Maybe squirrels or raccoons or possums? They like to dig looking for insects and worms. Squirrels like to bury their nuts in pots. A cat may try and use your pots as a toilet and dig up your pots. I have had to put all my my seedlings in metal cages to keep critters from digging up my pots as I had the same problem. Did you put any blood meal or bonemeal in the pots as fertilizer? If so animals will smell it and dig up the plants looking for the bones. I would put hardware cloth or metal cages around all your pots from now on. It probably is some nocturnal critter coming over from the park that is raiding your pots.

yeah yeah i know... but couldn't resist. (Yellow) 1)Aureum for graceful leaf shape and color (runner up Jordan/Katsura/Summer Gold) (dissectum) 2) Seiryu for its soft light green elegant leaves and vase growth habit (Laceleaf) 3) koto no ito for beautiful weeping habit (followed closely by villa taranto and Aekans Le's with its great purple bark) (variegated) 4) Peve Multicolor variegation on this one is inconsistent. BUT the bark is spectacular at least mine is - a light blueish silvery color. Underrated. (ukigomo) (pink) 5) Geisha - Terrific pink color. (also GGW. Taylor I like but killed 2 already - too fickle) (bark) 6) Acer Griseum ( runner up snakebark phoenix/joe witt/Murasaki Shikibu PINK STRIPED BARK!!!) HONORABLE MENTION - Amagi Shigure/Olsens Frosted. Must stop....

I think you are looking for the impossible unless you buy a nearly that big trees (IE: spend big $$)..Jm's just don't grow that fast( except maybe in the noth west and any labeled "fast growing JM" is relative. In addtion it will probably take a year or two in the ground( more likely two) to really take off...at least that has been my experience.. .I have most of those cultivars but no long term experience with them so I also do want want to comment on the "best" choice for you. Your zone should be fine for about any JM although afternoon sun is not a good thing down there and expect leaf burn...Most any tree that is truly fast growing unfortunatly is NOT worth having IE: silver maples, sycamores, chinese elms , mulberries,yata yata yata!!!If tyou want to gop with JM's patience and "zen" must be attained ;>) David

Japanese maples can be grown in zone 10 coastal southern California but that area lacks the humidity that Florida typically produces. With only the rare exception, JM's produce the smallest types of maples or those most likely to be suited for a patio container. It really doesn't matter which cultivar you pick - none will be more tolerant of high summer/fall humidity than another and the light conditions would seem to be appropriate for any as well. FWIW, higher humdity levels would be likely to produce a lot of foliar fungal problems I'd be skeptical about expecting much in the way of fall color.....much of that has to do with cold temps concentrating sugars and pigments and that is unlikely to happen for you. Doesn't much in SoCal, anyway.