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Japanese
 Maples
Choose
the category of Japanese maples you'd like to look at,
or read an introduction that addresses cultural
questions.
Sold out varieties:
Some of the cultivars now listed as
sold out will be added to the available list in the next few weeks.
New grafts
ship after they leaf out. They're running late this year.
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Dissectum or Laceleaf
types, mostly with a weeping/mounding, shrublike habit, to perhaps
5' in 10-15 years.
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Linearilobum or bamboo-leaf types, semidwarfs,
upright to 6-12', with narrow, spidery, but not lacy, leaves.
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Dwarf types may be laterally spreading,
ball-forming, or dense, slow-growing
uprights to 3-12'.
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The species Acer palmatum, the original Japanese Maple
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Introduction to
Japanese Maples
The
term 'Japanese maple' mainly refers to cultivated varieties of Acer
palmatum and its close relatives. The parent of all these varieties,
a species Acer palmatum, is pictured to the left and right, in
spring and fall, respectively. There are over 1000 cultivated varieties
(cultivars) displaying a great variety in size, habit, leaf shape and
color, texture, and fall coloration. There are cultivars suitable for
most cultural situations, including sun, shade, container growing, and
bonsai. The majority do well between USDA zones 5 and 9. Japanese maples
are small enough to fit into most gardens, and although they cannot
be grown as houseplants, they will thrive in a pot on a patio. In
some cases, you don't even need more than one cultivar to have variety.
A number of them have one color in spring, another in summer, and another
in fall, and some even have winter interest.
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Acer palmatum in fall color. |
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A red-leafed variety of Acer palmatum,
named 'Bloodgood'.
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Acer palmatum
is extremely variable from seed, due to its genetic richness. This means
that seedlings of the tree pictured above will not necessarily look
like the parent, although most do. A significant minority of the seedlings
will differ from the parent in color, leaf shape, habit, vigor, or other
characteristics. Japanese growers discovered this variability hundreds
of years ago, and began selecting and propagating the most interesting
seedlings by vegetative means, mainly grafting. Growers all over the
world continue to do this to the present day, so that new cultivars
are always being discovered and introduced.
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A red laceleaf Acer palmatum, 'Red Dragon'
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'Aka shigitatsu sawa'
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The result of this
selection is a bonanza for both gardeners and collectors. Because there
is such a variation in size, habit, texture, and color, and because
the trees are relatively small and thrive in different exposures, a
garden could concievably consist of nothing but Japanese maples and
still have great variety. There's a tree for every spot.
Collectors are
not so interested in spots, but focus more on the trees themselves,
and collecting Japanese maples is pursued by many, with special value
placed on rare and unusual cultivars. Of course, the collection can
never be complete, because the genetic diveristy of maples assures that
there will always be more new ones. ("Cultivar", or "cultivated
variety" indicates a variety that doesn't have a natural population,
but is maintained by propagation on the part of growers.)
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'Goshike kotohime'
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