Glad folks are enjoying these. It's very low stress for me to wander around and take some random photos and it appears the forum moderators are more then OK with the process and spaces between posts. Edwin, I received this plant from a new nursery in Oregon, and while the owner is fairly experienced, it's always possible there are mis-ID's of plants. I don't have any photos from Winter but we can revisit this at a later point and see if I have something very rare or very common! :) Will - I do believe you're right, Scottie is probably a HE. :D And no Ken, my plants both point towards the sun, sorry. hehe Finally, a bonus plant photo. A nursery-owner friend of mine, whom I began trading with this Winter spoiled me badly today when a Fed-Ex truck dropped of this beautiful specimen. Talk about Christmas in May! Picea pungens 'Ruby Teardrops' - And to me, a close examination looks pretty strongly to be Picea pungens. I took a closeup, including some of the larger red-pruple cones, for comparisons to 'Early Cones' and possible Picea mariana suggestions. I lean towards it being a new cultivar though it sure looks a lot like 'Early Cones'. Closeup. The cones are about 2x's the size of the cones of my 'Early Cones'. -Will

I don't remember clematis every coming up so late. I think I lost a new one, however, despite mulching. Maybe it just was too soggy of a spot. I still hope it comes up but time's running out. I also lost my Japanese blood grass and northern lights grass, but they were soggy spot. My Endless summer hydrangea survived fairly well as did the Tiger Eyes sumac. I had big sections where my lamium died out completely, which totally surprised me. Sometimes the plants survive and stay green, other times at least the roots survive. I'm not worried though, enough did survive that maybe I can fill in the area once again. Glen

Marc, Great decision to try both. I have both, and I love both of them. The variegation on Shigitasu sawa will hold longer if it is located in shade. Even when it gets mostly green its a much lighter green. Ukigomo is more consistantly specked and spotted with white. I also have an Oridon nishiki but have not had it long enough to make a judegement call. I personally do not like 'Butterfly'. Up close it is fairly interesting, but from a distance it looks like the color of a dirty athletic sock!! I do not plan to have it in my garden. In its place I have 'Tennyo no hoshi', which I think is far superior. It has crisp blue-green leaves with a thin rim of green around the edge. Very appealing. Grows to be the same size as 'Butterfly'. I also like 'Higasayama' - this is a very old cultivar. Has wonderful flowers and seeds as well as cream-edged leaves with some pink early int he season. The leaf buds are the color of red lacquer when they open in the spring, and the effect of the white leaves unfurling with the red buds has led to the nick name of 'pop-corn maple'. Finally, if you would like a darker plant I would suggest 'Elmwood'. This one has medium green leaves with very dark reticulation. The leaves are also very glossy, which is unusual for a JM. As the leaves age, the effect is almost like green wood-grain. I love this one! And if you would like to try a red reticulated cultivar, I would suggest 'Kasagi yama'. It has an unusual brick-salmon-red color (no other tree has coloration like this) with black veins, and the leaves are not deformed like the Ghost series. It would be stunning paired with 'Elmwood' or 'Shigitatsu sawa'!! Take care, K4

I guess it's a little late, but I live in Central Illinois and I have two Butterflies. One I have had since 1995 and one probably about 4-5 years. It's probably all about the siting. My original one is growing down in a small valley. The other is more exposed, but my yard is kind of protected by woods all around. Sometimes I get a little dieback on branches, but not a lot. I should also say that I spray all my Japanese maples with WiltPruf and wrap them in floating row cover or burlap until they get too big. My original Butterfly is too big to wrap anymore, but I still spray it. I guess it depends on how much babying you want to do. As far as variegated maples to for zone 5, my vote would be for Beni Schichihenge. It has been so hardy and has grown so much, also since 1995, never has dieback, just a fantastic maple. Ukigumo is another that has been really strong, but I'm not impressed with the amount of variegation on mine. Orido Nishiki grows like a weed. I didn't think I'd like it a lot (since 2003), but it is eye-catching and vigorous and looks great from a distance, even though the variegation is mostly at the tips of branches. Well, I'm kind of rambling on... Sorry. Thanks for the info on Stanley and Sons. The larger my maples are, the better they seem to do overwinter. I'd be happy with a #5 container plant. Kay Dye