I hope I didnt come across as trying to settle once and for all one is better than the other. Of course I realize that it's subjective and probably impossible because bloodgood is so polluted in the nursery trade. I went to a nursery on the other side of town and they had some alleged bloodgoods and the sign said "Bloodgood - Dwarf red japanese maple". And the plants were small and spreading - not the tall tree that I think bloodgood is supposed to be. My point was really just to share a picture of pretty good summer color for this part of Texas this time of year. Most things are pretty crispy and dull looking. It is interesting that all three look very similar for you.

I only planted them in the spring but they made it through a very brutal dry summer. I do not have an irrigation system and hand water but I underwatered at times for sure. I bought all these as containered plants and put them in the ground in May or so. While it hasn't been very long I think the positive reaction by some of them to the intense heat here and humidity bodes very well for these particular cultivars in the future here. The plants were 2-3 yos when purchased. The maple that has been the poorest performer is Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'. None of my maples died though so far. Knock on wood. I know I still have a long way to go with these but I posted my findings just to try and add to the amount of info and experiences in the hotter climates. All of the following have done well for me with the heat and humidity but not all are in full sun: Butterfly Waterfall Hefner's Red Select Vitifolium Aconitifolium Skeeter's Broom Beni Otake Oregon Sunset Orangeola Omurayama Moonfire Moonrise Purple Ghost (moved once needed more shade) Crimson Queen Red Dragon (needs more shade than it gets....it gets all day sun and will be moved this fall) Lionheart Again I haven't had these in long enough to claim 100% success by any means but the spring through summer performance by these young plants has been quite remarkable. They were purchase from a private grower in Florida who has been narrowing down which cultivars work well here. So I am building my garden off of other experienced people's finding as well as my own experiments. I do hope the Jordan and Summer Gold are all they are cracked up to be. I plan to give them a lot of sun :)

Ron and I had a wonderful time. He commented that I might actually have come home with less than I took, which is exceptional!! Thank you Charlotte for a great get together. It was wonderful seeing everyone and I am very pleased with all the plants I have acquired. Bob, thank you for answering my plant identification questions. I can't wait til spring! I also think there was a nice diversity in the plants. Ally & Lindsey - I will be digging purple iris' this weekend and promise to get them in the mail by monday. Lindsay you should be getting mail today, it's the seeds you wanted. It was wonderful meeting new swappers as well as seeing people from the last swap. Thank you to everyone who came and hopefully we will see you all in the spring! Jani & Ron San Marcos & Round Rock

Go ahead and move them to a one gallon pot. They need a lot of water in our climate so the more soil around the roots the better. Your native soil mix sounds good, especially if you plan to eventually plant them in the landscape, they like slightly acid and I haven't found them to be too picky as long as it drains. Go easy on the peat and use a small amount of slow release fertilizer in the soil because you don't want to stress them. I wouldn't directly fertilize until next spring because it's about to get hot here for a while and then they go dormant in the fall. If you have time to watch them try just leaving them in deep shade and that means no sun on the leaves at any time even filtered. Or put them out morning and evening for a few days. They do best outdoors, even when stressed. They may lose their leaves from the heat, but are not dead and will put out new leaves later in the summer.