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SHIN DESHOJO is the most brilliant
red Japanese Maple in the spring. The small leaves are as bright as
blooms. This maple is a semi-dwarf reaching a mature height of 12 feet. It
makes an excellent bonsai or patio plant. In late spring the leaves turn
to a bluish-green. Many times a second flush of growth appears which will
be bright red creating a two-tone effect. On mature plants a pink and
green mottling can appear in summer. Fall colors are yellow and red. This
maple buds well with pruning enabling shaping and forcing of new growth
all spring. One of the best maples and easy to grow. Very similar
varieties are Deshojo, Bonfire, and Beni Komachi. |
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BENI KAWA is a newer coral bark
Japanese maple with redder bark that stays more red on older wood. It is a
four-season plant which means it is attractive and interesting in all four
seasons. Beni Kawa is vigorous and often grows again in the fall. Fall
colors are pumpkin orange or gold with red veins that are long-lasting. To
get the most colorful bark it needs lots of winter sun and cold. It is a
multi-stem tree to twenty feet and should be pruned on the top of the most
vigorous shoots to encourage more branches giving you more color.
Sango Kaku, the original coral bark maple, is probable just as good and
has fall colors of yellow or with some sun it will have apricot reds mixed
in and is also long-lasting. |
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VIRIDIS/WATERFALL is a laceleaf,
or dissectum, Japanese maple which has a very finely cut, or dissected,
leaf. The leaves alone are a beautiful sight. Viridis is bright green and
holds its color in our heat very well. The green is very bright and will
add a green glow to your shady garden. It grows slowly and in a mounding,
cascading manner to about 8 feet or more. With age the branches take on a
twisting habit creating beauty even after the leaves fall. Fall colors are
the brightest yellow gold you can imagine. Viridis grows a little faster
and stronger than its red counterpart, Crimson Queen. Watnong is similar
but is more upright and turns a brilliant red in the fall. Palmatifidium
is a dark green that turns brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red.
Tamukeyama is a very nice red dissectum that can take some hot Texas sun. |
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SHANTUNG MAPLE is a fast growing
shade tree newly introduced from the land of Crape Myrtles, China. It has
appealing sweet-gum like leaves with colors from rust to purple in the
spring. Clusters of small lemon yellow flowers first appear before the
leaves. With time the bark becomes heavily fissured and very attractive.
This tree is tested in alkaline soils, takes drought, and has strong wood
and branch angles to resist the Texas winds. Fall colors are absolutley
beautifully golden yellow with some red mixed in, to orange, to solid red
some years.
These are seedling grown so there will be some variability. THE TREE OF
THE MILLENIUM. Metro Maples thinks this is the best shade tree the DFW
metroplex has ever had. |
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This Shantung maple is patented,
PP #17367 and was developed at Metro Maples, the first commercial grower
of Shantung maples in Texas. Acer truncatum 'FIRE DRAGON'®
MAPLE is the only one that I have found to have red fall colors every
year. Currently no one has been licensed to grow this tree so it is only
available at Metro Maples and some of the local nurseries. If
you are a large and honest grower that produces quality trees and can
propagate your own trees, call to talk about licensing. This
moderately fast growing shade tree is everything one could want in a
quality shade tree that turns a brillant red and thrives in difficult
climates. Look for more Shantung maple cultivars in the future with
different leaf shapes and growth habits with yellow/orange fall colors. |
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CRIMSON QUEEN is a red leaf
dissectum Japanese Maple and is probably the most common but most
beautiful of them all. Its finely cut leaves and cascading branches give
it a delicate and graceful character. It grows slowly to six feet and ten
feet wide in a mushroom shape. Old Crimson Queens develop a beautiful
branching pattern but can be made more beauitfiul by pruning so that you
can see these branches even when the leaves are out. Brilliant red fall
color that never misses. Absolutely one of the finest Japanese Maples. |
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SHAINA is a red leaf dwarf that
grows fast when young, then grows slow and wide to only six by four feet.
It is a sport of the well known Atropurpureum. It starts spring with very
red leaves that after a month turn maroon while new leaves are growing of
bright red giving it a two-toned effect of red and maroon. Good red fall
color and interesting dense and upright habit with superior tuffness makes
this a great red leaf dwarf. |
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Inaba Shidare is another great
cascading dissectum. Here is a photo of fall color in a 45 gal container.
This maple is a very good purple-red that also can have a very glossy leaf
in May. It is a little tougher than the other red dissectums and has been
looking better in comparison to them during our recent years of hotter
weather. |
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MURASAKI KIYOHIME is a small, low
and wide growing Japanese maple with excellent spring colors. It leafs-out
earlier than most. The leaves in this photo are very small, only 1 inch
across. Tama hime is smaller growing, but similar.
