

Acer palmatum 'Orion'
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Acer palmatum 'Orion' |
The maple ‘Orion’ in the photo above was planted about ten years ago and is now larger than I am, both taller and more wide. It is said in Vertrees/Gregory Japanese Maples, “Richard P. Wolff of Red Maple Nursery, Pennsylvania, discovered this curious dwarf on a witches’-broom.” I think what was meant is that it was discovered as a witches’-broom, not on a broom. Also I find it surprising that the book’s punctuation uses s’ instead of 's, like I just did with book’s. The plural form of witch is witches, but do various witches ride-share on the same broom? Since the single broom was found in a single tree I think the singular witch’s broom would be more appropriate, and I’d skip the hyphen too. By the way I looked at other broom-originating cultivars in the book, such as ‘Shaina’ – another Wolff introduction – ‘Koto maru’ and ‘Kandy Kitchen’, and at least the Timber Press editor is consistent with the witches’-broom designation… no matter how much I dislike it.
Acer palmatum 'Orion' |
Yes,
I have been called pedantic before. Anyway, my interest in looking up
‘Orion’ was because I noticed seed on my large specimen. Some
aficionados have said that maples originating from brooms do not
produce seed, but obviously that is not true. I have never seen seed
on ‘Shaina’, however, and my largest specimen is nearly thirty
years old. I’ll harvest the ‘Orion’ seed this fall and we’ll
see if its viable.
The
Vertrees/Gregory book’s latest 4th
edition (2009) was “Revised and expanded to include over 600
plants.” I guess that I grow the majority of them, and also many
more that are not in the book. Acer palmatum ‘Orion’ did not make
the main lineup of the 600 plants, and instead is relegated to a
section called “Cultivars Not Yet Assessed,” where sometimes a
small photo is included, and sometimes not, and where a couple of
sentences suffice as a description. There will of course always be
cultivars “not yet assessed” by any author of any plant book, as
it is impossible to be completely up to date. But some of the
not-yets
have
been well-assessed, at least by me, since the 2009 publication. I’ll
correct one mistake: that ‘Orion’ is red, not green as written,
and I would also be leery of assigning it to a “dwarf group.”
Acer palmatum 'Adrian's Compact'
Let’s
take a look at a few other cultivars that many growers today have
been able to assess. Acer palmatum ‘Adrian’s Compact’ is
correctly described as “red,” but again I'm not sure that I would
call it “dwarf.” In fact the book’s first sentence calls it a
"medium-sized upright growing shrub..." In my website I
size it as “5’ tall by 3’ wide in 10 years,” but as you can
see in the photo it grows just as wide as tall, so I should probably
amend my original description. ‘Adrian’s Compact’ was selected
by the late Adrian Ellerbrook, the propagator at West Oregon Nursery
who was the brother of the Dutchman I used to work for. I never met
Adrian because he had retired when I did time at West Oregon, but his
landscaper-son indicated that his maple was of seedling origin.
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Acer palmatum 'Alpine Sunrise' |
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Acer palmatum 'Alpine Sunrise' |
Acer
palmatum ‘Alpine Surprise’ is another cultivar in the not yet
assessed category, but I think it should be “Sunrise” not
“Surprise.” Maybe due to the Vertrees/Gregory book, one will see
the surprise
name
used in Europe, such as at Esveld Nursey in Boskoop, Holland. The
lads at MrMaple.com are usually in the know, and their website reads,
"‘Alpine Sunrise’ is a dwarf selection of a red Japanese
maple found as witch’s [sic] broom mutation in Alpine, NJ by Bob
McCaffery.” Mr. Maple describes ‘Alpine Sunrise’ as a
“miniature,” but for me it will attain 6’ tall by 3’ wide in
10 years. I think it is a worthy selection for its dense pillar-like
habit, deep red foliage in spring and summer – at least in Oregon –
and outstanding bright crimson color in fall.
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Acer palmatum 'Ao yagi gawa' |
Curiously
Acer palmatum ‘Ao yagi gawa’ is listed with the Ao
and
yagi
as
two words, while the cultivar ‘Aoyagi’ combines them. ‘Aoyagi’
is the older listing and it features green palmate leaves while ‘Ao
yagi gawa’ is in the linearlobum
group
due to its “strapleaf” lobes. Gregory mentions that ‘Ao yagi
gawa’ features two types of leaves, that most have “very narrow
untoothed lobes but a fair proportion, although still in the
strapleaf category, are broader and have clearly toothed margins.”
For me, this phenomena gives the tree an appearance with more depth
than if all lobes were the same.
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Acer palmatum 'Pung Kil' |
A
red counterpart to ‘Ao yagi gawa’ is Acer palmatum ‘Pung kil’,
and it too displays the two types of lobes. V/G writes that “This
Korean cultivar is similar to 'Red Pygmy' but with longer, narrower
strap like lobes.” My experience is that ‘Pung kil’ grows at
three times the rate as ‘Red Pygmy’, plus it holds its purple red
color in summer much better than ‘Red Pygmy’. Apparently ‘Pung
kil’ – the worst maple name ever – originated as a seedling of
Acer palmatum f. atropurpureum, and my original start came to me with
the name ‘Pung kill’. According to MrMaple.com the name
translates as a “look of wind,” describing how “these thin red
strap leaves flow in the wind.” I wrote in a Flora Wonder Blog
about three years ago that Pung
kil was
actually a person’s name, and that he was associated with the
Chollipo Arboretum in Korea, and if so, then the cultivar should be
spelled with a capital K.
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Acer palmatum 'Dragon's Fire' |
Acer palmatum 'Dr. Brown'

