@ShadyGreenThumb - At a garden center now to see Purple Martins and suddenly saw these babies. Do they look good?
$50



Rhode Island Red $38










All are 1 gallon.
I'm dying here. 🙀

And El Jefe



Roughly 10 - 15 gallons $162

I am amazed at the prices of J-maples. But I am also amazed at prices of other plants. Part of my draw to natives I think.

I must agree with Bonehead, on that one the prices of plants is just getting outrageous. Oh and by the way TFC, it is very windy and been raining since 4:00 am so might be coming your way!

I know. I'm into native plants but those Maples are so gorgeous.

Rain this way? Don't need it right now, thank you.

So I realized that I'd better hustle to get to my polling place to vote. But I did buy a 4" native lantana and a 4" rue for the butterflies,

Japanese Maples, like all other slooooow growing plants (i.e. Sago Palms) are costly because of all the care and feeding it gets while it grows until it is saleable. I found a generic "Red Maple" at of all places, Aldi. It was $9.99 and about 2 ft tall. It is now the size of a $50 tree 10 years later! Since I don't know what it is, I am having trouble determining if it is a weeping variety or not. At first I thought it was and started to train it as such. But watching the branches grow I wasn't sure so I removed the stakes. Now it wants to grow straight up! I's like it knows I don't know what i am doing!

I think the most important thing is to know which JM's grow best in your area. Houston has 4-5 that are recommended. We get some pretty intense heat and all JMs have to grow in the shade. The Coral Bark JM however can take some dappled sun I have found but everything I have read says "shade". My Shishigishira cant take no sun at all even though I found it sitting in the sun! I have 6, I am pushing the zone with one or two for sure. Then will you grow in a pot or in the ground? Full growth or bonsai? All mine are in pots as there are too many tree roots in the yard now that would take water away from anything planted in the ground. First year (or 2, depending) I keep them in their original nursery pot. I will be upgrading pots when needed letting it grow as large as it can. Lastly, what shape do you want? i am no help there since I suck a pruning. But looking at the photos there is one with two main trunks. I don't think that would do well as a full grown tree. It could easily split when it matures in 30-40 years from now. If you were to bonsai it with lots of pruning all it's life, this may be the one for you. Did that help???

Well, Shady, I just thought you might like to see the pictures and prices, knowing how much you love JMs. I had never seen a coral bark as a sapling (if that's the right word) before. It was just so cute. And the Rhode Island Red was new to me. I didn't take pictures of the green JMs. Looking at the tags, most of these are gonna be huge trees.

I really did go to Redenta's (one of my 2 favorite nurseries) because I found out that the Purple Martins were there. I can't believe how many years it's taken for me to actually see Purple Martins. I totally understand now about the placement of their houses. They need to be in fairly wide open spaces because the birds love to circle around, swooping, etc. and then gliding into their houses. So cool.

And I also like to stop at Redenta's to visit Fig, the store cat. 🐱

Here are some real baby Japanese maples that I have grown from seeds. Most are blood good seedlings. As Cheryl mentioned JMs are slow grower especially red color ones , there are a few green color leaf type that grow faster. I have one that is 2 years old and it is already 4 ft. Height. JMs that grown from seeds will never look exactly like parent, it may look similar but not exact. You can tell by leaf shapes and color if you look at the pictures below but it's hard tell how they will look until 3rd or 4th year. I have 100 plus seedlings and I will try to keep 10 and rest will be gone to someone else.By the way all JMs sold in stores are grafted.

You've grown all of those from seeds? I'm super impresse!

Thanks! Yes, they are all grown from seeds. It took me 4 years to perfect the method. First year was a disaster because I wanted to have them grow faster and did not have patience. I have painfully found that JMs Seeds germination requires a lot of patience since JMs seeds need to go through 3 to 4 months of stratification in refrigerator or cold weather. Moisture levels have to be perfect, not too wet and not too dry. In Texas, it would definitely be in control environment. I have kept mine in bags inside refrigerator around 35°F , make sure not below freezing. Once seeds start germinating after 90 days, I have started transferring them to smallest pots available for first year and keep upgrading every year or couple year to larger pots.
I have also started growing Sempervivums from seeds. Similar to JMs , semps. that are grown from seeds will not look exactly like their parents. Recent years growing certain type of plants became a passion of mine. I am trying to see if I can get some variety that will tolerate heat and direct sun at the same time because Texas summers can be normally stressful and also can be brutal in some cases for Semps and JMs if they are left under direct sun at 100°F weather. I am hoping a few of these will survive summer fine but time will tell which ones are more robust. Below are the pictures of some Sempervivums I have grown from seeds, There are about 1500 seedlings and they are 5 months old, I started planting them in pots and raised beds. It appears that I will need to move into house with larger backyard. I love to have good size green house.
Thanks,
Ridvan

@Rido Color me impressed. I suck at seed planting. But I would like to try to grow more JMs. I would love a tutorial. Would you be willing to share your secrets?? Take me under your wing? Pleeeease? Is this a seed pod on my Coral Bark JM? It had tons of flowers this year. I have never seen this before. Are thees seed pods? I love them! Please advise.

