There is a grower in Jacksonville who supplies a lot of the North Florida area with cultivars that he has proven to be successful. He has quite a selection and his yard is absolutely packed with healthy maples. If you call Harmony Gardens in Gainesville they might be able to arrange for specific maples to be delivered from Jax by the grower. I did get a Purple Ghost through them. They were stocked with about a dozen different cultivars in the spring and I'd expect them to get more then. I found Purple Ghost to do better in just morning sun. If you want a great maple for full sun I'd recommend acer palmatum E.P. (ordered it from Greer Gardens) or acer palmatum Glowing Embers (Michael Dirr's one not the oregon one). Harmony Gardens had a 6' glowing embers for just under $100 last time I was there. I hope this helps. I'm having a good bit of success so far and believe many japanese maple cultivars are underestimated in the south as far as heat and sun resistance. Frequent watering & good drainage goes a LONG way towards their general health.

Thanks Ishboz, for the quick response. I agree that JMs are underestimated here in the south with heat and sun. I have about 20 and have gradually been planting each successive plant with more and more sun exposure. I, like you have found that my Seiryu, Inaba Shidare, Osakazuki, Butterfly, and others are doing fine with sun up to 2 or 3pm. Bloodgood, Crimson Queen, Red Emporer I, Sango Kaku all have all day full sun and have not burned up. Did you have to ask for the Purple Ghost to be delviered or did Harmony already stock it? I would really like to get a First Ghost that isn't the 10-18 inch size sold thru internet growers. Glowing Embers for 100 bucks of 6' size is great! My brother lives in Gainesville and we visit periodically. Where is Harmony Gardens in Gainesville? My latest two acquisitions are an eight foot knockout Beni Shishihenge and five foot Omurayama. Do you have either of these? I'm trying to decide on how much sun I can give them safely. I am also considering moving my Waterfall and Beni Otake as they were some of my first and are very shade protected. I have recently read that Waterfall can take more sun than previously thought and there are better locations on my property with more sun for them if they can handle it. And last, do you know the name of the Jax grower. My excellent local nursery just lost his out of state JM grower connection due to retirement of the grower.

I have Omurayama in a full sun until 2pm or so position and it has been quite strong. Beni otake gets full sun from about 9-3pm and has a little tip burn but that is also due to my underwatering. I have Waterfall in a 4 hours of midday sun position and it has done excellently. I think they will do even better once their roots really get firmly established and I actually water them with an irrigation system. I hand watered over the summer and they still all did very well to show just how tough they are. I don't have the Beni Shishihenge.

Harmony Gardens is on SR 441 on the way out of Gainesville to the north towards Alachua and is pretty easy to see on the left side of the road a couple of miles out of Gainesville. They had the Purple Ghost in the spring but they offered to get other kinds from the Jax grower. His name is Bobby Woodard (not 100% sure on the spelling) and is a great guy, Vietnam vet, solid and honest grower. His prices are very, very competitive.

Garden Gate nursery in Gainesville has a few cultivars too but they are pricier than Harmony Gardens thus far. They all get their maples from Bobby though and Harmony Gardens was kind enough to pass me along to Bobby and basically passed up a middle-man price markup just to be helpful. I wish you luck with your maples. I'd love to stay updated on how yours do and what cultivars impress you.

When we visit Gainesville we come in through Alachua as my brother lives in the NW off 39th Ave. I will have to make a visit to Harmony. Am I understanding that you are able to purchase directly from Bobby now? Is he OK with individuals purchasing directly from him (besides you I mean). Also, my local Tallahassee nursery probably would be interested in talking to him about becoming the supplier for JMs for the nursery. I see you are high on the E.P. as it is pretty tough. How about beauty? How does it compare to other sun tolerant reds in beauty to Emporer, Glowing Embers, Bloodgood, etc. The next JM I am trying to get my hands on is Orangeola, which I see you have one. How is it doing and what do you think of it? How much sun do you have it in?

Bobby is fine with customers afaik. He has people just show up to look at his yard. Below is a link to an E.P. There are very few pics online. E.P. leaves come in quite red/purple and then it does green up a bit in the summer. Fall color on it has been a soft orange with some dark reds. It seems to be changing slowly and I think it will be a real beauty. Mine is about 5' tall and has a beautiful form. In my limited experience I'd put it in the top tier of sun handling maples.

http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/photography/photograph_collection/photograph_collection_results.php?image=&date=&photographer=&personinshotnames=&country=&usstate=&city=&location=&garden=&building=&event=&keywords=&othernotes=&lecturetext=&allplantnames=&allcommonnames=&allfamily=&allplantnameserialnumbers=100155

Long link but it should lead to a pic of new growth on an E.P. at the JC Raulston Arboretum. E.P. has similarities to Bloodgood types. Orangeola has had the most new growth of any maple I got this year. It gets sun until about 1pm and is quite lush right now with multicolored late season growth. It really went nuts recently with growth. I love Orangeola for its beauty and vigor.

I am also trying a few non-japanese maples just for the learning experience and some of these come from hot areas in SE Asia or Spain/Morocco. They are quite beautiful but very new arrivals so my experience is limited.
Acer robustum
acer buergerianum
acer sieboldianum 'mikasa yama'
acer monspessulanum
Acer sterculiaceum (franchetii)

Some of these look similar to japanese maples and I'm hoping to have success with them too.

Ishboz, which JM have you planted that can take full sun or close to 3pm that is the shortest? I have a spot for something not so upright or tall but it's pretty sunny. Also, my nursery guy here is interested in hooking up with Bobby as a potential supplier. How would he or myself get ahold of him. You may reach me, I use gmail.com and my email name is scottih1. Also, have you had a Butterfly long enough to determine true height. Most tags around here list it as 4-6' but Vertrees says 16-20'.