The E1 is suppose to be superior in heat and cold than BG but I am not totally convinced...I think because BG's are so common that many small nurseries promote them so as to compete with the big box stores that usually have BG's. It may hold it's red better and leaf out a few days ltr but I personally don't see a big differnce. I lost 9/10th of one of my E1's to the freeze this spring but none of my BG's.I would say at most it is a slightly improved tree.

As far as size it really does matter in this case ..I and most others feel a bigger tree with a more established root system will hold up better in borderline JM areas like yours ...that is not to say you need to buy a gigantic tree 4-5 feet is probably fine...That being said if you have a weird spring event like this spring ( you were lucky you were far enough north you wern't effected by it ) a smaller tree would have done better as my dwarfs and other smaller stuff did better than most of my larger ones except those in the ground for many years...but that was a once in 50 year occurance ...I still stand by my statement that in your area bigger is better.

As far as big box compared to nurseries you are more likely to get properly taged trees at nurseries and nicer trees and it's nice to shop local but with the gurantees that most big boxes give and the price differnce I can't in good conscience tell you not to buy there ..David

I DISAGREE WITH MYERSPHCF 100%! BG will never be as hardy as E1, nor will any other Maple in the palmatum family, currently. One test is not sufficient evidence to make such a claim.

Dax

All I said was that the differnces were minimal and that the E1 s not singificantly hardier ..my experience only said that the BGs were not less hardy IMHO to any great degree ... Since there have beeen no double blind studies on comparing the two i think any statement as to which one is "hardier" is premature at best. Bg's have been around a long time and grown successfully in borderline areas for years ( although I admit not all marked BG's are BG's and many simple Atropurpureums). I personally like the E1 and the Fire glow both of which are similar to the BG and nice trees in their own right ...the Fire glow being a bit flashier and may have an edge in being a bit more differnt with it's glowing leaves.But I stand by my statement all three trees are similar and any differnces minor .David

Naturally the answer is within the character-hardiness of the plant. Since 'Emperor I' hardens off and leafs out both, 2 weeks earlier and 2 weeks later, respectively, I beg to differ.

Hope no-one has anymore terrible springs.

Regards,

Dax

I propagate ‘Bloodgood’ and ‘Emperor 1’ from softwood cuttings. ‘Emperor 1’ breaks dormancy about 2 weeks earlier than ‘Bloodgood’. ‘Emperor 1’ seems to grow about %20 faster than ‘Bloodgood’. I was fortunate to have a very large underground storage area to move all my Japanese maples to when the freeze hit and then move them back outside after the freeze.

Nervous

My experience seems to verify this too. However, mine is a Red Emperor not Emperor 1 so I don't know if these are the same cultivars. (Vertrees book on Japanese Maples seems to list them as the same cultivar). This year my Red Emperor also leafed out at least a week and a half earlier than my Bloodgoods, so I don't know how it is supposed to be better for us northern gardeners.

One comment on the hardiness of Acer Palmatum. They are perfectly hardy for our zone. I too live in the Chicagoland area and not one has died exclusively due to cold weather, but of course this could do more with the changes in our climate, and the fact that the area due to Lake Michigan and the concrete of the city (!) maybe warmer than the areas further west. The example of climate change can be readily appreciated by comparing a zone map from the '60's to the recently updated (2006) map. Arguably we are now in zone 6a, probably the best zone for these plants.

See links on Dan's garden which I can't recall off hand. He has grown and is growing many different cultivars in the Chicago area. The bad winter we had of a month of near zero, minus five to fifteen degree weather where ice and snow were on the ground for a month did not affect the roots of my trees(I had a problem with rabbits which out of desperation chewed off branches and reduced many small two to three year olds to sticks--that's another issue). However, I'm pleased to report that most of these sticks are now flourishing. In fact, I'm surprised at how well they recovered with new branchlets growing in all directions.

The following is a list of cultivars that made it through fine for the winter besides the two cultivars mentioned and the parent cultivar:

Acer Palmatum 'Red Dragon' (2)
Acer Japonicum 'Aconitifolium'
Acer Palmatum 'Seiryu'
Acer Shirasawanum 'Aureum'
Acer Palmatum 'Nuresagi'
Acer Palmatum 'Ukon' (reduced to a tiny stick but still alive)
Acer Palmatum 'Hogyoku'
My AP 'Crimson Queen' has been fine now four years.