Hi Cheryl, sure. Yes, that is seed pods however it is not ready until end of September or October. I can give you my email or call me whenever you have questions we can go through all the steps, here are a few things you may need to check first. You need verify to make sure you have space in refrigerator that has constant temperature between 35° and 40° F. and never drops below 33° or freezing point. Meat and cheese drawer is the best place for it since it should be around 38°F. You need this space about 4-5 months from November until April. For me, I bought small refrigerator and also I have put digital thermometer to monitor inside to make sure temp stays around desired range. After you collect the seeds from trees, you will be placing them in ziplock bags with small amount of Moist sphagnum moss in November. Make sure moss is not wet. Bag will stay in refrigerator at least 90 days. Anyway, we can go through all these and rest of the steps later.
Thanks,
Ridvan

@rido. Great info! I have 6 JMs. Mostly young ones cuz that was what I could afford, barely! I've seen lots of flowers but these are my first seedpods. I'm very excited now! I will worry over them like an expectant mother! I have the garage refrigerator that will become the Incubator. Im.so excited to become obsessed with this! The Coral Bark is (one of) my favorites! It's the only JM that has ever produced seed pods. This is the only red, a NOID that flowers, but never seeds. Bought it from Aldi of all places gir just $9.99! I'll be in touch!

I like japanese maples but I thougjt the heat in Tx would be a problem.
Question:
is there a miniture J maple that would survive in Texas where I live Georgetown about 30 miles north of Austin

@herrwood I Googled the Japanese Maples that can take our Zone 9A heat near Houston. I took a risk when I found Zone 8 trees couldn't resist. Most are kept in the shade. A couple have to be moved into dense shade in the heat of summer and even then the leaves get crispy on the edges despite my effort. But that's why they are kept in pots. Might have to change things up this summer and bring out the box fans and ice to keep them comfortable on those century mark days.

A day or more ago I was watching some videos that the nice folks at the Dallas Arboretum posted. Here's a link to the one on Japanese Maples. Think the guide said that the Arboretum has 100 or so JMs. Spoiler alert: the last one in the show is about 130 years old. It's kinda big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

A branch snapped off my oldest tree. I am propagating the branch and stems. I read that is the only way to get a true parent match. Propagation by seed will give you a NOID. Anyone else know about this??

I've decided next on my list is an acer Bloodgood. I'm not getting any younger. It's gonna be a good size one. Cha-ching!!

herrwood said: I like japanese maples but I thougjt the heat in Tx would be a problem.
Question:
is there a miniture J maple that would survive in Texas where I live Georgetown about 30 miles north of Austin

Heat is OK for JMs in Texas, they just can not take direct sun and heat at the same time. Tope leaves will burn, dapple shade locations under large is great. I am not sure about the miniature JMs but a few dwarf varieties are sport of Bloodgood that are heat tolerant. One thing about Texas is heat that it will turn red leaves to green in the middle of summer.

ShadyGreenThumb said:A branch snapped off my oldest tree. I am propagating the branch and stems. I read that is the only way to get a true parent match. Propagation by seed will give you a NOID. Anyone else know about this??

I've decided next on my list is an acer Bloodgood. I'm not getting any younger. It's gonna be a good size one. Cha-ching!!

Yes, growing from seeds will not come true and will not be an exact match of the tree.That does not mean you get lesser tree, plus side is you will get all shades of color. It could be best looking tree in your neighborhood, but you may need a lot of seedlings to choose from. A lot of time that is how new varieties found, growers plants hundreds of seeds and they set them aside for a few years and keep monitoring to see how it turns out, second way of finding a new variety is sport of existing tree. One of the branch will change genetically and breeders will cut this section and graft it root stock, to monitor several years. Most likely they will stat that way. I know there are a few dwarf varieties that are sport of Bloodgood.
JMs are difficult to root from cuttings, not impossible but difficult, easiest and best way to duplicate an exact tree is grafting.

Rido, your babies look amazing! I hope they are still thriving. I am trying my hand at growing JM bloodgoods from seeds for the first time. I harvested, removed the wings and stored them dry late last fall. I just soaked and put the seeds in damp peat to refrigerate for 100 days before planting in May. I think I will use pots as you did. Here in the Willamette Valley these trees flourish so I can only hope that they come out something like yours. They are destined for a woodland area with dappled sunlight on my property. Fingers crossed!

Patti, yes they are doing fine. I just moved them to pot that is one size up last week when JMs are dormant. Please post the pictures of yours when the first leaves start appearing. I am looking for some seeds during for next fall.
Ridvan