Other dwarf varieties recommended are Sharp's Pygmy, slower and more
bonsai-tree like, Mikawa yatsubusa, even more slower and more upright with
great fall colors, and Coonora Pygmy, very fast growth, great fall colors,
but getting quite large and wide for a dwarf. Many of the dwarf
varieties are twiggy. Their spreading habit with many, many small branches
look great even without the leaves in winter. |
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BLOODGOOD is a popular, upright
red-leaf Japanese Maple. It has a leaf shaped like your hand and starts
red then becomes dark purplish-red in late spring, as shown.
It grows about 15 inches a year and can reach a height and width of twenty
feet in twenty years. It tolerates sun probably as good as any. Summer
color is a bronze green. Fall is always brilliant red. Red Emperor is similar but stays more compact, grows
faster,
and retains red color better in the heat. Metro Maples believes Red
Emperor is the superior large red upright Japanese maple. Other
great ones that grow over 14 feet are Suminagashi, Trompenburg, Nuresagi,
O'kagami, and Fireglow for a smaller 12 foot one. |
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FIREGLOW is a red-leaf Japanese
Maple known for holding its red color better than any in our heat. The
leaf is like Bloodgood only a little more slender. It grows
only about one foot per year and matures at a smaller size of twelve feet.
Summer color is an orangish-red, and never bronzes unless you let it get
too dry. Fall is a brilliant red. |
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GREEN FILIGREE is a most beautiful
dissectum Japanese Maple. From a distance it appears yellow, but up close
you can see the very fine variegation. It is a slow grower to four feet.
It really needs a shady spot, or a little morning sun, with good soil
preparation to be at its best. This was Vertrees favorite dissectum. Fall
color is good in the orange to reds but not as bright as Crimson Queen.
Green Filigree is very hard to grow in hot climates and needs a cool spot
in your yard.
Some maples that do not seem to do well here are: Aureum, Hogyoku (no
orange fall color), Ukigumo (very little variegation), Moonfire (poor fall
color), and all the strap-leaf varieties except Koto no Ito and Beni Otake
are very good. |
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Here is a picture of some of my
backyard which contains 130 different Japanese Maples. This is in spring
around the first of April. There are reds, yellows, greens, maroons, and
oranges available. If you think this is good, wait until fall.
I've also tested over 300 varieties of azaleas and 120 different
Rhododendrons.
A noted gardener from Arkansas that has been gardening for 52
years was recently quoted as saying, "My next garden will be a maple
garden." |
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OSAKASUKI in brilliant fall color.
It colors-up earlier than many and produces a very eye-catching
orangish-red fall color. It also has bright green bark during the growing
season, and a olive green bark in winter. |
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OSAKAZUKI has larger leaves with
reddish tints over green in spring, then is a rich, bright green all
summer. When some sun pokes through the shade trees and hits an Osakasuki
leaf it shines. One of the favorite maples in Japan.
Osakazuki is a vigorous grower with a sturdy and compact habit to
fifteen feet. It produces many seeds which are a bright red all summer. If
you don't want another red leaf for your yard but want more fall color,
this is it. |
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BOSKOOP GLORY is a Japanese Maple
that does better in Texas than in Oregon! It starts the year with a wine
red color for several months then is the most brilliant of all in fall.
This tree goes electric flourescent orange-red much like Osakasuki.
A strong spreading plant to 14 feet. One of the first to color-up in
fall. Metro Maples gives an annual fall color award to a maple in my
garden and this is the only three time winner! |
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RED DRAGON is a new selection with
superior characteristics. A great pure-red leaf, strong and arching
branching structure, and an early return to a nice red color again with
the first cool breeze in fall. However, Red Dragon is slow growing and
sometimes prone to branch or twig dieback from the heat, but still a very
desirable cultivar. |
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ORANGEOLA is the most heat
tolerant of all dissectums. It has a great leaf which is red in early
spring. It changes to greens and reds (usually green in the inner sections
or in too much shade) in late spring. It usually will grow again in late
spring which produces the orange leaves if in about 50 percent shade.
Encourage this growth by lightly fertilizing and by removing a few or many
of the terminal leaves. This maple is very cascading. It is fun to grow
because it will grow, sometimes all year. Loves pruning and shaping. Fall
color is brilliant ruby-red that can last a long time depending on the
weather. |
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AUREUM or GOLDEN FULLMOON MAPLE is
magnificent in cool climates. It has a greenish yellow, or chartruse,
color that lights up a shady area, and this one does need shade and more
water. It is a very slow grower. The leaves have eleven short lobes and
can be red in the fall while the middle of the leaf is yellow in a round
shape looking like a golden moon. Beautiful, but hard to grow and fall
color hard to get in hot climates.
Metro Maples no longer offers the Golden Fullmoon Maple but is proud to
have a vigorous, more colorful, and heat tolerant selection called
MoonriseTM. |
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BENI SCHICHIHENDGE is a variegated
semi-dwarf maple that is edged in orangish-pink in early spring which is
very bright. The pink fades to cream which remains through fall.