Acer palmatum 'Van den Akker'
The
likable Acer palmatum ‘Dragon’s Fire’ was unassessed at the
time of 2009 edition but we have a pretty good feel for it now.
Leaves are deeply dissected and are colored bronze-red, a nice
alternative to the more common purple-reds of ‘Red Dragon’,
‘Crimson Queen’, ‘Tamuke yama’ etc. In many respects
'Dragon's Fire' is similar to Acer palmatums ‘Dr. Brown’ and ‘Van
den Akker’ and I think these slow-growing, mounding dissectums with
the bronze-red to brown-red foliage make nice additions to the
landscape, but maybe it’s because I have become over-saturated with
the purple-reds that are seen by the millions in American gardens.
V/G states that ‘Dr. Brown’ is a green dissectum, and indeed they
include a greenish photo taken by Peter Gregory. Mention is made of
its “brown-red new leaves” though, and maybe the “green”
resulted from being grown in shade. As for ‘Van den Akker’ the
photo and description are not the same plant as that currently
growing in the trade. V/G pictures a large green leaf and a cultivar
in the matsumurae
group.
The ‘Van den Akker’ that I know was selected by a Washington
state landscaper, he of Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Van den Akker’
fame. Perhaps there is someone else from Holland or elsewhere who
selected the V/G maple; or more likely the photo and description have
been mixed up by the author or by Timber Press, both of which have
occurred in other cases.

Acer palmatum 'Peve Dave'
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Acer palmatum 'Kinshi' |
Vergeldt
Nursery in the Netherlands has a couple under-assessed selections,
and as with all Vergeldt introductions, both maples and conifers, the
cultivar name begins with the prefix Peve
(for
Piet Vergeldt). So we have a variegated Ginkgo – ‘Peve Maribo’,
a compact Taxodium – ‘Peve Minaret’, a dwarf Serbian spruce –
‘Peve Tijn’ etc. V/G include Acer palmatums ‘Peve Dave’ and
‘Peve Multicolor’ in the 2009 edition's category. I don’t know
who “Dave” is, but sometimes Vergeldt plants are named after
sons, employees, and maybe also friends and neighbors. I like ‘Peve
Dave’ but there’s not a huge demand for it. V/G says, “This
strapleaf is similar to the green ‘Kinshi’ in habit and size, but
has slightly broader lobed leaves…” I don’t think they are so
similar, and judge for yourself from the photos above. In spring
‘Peve Dave’ has lustrous red-purple leaves, but after our typical
100 degree F July-August spells the color will fade to more
bronze-red. Don’t be too quick to dismiss the color, though,
because late summer’s new growth will perk it up again.
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Acer palmatum 'Peve Multicolor' |
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Acer palmatum 'Shigitatsu sawa' |
As
for Acer palmatum ‘Peve Multicolor’, the book lumps it into the
‘Shigitatsu sawa’ group of variegates, and one wonders if the
parent tree to the seedling selection is known. I have raised many
look-alikes to ‘Shigitatsu sawa’ – such as the “Ghost Series”
– but ‘Peve Multicolor’ is unlike anything that I have grown.
At first you would suspect the white leaves to fry in Oregon, but I
have a specimen in the garden that holds up with very little PM
shade. As a container plant on the patio with a little shade, ‘Peve
Multicolor’ commands attention, especially when placed next to
red-leaved cultivars.

Acer palmatum 'Margaret'

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Acer palmatum 'Rhode Island Red' |
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Acer palmatum 'Rhode Island Red' |
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Rhode Island Red hen |
Acer
palmatum ‘Rhode Island Red’ was perhaps too new to include in the
Japanese
Maples top
600 in 2009, but now it is grown by the thousands. It is a
slow-growing upright tree with a broad form, but a good selection for
the smaller garden. Foliage in spring is bright red before turning to
a more dark red in summer, then in autumn the gardener is treated to
outstanding orange and red coloration. This cultivar comes from Rhode
Island Nurseries in Middletown, Rhode Island, and not surprising
since Gallus
gallus domesticus
– the Rhode Island Red hen – is the state bird, and was
so-designated on May 3, 1954.

