I am growing several of the Golden Full Moon Maples, Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum', that I purchased as one year old grafts. They are easy to grow and very hardy, but need acidic soil, sun to partial shade and the patience of Jobe!, as they are an extremely slow growing tree. It will require many years for it to attain a mature stature of 12-15 ft. Since they are a Maple, they are also thirsty, but don't overwater them. Rb

Hi- Thanks for your response, gardengal. It looks as if I might have bought what I thought it was. I was wondering because, in addition to the difference in name, the label said the leaves become dark green in summer. However, Wayside Gardens sells the shirasawanum Aureum and they say the leaves will become dark green in summer while the Sunset Western Garden Book says it holds it's yellow-green spring leaves all summer. Anyway, summer will tell the tale. I was expecting yellow-green summer leaves when I bought the tree.

mjh and mucknmire, thanks for the worldplants info. Sometimes ya just can't afford to buy all your plants nice and big. I'm glad to hear their trees are good quality. I did buy a Sharp's Pygmy this weekend at a local nursery because of the year guarantee, and I did also buy a little Beni Otaki on Ebay because the price was great (this is beginning to sound like a confession), and I may yet get one more little one to put in a pot from worldplants, because their prices are so good. Maiku Jaku ended up at the top of my list because I really like the photos I've seen of it, but then I decided I really need to go SMALL (I have very limited space). I just hope the palmatums I bought prove hardy enough for my conditions. If not, next year, it'll be one of the japonicums. Thanks for the worldplants info. Christina

Scorching is a concern. It'll be in the sun from about 11am till 4pm in zone 6a. Another one I'm really considering would be Acer Palmatum 'SHIN DESHOJO'. I've been looking at the pics and really like the pink new grownth and it fades to green. This maple will be going in a bed with 2 red maples. So I was looking for something that has a bright spring flush since the backdrop will be a darker color. Then it would have to fade to green so it will still stand out during the summer months.