eukaryote, thanks for the source on the Poliothyrsis, I'll check it out. Thanks also to lucky_p for the info on the Macludrania, I had read a similar story somewhere and figured that the best way to investigate it would be to try and find one. Not to mention that such a hybrid may have worthy ornamental attributes, especially if sterile. I would be interested in seeing that article. Another neat intergeneric would be the purported crosses between Juglans and Pterocarya, but I have never heard even a whisper of them ever being offered or even evaluated. brandon7, to answer your question, well... I think my property in the western finger lakes region of upstate new york gives me a good zone 5/6 area to evaluate some plants that may deserve wider attention. I have always had a passion for growing and collecting the unusual, and well, even the usual every day goodies. My primary interest is in native plants, especially those that are threatened or endangered which is why Neviusia cliftonii, Mespilus canescens, and Lindera melissifolia are on the list. I also have a large maple collection of species Acers (not a lot of cultivars) and am always eager to try out rare and unusual maples. Some examples that have done well that I couldn't find any zone information for before I purchased them are Acer pectinatum ssp. laxiflorum, A. robustum, and A. miaotaiense. They are all doing well and have survived -15F untouched. Ditto A stachyophyllum, which I have found to have good autumn color, but it's still small. I've already put together a substantial order for forestfarm, so unless they have updated in the last few days, they don't carry any of the above species. I think Greer might be wholesale. Arborvillage was one of my favorite sources, but now offer only a fraction of what they have in the past, many of which I saw nowhere else. River Rock has never returned my inquiries, which is unfortunate because the one pricelist they had (have?) online had many rare maples that I am having trouble locating elsewhere. I havn't checked out colvos creek in some time and need to do so, I purchased an Acer lobelii there a couple years ago that is doing amazing. Thanks for the info and suggestions, please keep it coming!

I'm not familiar with some of those, which makes me think those particular ones may have seldom been in commerce on this continent, if ever. When you hanker for such plants jumping on them when they happen to be on offer may be the only way to get them, rather then making a list and then looking for them as though they would be available all the time, somewhere. Or getting seeds and growing your own, from a collector or collection here or abroad. A few items it may boil down to seeing if you can get permission to pick some spent fruits up off the ground at a facility like the National Arboretum. Collecting and growing your own also has the advantage - in addition to it being perhaps the only way you can get a rare tree - of giving you the chance to see the parent plant(s). Otherwise you have to hope the nursery is sending you the true item. On one of the rose forums awhile back I saw griping about forestfarm sending out species roses that weren't correct, assuming the poster wasn't being misled by the tendency for rose seedlings to look alike when small this served as a reminder that nurseries like forestfarm depend on their suppliers sending them the correct seed. I also agree that some you seek here will not be likely to live there - but maybe you have a container garden and cool greenhouse. I don't know where you can find a better offering of such plants than forestfarm, who is left back east now? Arborvillage? I know I've seen web sites of a few others that have rare stuff, but it seemed that when the original Heronswood was still operating out here it and forestfarm led the pack by far. A quiet little sister to these was Colvos Creek nursery, they are still at it but much of their line is Zone 8 and up stuff - you might want to monitor their offerings anyway as some of it is extremely rare.

arial, Forest Farm has an extensive collection of JM (Acer Palmatum). Their catalog has a description of each variety, its foliage colors and growth habits. You can look through there and decide what sounds appealing. Your public library might also have a very good book called Japanese Maples by J.D. Vertrees that describes several hundred cultivars in detail. His couple of pages of discussion of containers state that most types of JM can be successfully grown in containers. He says that the dissectum group (aka thread or cut leaf varieties) and the dwarfs do especially well in containers. Here is a link that might be useful: Forestfarm

Try Byles (sp?) Nursery in either Oregon or Washington. I'm not sure if they've got a website. Scott