Maples in the Morning...

August is a tough month. Visually the nursery is at its worst, totally pooped out from the heat and alarmingly behind on the weeding, pruning, potting etc. I'm dragged through the month as a servant of the propagation department, needing about 1600 scions per day. My father-in-law gave my wife advice for me about staying in good shape, that I should stretch with arms up and bend over for about 10 minutes each day. Ha! – I do it for hours each day. I was up the ladder in a sweaty greenhouse to get the top scions of a new variety – stretching...stretching – when I somewhat lost my balance. Nothing happened, but I realize I'd better finish the rest of my career from the ground only.

Acer palmatum 'Black Lace'

Acer palmatum 'Black Lace'

The scions I was striving for were Acer palmatum 'Black Lace'. It is new for me and I cut every graftable stick into a single-node section. Earlier in the day I received a catalog from a nationally-known wholesale nursery, and I read their description for Acer palmatum 'Seiryu': “The only upright laceleaf Japanese maple.” Not anymore. I have been growing 'Seiryu' for almost 40 years, and I often reflected that one could make a ton of money if you could discover a red or purple-leaved upright, and now we finally have one that's dark enough to be called “black.” It is said to come from Holland but I don't know who discovered it, and I'll just hope it's not patented.

Acer palmatum 'English Lace'

Another “upright” burgundy-red laceleaf is Acer palmatum 'English Lace' which mrmaple.com called the “Holy Grail of Japanese maples!...That's right, I said upright and laceleaf.” And then we are advised to stake this selection for best upright growth. Hmm, I didn't stake my stock and the form is more spreading than upright, so maybe I need to change my growing technique. We have been producing 'English Lace' for the past few years but I have no idea if it was really introduced from England. Neither 'Black Lace' or 'English Lace' made it into the newest (2009), 4^th edition of Japanese Maples by Vertrees/Gregory.

What follows are a few other cultivars in our production that you also won't find in Japanese Maples, and one wonders if publisher Timber Press has another edition in the works.

Acer palmatum 'Rainbow'

Maybe it's just as well that my introduction of the variegated Acer palmatum 'Rainbow' is not in the Maple Bible because I have a love-hate relationship with the cultivar. The original seedling was dazzling when I first discovered it, but now that tree is in the Upper Garden at Flora Farm and there's barely any pink and red coloration on the purple leaves. We still have a few trees in containers but I took the unstable cultivar out of production two years ago.

Acer palmatum 'Lileeanne's Jewel'

Acer palmatum 'Lileeanne's Jewel'

Not as vibrantly colorful as 'Rainbow' – when at its best – is Acer palmatum 'Lileeanne's Jewel' but at least the latter keeps its variegation better. I'm certain that our lush growing environment and culture, that all the other maples seem to appreciate, is the primary cause but I don't know how to unlush the situation. Anyway I cut every stick of wood of 'Lileeanne's Jewel' that I could find, and if all goes well have a few hundred to sell in the near future. Sadly the exciting seedling find was named for Johnathon Savelich's daughter, but it has been misidentified as 'Little Anne's Jewel' or 'Lil Anne's Jewel' by some, including a long-time, well-known mail order company...which is inexcusable.

Acer palmatum 'Fred's Wild Dream'

If the mother-tree Japanese maple is attractive or unique the offspring have a good chance to be too. As with people the germinated seedlings can vary, and sometimes to a great extent. My favorite “Mom” is Acer palmatum 'Amber Ghost' which was selected 25 years ago and became one of the founding members of the “Ghost series.” I was showing the folks of Dancing Oaks Nursery some of the unnamed seedlings and co-owner Fred W. went nuts for one in particular. He wanted to buy it but I suddenly became excited too. I said that I would give it to him, but that I wanted to propagate it first. I don't use code names or numbers to identify the propagules as that leads to confusion down the road. Rather, everything new that we propagate is given a final cultivar name, and then we let the market determine whether it is worthy or not. My wife was helping me prepare (de-leaf) scions in the garage and one variety in particular astounded her. The evening sun shone through the window and she held up a branch, and the leaves with the backlight produced a spectacle that she described as “most beautiful ever,” especially since the scion was glistening with mist as well. She reached for the label to identify it, which read 'Fred's Wild Dream'.

Acer palmatum 'Purple Curl'

Acer palmatum 'Purple Curl'

Another seedling of interest is Acer palmatum 'Purple Curl', and I place it as an Acer palmatum because the mother tree is, although 'Purple Curl' appears to have had some involvement with an Acer shirasawanum. I would describe it as unique more than beautiful and I doubt that it will ever be in great demand. But as you can see it attains great brilliance in autumn.

Acer palmatum 'Peve Starfish'

Acer palmatum 'Peve Starfish'

Acer palmatum 'Hitode'

One of my favorite new maples, also absent from the Vertrees/Gregory book is Acer palmatum 'Peve Starfish'. It was introduced by Piet Vergeldt of The Netherlands, and I guess that I'm responsible for the “Starfish” part of the name, while the “Peve” is his tag for most or all of his introductions (as in Taxodium 'Peve Minaret'). During one of my visits to his nursery he showed me the unnamed seedling and I remarked that the leaf resembled a starfish; then I forgot all about my comment. Later I introduced a seedling named 'Hitode' which is Japanese for “starfish,” having forgotten all about Vergeldt's tree. Back at Vergeldt's when I mentioned that there was also a “starfish” from America – which could lead to some confusion – he looked at me quizzically and replied, “But you named mine.” And then I remembered.

Acer palmatum 'Jubilee'

Maples in the morning, maples in the evening – my brain is loaded with encounters with the remarkable colors and variations of foliage. I could continue with dozens more of new selections, but blog co-producer Seth implores me to keep it “short and sweet.” We'll see: maybe I'll continue next week. Now I have more scions to cut.