Hi Christina & David! Sorry, I don't know anyone on the DBG horticulture staff. You might want to stop in the Library first (or call them in advance)--the head librarian (Deb) is very helpful. There used to be a gentleman named George Brinkmann, a retired horticulturist with many years of experience in this region, who held public "office hours" in the library a couple of days a week on Tues & Thurs early in the afternoon. However, I think he had some health problems and had to give that up last year, but maybe he's returned, or else maybe they've found a replacement for him. Other than those people, you might just get lucky and run into somebody knowledgeable about maples while you're in the gardens near those plants. I meant to mention before that my garden soil tests as very close to neutral Ph. I have heard the statement that soils here are quite alkaline, but I think that's a generalization. In addition, I personally favor making moderate amendments with peat and compost to tip things a bit more toward acidity if that's favorable for the plant. Almost any plant's roots will eventually spread into "native soil" but I'd rather the new plant be a little happier when it's first getting established, and I don't think I overdo the amendments. (I know there are other "camps" on this issue.) Yes, I'm going to take that magnolia back to Tagawa and get a refund. I'm not sure how they can sell trees at 50% off and still give a year's guarantee, unless many people don't bother claiming their refunds; I think they do ask you to bring them the dead tree! BTW, I'm sure there are various other places that sell JMs near here, and at more attractive prices--esp. "big box" stores, but they're less likely to have the unusual we sometimes need and crave. I'm fascinated by microclimates myself, but unfortunately I've been able to find very little written about the subject. From what I've been able to gather, there seem to be two aspects to plant hardiness. The easier one to deal with, probably, is the root zone temperature environment. I've read that damage starts to occur there at temps lower than 28 F. A good mulch layer can protect against this potential damage, and a nice layer of snow can do even better. However, cold air temperatures below some point will damage stems and branches, the point depending on the hardiness of the species. I think that's why some marginally-hardy trees are sometimes referred to as "stump-sprouts"--most of the above-ground parts of the plant die but the root system doesn't (at least for a number of years). Of course dessication is a separate problem for above-ground plant parts, especially in this sunny-winter climate. Other than the most general principles and trial-and-error, it seems difficult to predict microclimates. There are so many factors involved besides topography. For example,the influence of a building to the north of a plant may be very different depending on the building's height, mass, color (solar absorption) and configuration. Also, if one is depending on stored solar heat being radiated at night from a building face, it will make a big difference whether the days following the initial cold wave are sunny or cloudy, still or windy. Another aspect of the problem is how far away the influence of a building is felt and how fast the influence drops off with distance. I know of a student who is investigating this question at the U. of Denver near some of the larger buildings on the campus, but I haven't heard any of the findings yet. Christina, if you go, I'd like to hear your reaction to the various maples at the DBG!

I saw an Inazuma maple today at a nursery. It was about 5 ft tall and wide. I liked the shape of the leaves and their coloration. The only thing I didn't like was that it looked very much like a shrub and not so much like a JM tree, if that makes sense... Do you know if it will assume the shape of a small tree with age, or if it can be carefully pruned to resemble more of a small tree shape? The other one I saw and really liked was Acer shirasawanum 'Yasemin'. It was a small plant still, but the color was almost identical to the Bloodgood's and Emperor I's nearby, except that the leave shape was very appealing and different from the more typical Acer palmatum shape. Bboy, the Wolff maple looks great, the leave shape seems distinctly different from Bloodgood, color seems good. I will check it out at the local nurseries. Whaas, I saw a Fireglow nearby as well, but I couldn't tell any difference between them in the Bloodgood's, neither in foliage shape nor coloration. Like I said, I have nothing against Bloodgood, it's a great tree, and obviously is doing well in our area, or all the older trees wouldn't be around. I just think there are so many good maple varieties that it doesn't hurt to plant something different occasionally. Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas.

Yes, the tree will get taller on its own without staking..........but not hugely so. New branches will develop to increase the height of the canopy but the trunk won't elongate. It is what it is :-) You could expect to see maybe 8-12" of increased height over the lifetime of the tree with no further staking. These types of Japanese maples - weeping dissectums - are most often grown and sold as small, umbrella shaped accent 'shrubs'. These are low graft trees, with the weeping portion grafted on to a short understock trunk. Since the weeping portion will naturally grow out but not up, the ultimate height is pretty much predetermined. High graft dissectums just have a taller portion of rootstock trunk they are grafted to, so a taller tree from the outset but not hugely so. And either can be staked and the topmost branches trained more vertically upward to achieve a taller, layered looking tree. So instead of a short little mushroom or umbrella looking tree, you will get one that is a series of 'flounces' or weeping layers like a woman's petticoat. But there is a limit as to how tall you can train these. The weight of the branches are a limiting factor as the tree matures and heavy branching on a too tall tree (for the habit) could cause tearing as the upper 'trunk' (or leader) from which they are growing is unable to support their weight.

Sadly, today I accidentally snapped the still malleable main apical branch back to it's bulb and managed to shear off about half of it from the bulb. All this with a light touch to more vertical: "snap". It wasn't intentional: i realized the way I had fixed to the poll was like 45 degrees, and I was trying more for 80 to 90 degreesl. I now know to leave well enough alone and I'm pretty upset with myself. I couldn't do the obvious next step, lop off this head branch. I just let it fall back to the stem. It doesn't dangle loosely or hang, but I know there is no "glue" which will magically allow phloem and xylem to nourish this most top branch and 3 stems, and that soon it will be dead. Since the tree is 4 years old, maybe it's at it's peak height anyways?. I hear these can grow to 7 to 8 feet and that would be perfect for my needs, but you can't force Mother Nature. :(