Just so happens I have a Bloodgood Japanese maple under a canopy of a Sugar Maple and a Red Maple. However, I can probably get away with this as my precip tends to be heavy 50-60 inches annually. In your drier climate, I think there would be excessive competition for moisture--Japanese Maples do NOT like drought. Good luck with your Japanese Maple. PS., Despite having lots of exotic plants, that tree always gets all the attention!

I also live in Chicagoland and after losing three Japanese Maples to the northwest wind, I tried Sambuca both 'Sutherland Gold' and 'Black Lace'. Sutherland is now four years old and ten feet high - Black Lace is two years old and I've kept that one shorter and shrubbier because I need the shade in that spot for hosta. They are actually giant shrubs but I've been pruning the heck out of them and they're gorgeous - look just like JM's. Westy

Thanks Jacqout and Muckmire, I checked out Vertrees from the library yesterday (they only had the 2nd ed., though) and found a photo, but it's just of the leaves. It's hard to find pictures of this tree. I've only seen the leaves! Found the tree at WorldPlants. Seems like a good price. I have to decide what I'm getting. I am considering several Maples--palmatums (less hardy, it seems, so maybe won't get) and japonicums. It has to be something small and hardy and not too bush-like. Christina

If I may I'd like to remind that japanese maple seeds are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. So just because the seeds come from a red variety or a laceleaf variety does not mean that the seedlings will be the same or even similar to that of the parent. There is a higher chance that they will be similar compared to seeds of a normal green japananese maple, but no guarantee.