#1 do those plants ONLY get two hours of sun ...or full morn and 2 hrs aft. ????

Pot up put in unheated darkened part of your garage for winter water very sparsely..I wouldn't take a chance with any of those with fall planting. Be aware the Katsura is an early bud'r you may want to keep perm. potted It really is not generally recommended for northen areas although some folks have had luck with it...
I love the Japanese Sunrise but found rather fragile as far as winter hardiness.Mine had severe winter dieback before the spring freeze did it in ..I would put in in a VERY protected place when you do plant it out...David

David,

Will you list all the Acers you're having success with please.

Kindest Regards,

Dax

I was hoping to this spring but the freeze screwed me up it will have to wait a bit...I can only say the ones i would not plant again but even those I might plant in a better spot ( IE: Japanese Sunrise ...the best of the winter color trees IMHO )in the same place ..i think in the right location most any A.P will do ok here ...but it seems more important which ones are the hardiest no matter where they are sited we all don't havbe "perfect spots for them. Also most of mine did survive the freeze but were damaged I really want to see how they do over this winter in their non perfect shape...then , as long as it isn't a extreemly mild winter I will post. As far as last springs conditions some seem to do ok or basically untouchedeven with the freeze but many were covered part or all of the time ...so any comments would seem presumptious. These " seem to be the hardiest Red Baron, Bloodgood, Atropurpureum, Beni otaki. Sclopendrifolium,Scolopedrifolum Rubum ,Koto ito kamachi,Kasagiyama, Berrima Bridge,Musashino,Atrolinear,Fire Glow Emporer 1 ( ???one made it one id just barely holding on 1/20th it's original size, Red spider web, Aka shiragasa sawa, Pendulum Julian,Yubae,Red Dragon ( one made 1 didn't) ,Van de akker,Oridono nishiki, Nishiki gasame, Beni Kamachi, Goshiki shidare, Tamukeyama, Emerald lace, Ukigumo... Remember most of these were covered at least soome of the two week freeze period!!!

many others like Shojo mumura and Inaba shidare,Sumi nigashi , Orange Dream, Hupps Darf , Sharps Pigmy,Octopus,Edgdgewood Golden , Omurayama, Raraflora, Coonara Pigmy and many many others survived but I will not say "thrived" Time will tell.

As I said this is NOT a good test since in reality most seemed to be fine before the freeze after a rather severe winter with lots of differnt hazzards ...but that was only for about 2 weeks before the freeze!! D

David,

Thank you for taking the time. I can see a beautiful garden. Maples equal conifers in my opinion if not even more beautiful than the "bulk" of similar conifers out there.

I really appreciate it!!

Best,

Dax

Judyny6,
My 'Crimson Queen' and 'Evered' are both green, and since July got greener and greener, first with red mixed in and then completely green. That's natural because where they are planted there is a good deal of shade in the afternoon. However, my 'Red Dragon' still retains its red color though it's in the same shady area. Instead of transplanting your trees I'd not risk moving them and get yourself a 'Red Dragon'.

Ome of the crunundrums in this area at least is for red dissectums ( and "most" upright ts as well) too much shade will green them out too much sun or even partial sun in a hot summer will burn them and they will bronze to some degree anyway over the summer.As they grow older they seem to do better...But I agree with EZ the red Dragon is the best for shade...mine keeps it's full red color in mostly shade betteer than any other I have in similar shade conditions( I do not have one in sun so can't speak to that ) ...now if it were in Sherwood forest who knows ;>) David

David

Both get no morning sun, Inaba gets sun from 1pm-3, Crimson 2-4, approx. times, depending on time of year. Why is it most catalogs and books I've read make such a blanket statement about them staying red? It sort of makes me mad, since this is why I chose these trees. Thanks for the advice, from you and everyone else, about red dragon and not planting in fall. Do you think it would help if I planted Katsura near the edge of my 6 foot fence- would this help protect it a little from wind and elements?