Acer palmatum 'Usu midori'
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Acer palmatum 'Usu midori' |
Acer
palmatum ‘Usu midori’ is not a strong grower, but it can be so
delightful in spring that you somewhat forgive that it will burn by
summer if not sited properly. New foliage is green-yellow in April,
changing to light yellow by June, then leaves can turn to yellow with
red tips in autumn. Midori
is
“green” in Japanese, and when used with the word usu
it
means “light green.” I received my start in about 2009 when the
Timber Press maple book was published, but when young the cultivar
didn’t impress me. A few years later an enthusiastic customer
discovered a group in the back end of a greenhouse and gushed about
its beauty. I’m glad she visited when she did, for they were indeed
wonderful then, but a month later they were half defoliated from sun
scorch. I pruned back the new growth so they wouldn’t look so bad,
and they rebounded nicely later in summer with fresh yellow new
growth. V/S calls ‘Usu midori’ “ a small hardy tree with
colorful spring foliage similar to ‘Katsura’.” For me it is
much more slow-growing than ‘Katsura’, and I doubt that it could
withstand colder winters than -10 degrees F, USDA Zone 6.

Acer x 'Gossamer'

Acer japonicum 'Ao jutan'
I
received the slow-growing Acer japonicum ‘Gossamer’ about seven
years ago and it is now only waist high. I guess it should be listed
as Acer x
‘Gossamer’ since it is reputed to be a cross between A. japonicum
and a green A. palmatum f. dissectum. The word gossamer
means
“light, delicate or tenuous” and it comes from Middle English
gossamer,
from
gos
for
“goose” and somer
for
“summer.” ‘Gossamer’ is definitely not a name I would have
chosen and I don’t see what the maple has to do with a summer
goose. To me it looks like a smaller-leaf version of Acer japonicum
‘Ao jutan’, except with a more compact body. I would call
‘Gossamer’ more strange than beautiful, so naturally it will be
popular with collectors afflicted with maple
fever.
Acer circinatum 'Pacific Sprite'
Peter
Gregory provides a crummy photo of Acer circinatum ‘Pacific Sprite’
and calls it “a dwarf tree with small deep green crinkly leaves
turning orange-red in the fall.” My largest specimen is 12’ tall
by 10’ wide at 10 years of age, with A. palmatum used as rootstock,
and it is an oversized hunk that will have to be cut down in a couple
of years. When I first acquired ‘Pacific Sprite’ I speculated
that it would grow to only 6’ tall by 2’ wide in 10 years, but
that was based on observation of a tree in another’s garden. I
haven’t propagated it the last two or three years because frankly I
don’t like it. Furthermore my specimen turns to brown-yellow in the
fall, nothing spectacular, then the leaves smother the dwarf conifers
beneath it.

Acer circinatum 'Sunny Sister'
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Acer circinatum 'Sunglow' |
V/S
wrote of Acer circinatum ‘Sunny Sister’, “New from Talon
Buchholz, [it] has yellow gold leaves in spring with pink tinges,
later turning green with pink tinges. As the name suggests, this vine
maple thrives in a site with sun.” Well, actually not; it does
prefer partial shade over full sun. It received its name because it
was a sister
seedling
with Acer circinatum ‘Sunglow’ along with five more siblings that
are apparently lost to horticulture. V/S is correct that ‘Sunglow’
and the other seedlings were discovered by gardener Floyd McMullen of
Portland, Oregon. He passed away before I could meet him, but mutual
friend Reuben Hatch (aka my Grandfather) dug two of the seedlings out
of his garden for me. ‘Sunny Sister’ is the more vigorous of my
two “sisters,” while ‘Sunglow’ is perhaps the more colorful.

Acer palmatum 'Spring Plum'
Acer shirasawanum 'Mikado'
Again
there will always be maple selections that are “not yet assessed.”
But that doesn’t keep them from being propagated, named and sold.
They may or may not prove stable and worthy, but then I can name
quite a few of the 600 mainstays
in the book that I don’t think are worthy, at least in my
collection. My personal code is that if I intend to propagate a
selection that I have made, then I will name it before hand. This is
contrary to what Vertrees and others preached, but I have defended my
position before so I won’t rehash it now.
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Acer shirasawanum 'Sonya Marie' |

Acer shirasawanum 'Green Snowflake'
Appendix
D follows the Not
Yet Assessed, and
it lists Cultivar
Names Not Elsewhere Described, and
it’s a bit scary that there’s over a thousand of these that have
been named. Some are my plants like ‘Sonya Marie’, ‘Shira Red’,
‘Heavy Seed’, ‘Iro iro’, ‘Green Snowflake’ and many
others. Some of these one thousand are in the trade and some are not.
Authoring a book on maple cultivars seems like an endless purgatory,
and I’m worn out already with my little Flora Wonder Blog.
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