BUTTERFLY is a similar cultivar where the color is a nice soft
pink, turning more quickly but to better shades of green and white in
summer. Some years there is a lot of white, which is a very bright
addition to a shady spot in your garden.
BENI SCHICHIHENGE will grow faster and taller, to 8 feet, than
BUTTERFLY's usual 6 foot height. Both are good plants. |
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Orange Dream is a new cultivar
with specaular spring colors of bright yellow and orange. It keeps a
bright yellow-green color until late July when it takes on more green
tones. It is a small tree with very promising fall colors, as shown. |
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Acer palmatum in fall 2005. This
is the toughest Japanese maple for hot weather climates and is very
beautiful throughout the year. This is the tree I use for understock for
the grafted cultivars. It grows vigorously to 15 to 20 feet.
You can see many 50 year old ones at the Fort Worth Japanese Garden. |
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Here is the difference in fall
colors of Orangeola, left, and Crimson Queen, right. Both are highly
desirable trees. A few minutes after taking this picture the setting sun
hit Orangeola and just lit it up, creating the picture on my homepage. |
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Acer gresium, paperbark maple, is
a rare and choice small tree. It grows slowly to 30 feet with beautiful
exfoliating bark and bright fall colors of red to orange/yellows. It is
easy to grow and does best with afternoon protection from the hot sun,
although, most years it does fine in the heat. Can grow in alkaline soils
and does not require a lot of water. |
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Seiryu is a easy and fast growing
upright green lace leaf with very attractive green bark. Despite the small
delicate leaves this is one of the most sun and drought tolerant Japanese
maples. Fall colors are reds and sometimes mixed with gold. |
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This is Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn
Gold' which is a great tree. So good that I call it an honorary maple.
Also called Maidenhair Tree, this living fossil is hundreds of millions of
years old and once thought extinct. Autumn Gold has a great fan-shaped
leaf and the deepest yellow fall color. It is a male tree that does not
produce seed and reaches 40 feet tall. This is the only tree in the world
that has no known pests or disease. The only drawback is its slow growth,
but worth it. |
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The beautiful bark of Acer
gresium, Paperbark maple. Slow growing but very desirable this maple can
add some texture to your garden. The 'leaves of three' defies the wisdow
of 'leave it be'. The wood is extremely hard. Curls of bark when backlite
from the sun is a very bright copper color. |
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Japanese maples, such as Nishiki
gawa and Ara kawa, also have interesting bark. Some people really like a
tree's bark and these are two of their favorites for Japanese maples. Both
are easy to grow in hot climates and have bright fall colors of
orange-red. |
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Fireglow in the fall can be
spectacular. Sometimes it colors up a little bit late and gets frozen, but
then it also has been in full glorious color on Christmas day too. |
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Bloodgood in the fall. Metro
Maples display garden, Tsuki Gardens, relies heavily on maples but when
they are all colored-up in the fall it is best described as a Fantasyland.
If you could travel to see all the trees in the billion of stars in our
Milky Way galaxy, then visit the billions of other galaxies in the
universe you'd find out that, "It doesn't get any better than
this!" |
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VIRIDIS in fall 2006. This
dissectum colored-up a most brilliant orange color right after Steve
Huddleston and the TV cameras left. Viridis is often a brilliant yellow
with this orange mixed-in.
Fall colors in North Texas start in mid-November and peak around the
end of November when we have cool nights in the fourties. When fall
temperatures stay warm the leaves have been changing colors late November
into early December. |
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Here I am inside a 125 year old
Japanese maple 'dissectum' that I found at the Scott Arboretum, west of
Philadelphia during a Maple Society meeting.
Don't expect your dissectum to get that big in Texas, or in your
lifetime! |
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Metro Maples has a Display Garden
with over 50 varieties of Japanese maples and the areas largest Shantung
maples. There is also a Satsuki azalea collection which contains varieties
that you will not see elsewhere in the Metroplex.
There are also some Rhododendrons that you were told would not survive
in Texas when in fact they are easy to grow. The Display Garden has R.
makinoi, R. yakushimanum, and the following hybrids: Grace Seabrook, City
Park, Very Berry, Graf Zeppelin, Nova Zembla, Scintillation, and
Peppermint Twist. Other rare trees to see besides those that I sell,
include: Stewartia, Pteracarya, Perrotia, Golden Chain Tree, Katsura,
Birch 'Royal Frost', Chinese elm 'Frosty', and Acer triflorum, Acer
miyabei, Acer Saccharum ssp. Leucoderme, Acer Saccharum ssp. floridanum,
Acer Saccharum ssp. ozarkense, Acer negundo 'Kelly's Gold', Acer
capillipes, Acer davidii, Acer tegmentosum 'White Tigress', Acer
carpinifolium, Acer sieboldianum and pseudosieboldianmum, Acer ginnala,
and Acer truncatums 'Baby Dragon', 'Skinny Dragon' and 'Golden
Dragon'. See you soon! |
