do well. This is the first year however, and we should all let each other know how things turn out this summer in different regions. Good luck to everyone!

I sure wondered about using Cloud Cover on mine but haven't felt brave enough to do it.

doss - you might find this of interest.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/WO005

Very interesting although it seemed to come out that Cloud Cover made things look good while Wilt-pruf made the trees have more of a chance of survival. I did some looking around though and it looks as if Cloud Cover is a treatment to deter mildew which my Beni Fushigi gets every summer. It doesn't seem to have any problem with leaf burn though.

OK, here's the beginning of my West Coast test of Shirazz. I really didn't have any intentions of getting it, but I went to a local nursery last weekend and all their maples were 25% off, so I couldn't pass it up! Here's a pic of it just after delivery on Saturday...it's probably about 5 1/2 ft tall. I'm going to grow it in a container at least for now. I put it in the back corner of my front deck, where it gets morning sun but afternoon shade, and since this side of the house faces east it tends to stay a bit cooler than the west-facing backyard. So hopefully it's an ideal place for it! If not, I've got a shadier area at the bottom of the hill underneath the deck that it's on now. Or if it seems to like sun, all I have to do is pull it out a little farther from the house and it can have sun all day if it wants it!

Lucky Shirazz - It gets to travel!

updated photo of shirazz. it is starting to have show green. yesterday i went to the nursery where i bought it and they still had 4 left. all were in full sun and PINK. thinking about re-arringing three jm's so this one would get more sun.

anyone out there in full sun? i saw no damage to the leaves at tehe nursery.

close up - out of focus a bit

would move autumn moon to shirazz location. colors might work better.

thoughts?

It really looks beautiful next to that Bloodgood. Envy here....

joycet - thanks - your not helping though I wanted to here - go for it and make the move.
You are the second that mentioned it looked good in front of the bloodgood. I should have taken photo's at the nursery, the pink in full sun was stunning. I can always take down some sugar maples to help.

Looks like you have a beautiful property...move it where you want to!! YOU only have to please YOU!!! ^_^

I looked at these at the nursery I was at on Tuesday. They had 3. Each $245.00. All about 6 foot, but skinny. Yours has opened up nicely. It looks pretty pink to me in the picture, so the one at your nursery must have been awesome! The ones at my nursery were under high shade and may have gotten a little morning sun, but they weren't near as colorful as yours.

Your shirazz is looking really good wha. It must be happy where it is.

oh boy, i am getting out numbered here.

LOL! There is only one of us that gets to look at it everyday, and I think you should make that person happy.

This is in sun from 12:30 on. Worst possible sighting for a JM if it's going to scorch. It was planted May 10th. The inner shaded leaves are turning a pale orange green. The leaves in full sun are either shocking pink or bright green rimmed with shocking pink. Still a show stopper.

It's going to be interesting to see how all of us Shirazz owners make out by late summer, with all the different zones and exposures we're setting up this first year. We need to help each other out and compare notes, which I'm sure will be extremely helpful to anyone interested in owning one. Good luck to all!

Snapple,
Beautiful pic. What is the weeping conifer in the background of this pic? Is it a weeping Nootka Cypress? (Cupressus nootkatensis 'Jubilee', 'Pendula', etc.? (Genus on this plant has changed from Chamaecyparis to Cupressus.)
Thanks,
Mike
tl³

Really?! A change in Genus! That's huge. You identified it correctly. It was labeled the formerly named Chamecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula'. However I am convinced that the cultivar was not properly identified at the nursery In "Conifers" by Gelderen and van Hoey Smith they recognize two forms of 'Pendula' (p.99) They refer to one type as " the dense full form with pendulous branches" and "the branches of the second form spread more broadly and create a more open habit". What I have does not really resemble either form. It appears identical to 'Jubilee' as pictured in Bitner's "Conifers for Gardens" (p.75). I need to wait a bit before I put a permanent plant tag out for this one to be certain.

It was planted here April 4, 2007. It actually rolled off the truck when it was delivered and the root ball disintegrated right before my eyes. Also the temperatures dropped that day from previous daily highes in the low 70's to 40 daytimes and 19 night with 40mph sustained winds as we were putting it in the ground! I had pre-dug the hole and did the backfilling and watering in my self. It was too big a tree for one woman to handle alone so the nursery guys stood around and held it up while I backfilled, watered, backfilled, watered etc. They staked it. The winds were horrid that day with gusts to 60 mph. I'll never forget it. Anyway - it was not a happy tree initially due to the rough treatment. It coned heavily that spring for obvious reasons and the initial needle drop was severe. However it is making a very nice comeback. The nursery I dealt with is a very good one. I was offered an immediate repalcement but I declined. I really liked the form when I first saw it. It stood out from all the others. I immediately new it was different. I believe it is really 'Jubilee'. All the new growth exhibits that form.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this survives in various conditions. If it does well, I think this goes high on my list for next year.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but is this what you're referring to treelover?

"Taxonomic notes
Syn: Cupressus nootkatensis D. Don 1824, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach 1841, Callitropsis nootkatensis Örsted 1864. Chamaecyparis nootkatensis is still widely used, but studies following on the recent discovery of Xanthocyparis vietnamensis have shown that a variety of lines of evidence justify placing these two species in the same genus (Farjon et al. 2002, Little et al. 2004)."

I'm talking about Shirazz.

