(Copied from the Texas Forum)

Since there is no Japanese Maple Forum and since there are only just a few Japanese Maples that grow in Texas heat, was wondering who grows them in Texas?

This year a light bulb went off in my dense head. I had 2 JM's that do so well in pots. I can leave them out all winter, snow and all, and they come back and grow every spring. I keep them in morning sun only as I was warned our heat can hurt them badly. I have a dozen mature trees, oaks, pines and elm in the back yard. They take up most of the water I give the yard. So pot-growing is a good thing. I am using my JM's as colorful understory, giving us something to look at at mid range instead of tree trunks. I bought 3 this year alone. I don't think there are many more I can buy that will survive?

The first JM I got as a "stick" at the local arboretum sale about 23-24 years ago. I planted it in the ground and moved it 3 times in as many years due to poor performance. Finally, I put it in a pot and told it, "Do your thing, I am tired of moving you around the yard!". It stayed in that pot until this year and flourished. It is green with small leaves. The pot deteriorated and I had to give it a new home.

The second I bought for $9.99 at Aldi 5 years ago. I think we have determined it to be Bloodgood Orangeola. It was 3 ft tall twig in a little 1 gallon pot. I have slowly repotted it each year into a just slightly bigger pot and it has grown well for me.

Early summer I fell in love with a Shishigashira while looking for a Red Leaf JM. I had a hard time finding the more common Red Leaf variety when I came upon this little gem with it's naturally curly mini leaves at a mom and pop nursery. Only 2 feet tall she has a big 1-1/2" diameter trunk. A Dwarf variety, it will only get to 8 ft. tall and will take it's time growing.

I did find the Red Leaf JM at a far away Lowe's. I like it mostly for the leaf color. But it seems to be picky about being in the morning sun. It is the only one that I have a little trouble with finding the perfect place of sun and shade. It gets brown leaves more than the others. I wonder about it. I think I have to move it again for more shade.Today I was told Monrovia out of Cali grows the best JMs. I have 3 from Monrovia that are doing splendidly. I am sure the one from Lowe's is not from Monrovia.

And of course the Coral Bark Maple that I had been searching for was found locally this summer. I passed it up once but made my wish come true today. I will be excited to see the leaf color change, something we have little of in South Texas and look forward to brightening the yard in the winter with it's bright red branches.

Texas has such intense, long-lasting heat. Except for one more, Red Dragon, I think those are the 6 JMs recommended for Texas? Anyone else find a JM that grows well here?

Orangeola is rated as good for warmer zones. Had it in containers for several years, and it flourished. Put it in ground and it died 18 months later. Of course, that probably had more to do with the trunk split it received when a 25-foot Cedar Elm limb dropped on it during a high wind event than being put in ground, but, still...

It is a gorgeous tree, and its mature size is perfect for small yards. I plan to get a couple more once the revamp of my front yard and east side-yard is completed. Some progress photographs:

Right after receipt. First image from March 4, 2011; second from March 18, 2011.



In 2015:



In 2016, March and April:



December 2016, in ground. It was dead by May of this year.

OH, man!~ @Lovemyhouse Debra, that is a sad story!! They grow so slowly. I know you put your heard into that one. I am keeping my Orangeola (thought it was Bloodgood but it's not) and all the rest in pots. We have large trees and their roots take up allllll the water I can give it. At least in pots, I can control their moisture. Or so I thought. My Shishigashira is suffering!! My Red Maple is suffering. Fall and a cool down needs to come FAST! My Orangeola is about 4 ft. but due to the heat not looking as pretty.

Balancing water needs is often tricky, especially in your area. And I agree with you on the cool down!!!! Even with full all-afternoon shade, my Orangeola always ended up with crispy leaf endings in the summer, but it also always rallied. Well, until the limb.

Debra I'm so sorry to hear about your Orangeola It sure was a lovely little tree.