The following didn't make it,and I don't know if its due to cold or rabbits or both:
Acer Palmatum 'Villa Taranto' (it was a small plant to begin with);

The following was due to my own error or inexperience:
Acer Palmatum 'Chishio Improved' (I was too hasty in taking it out after it was reduced to a stick) I should've waited a bit to let it leaf out;

Interestingly, it took the Acers in front of my house that get less sunshine longer to leaf out--by two weeks--than from areas that see at least four hours of sun in the backyard. This delay actually helped during that cold snap in April.

This winter taught me a valuable lesson not ot be hasty in thinking that a plant didn't make it. Because the ones in front except for the Hogyoku and a parent looked pitiful but they were fine and now look very nice now. The ones reduced to sticks did fine too. They shot up new growth and are thriving. So much so that I think aggressive pruning in the winter isn't such a bad idea for correcting the shape of larger plants.

In this zone you can grow a lot more cultivars than just the two on the thread.

I agree with everything EZ has said.. 99% of mine 60+ made it thru the winter fine and we did have some pretty cold weather, ice snow wind ya name it ..The freeze was another matter..I was hit harder than those 200 miles north ( Chi. town) or even 100 miles (Peoria) ..but MUCH less than those 100 miles south ( St. Louis)..I don't think Chi town or any city that far north got it nearly as bad cause even with the warm march they are always two weeks behind us.. I would have given anything for that two weeks... I don't think i would have lost much of anything ..David

Can you keep E-1 Japanese maple at 8 to 10 feet when they can become 15-20 feet? I mean can you prune them to keep an 8 to 10 foot height

No. That sort of excessive pruning will be of no benefit to the tree and could be extremely harmful. Pick something else that will stay in your height range.

btw, attempting to maintain any woody plant to a specific size significantly smaller than normal is never a valid reason for pruning, unless you are creating a hedge. And many plants are just not suited to hedging.

In our z7 bloodgoods get real big. If space is limited and your in a residential area it should be a no brainer...Emperor is a great tree.

Al

If space is limited and your in a residential area it should be a no brainer...Emperor is a great tree.

I'm not sure I understand the point of this comment. Emperor 1 is not significantly smaller in mature size than is Bloodgood. And it is NOT recommended that you attempt to keep this tree at half or less of its mature size. There are other red leaved upright Japanese maples you could choose that would stay much closer to your desired height - 'Shaina', 'Moonfire' or 'Fireglow' just to name a few.

If you want a smaller red, I'd check out Fireglow. We have two Emperor 1s, and they're lovely, but they're a very standard red-purple Japanese maple. The fireglow we have is stunning-- a slightly brighter red, a slightly smaller leaf, and the leaves really do have an incredible effect when backlit. I only wish I'd planted it more prominently-- it's my favorite of our reds.

Here in 5b, most of the nurseries are selling Emperor 1 now rather than bloodgood. I trust the nurseries I frequent, because they have a very generous warranty program. I know what they sell is what will be most likely to thrive, because if it doesn't they're going to lose a lot of money on it. We were told, and I've read in many sources, that Emperor 1 leafs out later than Bloodgood. Yes, they look very similar through the rest of the year, but those two weeks can be very important if you live in a northern climate with late frosts.

You may also want to check out Acer shirasawanum hybrids, which are said to do better in colder climates. Acer s. Red Dawn is one I've seen at nurseries around the Chicago area (Songsparrow nursery is one of them) and it's lovely. It also grows to a smaller mature size.

Here is a link that might be useful: Klehm's Song Sparrow Red Dawn maple

I was glancing through the sale trees at Conifer Kingdom, and it turns out Red Dawn is on a deep discount right now. You might want to check it out. I bought a Tsukushi gata maple from them (and a few others) just a couple weeks ago, and was astounded at the size and caliper of the trees they sent. Even with shipping it was a better value than what I could find at local nurseries.

Also, I find this website helpful because they sell tall specimens of each tree, so you can often see what your tree will look like 10 or 20 years down the road. It's helpful, because so many JM photos are close-ups of the leaves or photos of very young plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Acer shirasawanum red dawn

More information about differences between these two here - Japanese Maple Bloodgood vs Emperor 1: Are They Really The Same?