(All photos from blazing full sun. The US Nat. Arboretum)

Acer palmatum 'Callico'

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Acer palmatum 'Indet'

Acer palmatum 'Koto No Ito'

Acer sinense (leaves resemble sweetgum, Liquidamber styraciflua..)

The US Nat. Arb is zone 7b 8a and has very poor soil, clay; hope that helps.

My first suggestion would be to get in touch with the owner of Mendicino Maples for suggestions as he's in Cali but upper Cali. Still they'd know for sure for ya.

Dax

Dax, Great photos! What month were they taken in?
AL

Third week of May. I forgot the Acer sinense photo I see.

ThanksAL,

Dax

Washington DC has humid and rainy summers like those of the eastern Asian native habitat of Japanese maple. Even in the wild it is typical for Japanese maple to be a forest understory tree. Wild type green seedlings are also much tougher than many fancy garden forms.

Sacramento is very hot and dry in summer. There is also the matter of mineral salts in the irrigation water, a problem for Japanese maples in arid and semiarid regions. Plants that are common in gardens up here may be seen almost exclusively in certain locations with unusual conditions down there, such as the extensive and heavily watered lawns of the California State Capitol grounds. Even there growth of such kinds may be noticeably less enthusiastic than in more suitable climates elsewhere.

The Sunset WESTERN GARDEN BOOK says a good indication of a locale being suitable for Japanese maples is the presence of evergreen azaleas in plantings there. Large, established and healthy Japanese maples in the vicinity, under similar site conditions would also of course be a good hint.

For shade you probably really want something much more likely to thrive and develop rapidly under your conditions. Even where naturally suited Japanese maples are slow-growing trees that may take decades to produce a significant shadow.

I live in Sacramento and I have many japanese maples.

Here is a link to a recent article in the local newspaper that sheds some light on this topic:

http://www.sacbee.com/168/story/835496.html

Nice story Fleet. They mention 'Essence' in the article, really nice website for a business operated by Nancy Fiers daughter Tricia Smyth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Essence website