My crispy Shishigashira has been well watered, placed in full shade where I can watch it. Hopefully on the road to recovery? It was in the shade before but I guess I let it get too dry? Or the sprinkler stopped hitting it? I feel so bad that it suffering!

Yesterday I bumped it and some of the dry leaves fell off. So I rubbed each branch lightly to defoliate it. There is a pile of tiny leaves all around it. BUT! I think I spotted new buds? One can only hope! We have a long growing season. Shishi still has time to recover before winter.

That's so sad Cheryl. I sure hope it bounces back, it is a lovely well branched little tree and it would be a shame to loose it.

I lost my coral bark seemingly overnight. But I think it was an issue of being potbound (root bound). I'd been trying to get someone to help me repot it but funny how people disappear. When I finally got it out the container the soil at the bottom was dry even tho we'd had rain and I 'thought' I was watering it deep enough. Could be a coincidence but it happened right after blooming. The leaves started looking like crispy critters and falling off like yours.

Picture taken March 21st.



Not at my desktop or I could tell you approx. date of death.

My only suggestion would be to repot it with fresh soil and make sure it gets watered well. Have no idea about cutting it back. Good luck.

Looked at your picture again. That container looks awfully small.

Can you really have too small of a container for JMs? @tx-flower-child I mean I have seen them bonsai'd in containers no deeper than 4". I think they just are stunted. Here is a terrible photo of one from the nursery. There are about a dozen trees crammed into this shallow pot.

What look were they going for? Or just priced to oversell? Was yours removed from a container like that? I mean are they low on containers?

Yes, I think they can be bonsai'd. Don't really know. But that's different from putting a JM in a too small container. It's a tree after all.

bonsais look nice but boy are they high maintenance plants.

So anyway, yes, based on your picture, I think your container is w-a-y too small.

How long are you planning to keep it in a container? Is that how you plan to grow it? Nothing wrong with growing in a container. Just asking.

Its a dwarf tree no taller than 8-10 ft. at maturity. It is about 3 ft now...maybe? So it is about half way. And a super slow grower. I am not going to bonsai this tree. But JMs especially dwarfs will do well in pots that are too small....to a point. There may be a tie where I'll need to trim roots since they are not in the ground. I will repot it in the black pot in the photo that is is around the pot that it came in or just a tad bigger but not much...but not til the weather cools down and not til I know it is recuperated and healed from drought stress even if it means waiting til Spring.

Oh I agree that now is not the time to transplant it whether potting up or in the ground.

I've been basing my answers by looking at the picture of your JM. Since I'm using my phone, even tho I did enlarge the picture, I probably need to look at it when I'm using my desktop. Do you know what size the pot is that it's in?

I had never heard that dwarfs do well in pots that are too small. I'll take your word for it.

I'm sure your JM will do well in your care and that you'll be so happy that you have it. I look forward to future pictures once the weather settles down. (It will settle down sometime, won't it?)

It's not that dwarfs do well in small pots, but rather JMs can easily be root pruned to stay in a smaller pot. Similar but what I do is not as drastic as bonsai. Bonsai is high maintenance in that you have to trim branches, train branches, root pruning to also slows growth and allows for new root growth. Here is a video that explains it better than I can.
https://www.finegardening.com/...

I took some pics of JMs around my hood. The first is nextdoor in winter and now.





then nextdoor to him



across the street


So many more but the light or the height was wrong. That last one was very small. Have no idea if it's small because it's new or just cuz.

Maybe when all the leaves turn I'll take pics of a few others. Kinda weird lurking around the hood. I was actually pretty surprised at how many JMs were in one block.

@tx_flower_child Beautiful! Just beautiful!

Thanks, Shady. I posted them just for you.

Dang it! I was about to post a few more and then remembered I'm using my desktop and would have to switch to my phone. This is getting really old not being able to post pictures using the desktop. Makes me crabby and also dizzy going back and forth from desktop to phone and back.