We are forecasted to have 90+ temps and high winds! Very heat unusual here this time of year and especially accompanied by winds. Other than water water water any advice?

Know that even if you get leaf burn you most likely won't lose the tree. And move any plants that are into pots against some structure or plants that might block the wind as long as they are in shade.

Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement. I needed it. I've got 40% shade cloth and stakes on standby. I really want to test this tree, but not lose it in the process. I don't believe this weather. It's nuts!

shade shade shade ;>) I agree with Doss..It will get damaged in full or alot sun but thats just something ya have to live with...I can gurantee you this "new and improved" maple will do no better than most jms in sun especially the first year ... as I have said any final say on this tree is years away and highly location and owner oriented. one or two years from a diverse group of differnt experienced folks won't tell you squat and you certainly can't promote it on those unscientific observations ... I am very careful to always say ( at least I try) that this or that is my experience or use words like it seems hardy or hardy for me or takes sun well here etc......This looks to be a very hot wet summer here and for alot of folks ...I doubt it will do even ok unless perfectly placed and properly cared for.... at this point all you look for is survival and it should do that in m,ost regions no matter what variety especially since alll you folks have spent BIG $$ on larger trees!! David

It will be in the 90's here Saturday as well. Not planning to do anything special to any of the trees I planted. We had a good full day of rain yesterday. And drizzle today, so i trust they are drinking up.

It's already gotten close to 100 here this spring and the trees are undamaged, even those in full sun although I chose trees that are suited to that exposure. Seems as if they are more vulnerable to leaf burn later in the season. I don't know why.

Doss you are probably correct especially with established trees ... The few and I put an !! after few ...hot days we have had in springs and early summers past seem to not be a problem ..it usually shows uop in july and aug..it may be sort of like cold ... a small shot here and there does little harm but give it two -four weeks and they just can't take it... Your hot period was days if I remember right so I think you are right on it is the continual bombardment of hot and possible humid air that is not good for man (woman) beast or JM's ..and even a short period of heat will cause youngins to start a hurtin' ... a early spring planting of all jm's and doing so with 3-4 year old established trees is the best way to insure the leastr amount of summer damage...but as I said any damage will likley not relly hurt the tree. ...I do see a big problem in northern ares with the releafing and late flushes due to denuding of young trees by summer heat ...I theorize it is a big cause of winter dieback and possible fatality by the following spring. The actual denuding shouldn't hurt a healthy tree it will releaf ... but the aftyer effects may be injurious David

Oh, I hadn't considered that late flushes of leaves on trees in cold climates might be very bad for them! Makes sense though.

Also makes sense that more prolonged periods of hot weather makes a difference. We only had 3 days of almost 100 degree weather this spring and sometimes we get high 90's for a week or so in the summer.

We're getting temps in the 80s, but lots of rain and wind. So far, Shirazz has shown absolutely no damage or change in coloration. Going to be an interesting summer.

Not to be a BOBT ( bearer of bad tidings) or maybe bearer of realistic tidings ... none of my dozens of maples that hold color into early summer have had any color change and the ones that do change...have had less than normal even with high 80's for the past two weeks pushing 90. Also even with 40+ mph winds on a weekly basis and 20-30mph every other day I have had little or no wind damage to any of my trees leaves...it would seem wind and sun damage go together and are more prominant in the heat of summer ( my guess).

This may NOT be the best year for any tree test or used as a benchmark normal year if there is such a thing ( in addition to my previous statement that several years are needed) cause really conditions have been almost perfect for tree growth HERE...compared to the last 5-6... I would expect if these torrential rains we have had continue and the humidity and heat rise there may be fungus among us...but so far this growing season has been HORRIBLE for farmers and selling nurserries but great for JM growers and tree growers in general ...there have been several stories on how good it has been in our local paper from tree growers and arboretum folks that have had real problems the last few years

This message was edited Jun 7, 2008 11:29 AM

This message was edited Jun 7, 2008 11:30 AM

Well, three pics follow of the damage sustained by a totally unprotected Shirazz when subjected to steady winds of 25-30 mph with occaisional gusts higher, full blazing sun from 12:30 on, a high temperature of 95 with humidity at 21%. It was well watered in advance in the early dawn hours with a slow soak. Another shorter slow soak was done at about 4:00 pm. I have been relying on supplemental irrigation for all the gardens because we have been short on rainfall this season. (All JMs get watered on a weekly schedule no matter what.) To top everything off last night at 9:30 I was out staking it because we had a storm front advancing with 75mph straight line winds. Today it's chainsaw city in these parts. Luckily I lost nothing with no limb damage to anything. How I don't know. The worst damage.

Second shot.

Last shot - gives an idea of the damage as a proportion of the whole. On balance the tree looks pretty good all things considered. I had the shade cloth and the stakes all ready but at the last minute I decided to just see what this tree could take. If this happens again in July or August I'm not sure what I will do. One thing, the varigation on the leaves is still striking. Those that are all green are a beautiful two tone, with lime green edges and dark green centers. Major protions of the tree have pink edges with green centers. It's a remarkable looking tree.

Just had to show off my 'Shirazz' which has performed beautifully so far in its first year. We have had tremendous rains, but it's weathered gusty winds, days in the high 80s, and full sun. Myersphcf has a good point about conditions this year, so only time will tell, but it is encouraging that this might very well be a wonderful, brightly variegated Japanese maple addition to our landscapes.