Looking for a JM that can handle FL heat and sun

Red emperor has been suggested is this the best choice in your opinion. Jerry

sorry jerry i can offer no suggestions for your area.

I sure wish that I could help. What agricultural zone are you in jerry?

9a

Well, that's better than ten so it's a possibility. Do you have a good nursery that you could contact to ask? I can grow almost anything here but I don't have the hot long summer. IF Red Emporer was suggested I guess that's a good place to start as long as it's a form and size of a tree that fits in your landscape. If you can't grow a grafted tree you might grow a seedling as they are very hardy and can put up with all sorts of things that the grafted trees can't such as full sun and wind. I have four of them myself and love them very much.

Is the location sheltered from afternoon sun?

Check out Metro Maples. They are in Fort Worth and have been growing JMs for years in zone 8. Jerry, you may stay a little warmer in the Winter but you are probably no warmer during the dog days of Summer. He does not ship but you can see what will handle our heat. We will be getting ten to twelve different JMs in the next year and plant them in our yard, so people can see that you can grow something besides Bloodgood. It is the only JM at most nursery in this area. We live about 100 miles east of Dallas.

I've had good luck with many different JM's, and don't do anything special for them, other than make sure they're not in a soggy spot. I've had good luck ordering from Eastwood Nurseries, Mountain Maples, and I'm planning on trying Essence of the Tree for some in the fall. No nurseries around here get a selection of JMs. This is a Red Dragon I have in a bonsai pot, but I have Emperor, Inaba Shidare, Beni Heme, Yuri Hemi, Ruby Lace, tamuke yama, Viridis, and others. I've heard they need shade in the afternoon sun, but I do have several that get a good bit of afternoon sun, and don't have any real problems. Sometimes, in a very dry summer, I may get a bit of leaf burn, but only on the lace leafs.

I have a JM, not sure which one, but it is about a 25' large tree. It was here when we bought this house, so it made it through all the recent hurricanes here. I would have to say, your question should probably read more like this:
"Which JM's won't make it here?"

I have had a couple of different "Butterfly", and I seem to have killed three of them. But, I just keep trying, and the one I planted early this spring seems to be doing well. It is in full shade, and it gets watered regularly. Hasn't lost any leaves yet, and only one small branch.