Judy

It should make you mad cause there are many factors that make that statement wrong. sunlight being the most imoportant but not only..but yours definitely arn't getting enough sun to stay red and will likely continue to be of that ilk in that location...Most of your type of cultivars will come out red in spring and sometimes stay that way for a bit cause the trees haven't become thick with leaves and the sun may be at an angle that they will get more sun...as they shade more and the sun gets higher the greener yours will get.
As far as the fence a west and north protection would be best...but the problem with the Katsura is not so much the cold and wind but the early budding and flowing sap exposing it to not so late ( read: normal spring or late winter) frosts and freezes.A more protected may help it stay warmer during those cold spring periods if it has budded ( come out of dormancy) but also may allow it to bud out ( come alive) earlier I assume as well so I don't have a good answer on that one ..
Generally speaking the ltr the buds break and it comes out of dormancy the more "hardy" the tree... this past spring those trees that bud broke and leafed latest were the least effected by that disaterous stuation...although in that case it was impossible for any to totally escape damage since the freeze was so late after such a HOT March and lasted 10 nights and days at least!!

The bud break itself isn't what kills the trees from these situations in my opinion .The bud break and leafing with a light frost will kill the leaves but it should releaf ...the problem comes from early bud break being a sign the sap is flowing and it is no longer dormant and if it gets cold enough for long enough it will freeze, which an early leafer is more likely to encounter ,and damage the canbium layer and everything above that damage will DIE. That is what happened this spring ( although i didn't believe that theory at the time that Matt threw out ...I am convinced now IT IS TRUE and HE was right!!) The tree will releaf but since it is not being "fed" sap risising from the roots from damged cambium in between anything above that point it dies within weeks.

There are always folks who are the exception rather than rule and have success with touchy JM's in odd places..from micro climatres and great protective sitings or just dumb luck ..This year the odd thing is the farther north you were the more likely your trees had NO damage from the freeze since they were still dormant but that will likely be the exception to the rule for the next 50 years. the farther north ...unless lake protection or microclimate the more dicey planting borderline Jm's will be!!! .
Keep us up on your Katsura's progress over the years or lack there of ...hopefully you will have success it is not impossible ...
My un asked for and non scientific advise to those that want to try questionable cultivars in borderline JM areas don't spend hundreds of $$ on those cultivars spend a few $$ and keep 'em potted for a few years and then plant out in your best most protected spot go for it. That way you've had a few years to enjoy your plant...if it eventually kaputs you've only waisted a bit of time , and you won't be out much $$$..David

David,
Hope you check back, I really appreciate your advice and have 2 more questions- How often did you mean by watering trees in the garage sparsely? Should I let them dry out between watering, or the same treatment as a house plant? Also, I read some of your posts about Sango Kaku- is Japanese sunrise as hard to grow? I've read it is probably a seedling of SK. I'm beginning to think I've made some bad choices in trees, thank goodness I didn't spend too much money on them. Nowhere that I read up on these trees mentioned that they might not be hardy in my zone. Next time I plan on spending real money, I guess I will ask some questions on this forum first!

Judy

Others may have more info on winter garage watering I watered mine pretty good when I put them in and then maybe once a month or less til spring when they were dry if they weren't frozen solid which they were off and on ...they all made it fine.
As far as the Japanese Sunrise I think it is FAR superior to SK in most every respect ...mine just didn't seem winter hardy and was one of the only trees except a SK That had winter die back. Two others that had winter die back were Goshiki kotohime, and my Oshu shidare both of which are two of my favorite trees ... The last two though were because of excessive fall growth with inadequate time to harden.I don'rt think that they would have kaputted if the freeze hadn't offed them and I don't think that would normally happen ... we had 15 degree night in MID OCTOBER also ...very unusual..
the winter die back of the SK and JS was not the case of excessive fall growth they were basically through any activity by that time ...They just arn't very hardy ... would I try a JS again ibn a more protected spot or planter YES ...would I try a SK again ...not on your sweet boopy as they use to say on Laugh In There is NOTHING about that plant that justifies planting it except in JM perfect growing areas..David

My daughter gave me a 3' high Inaba Shidare for my Birthday, Dec. 9. I kept it in the pot since the weather was quite cold. It wintered well in the barn. When it seemed to be spring, (crazy weather) I placed it on my planting table and it leafed out a deep rich color appeared to be doing great. It received morning sun, filtered mid day sun and evening sun. Then the leaves started to bronze, so I planted in a larger pot on my front porch. It has afternoon sun. The leaves, even after 2 weeks in the larger pot have continued to bronze and I think it's dying. I keep it watered every 3-4 days and the pot drains well. It's a very beautiful tree and I don't want it to die. I live in Central AL. Any suggestions?