JMaple are very variable in z5 ...

the standard red bloodgood is bulletproof.. but once you get to the more foo foo ones.. it all depends on your micro climate.. and lake erie effects ... not to mention your wonderful clay ....

girards nursery is in saybrook OH.. the definition of NE OH ... you might want to talk to them.. or visit the website ...

ken

We love our 'Bloodgood'. It's on the south side of the house but gets shaded by maples after 3:00 p.m.. It is not the summer green you want though--purple for most of its time in leaf then crimson red in November. I never water it. It will begin burning some if temps get into the 100's otherwise, it does tolerate heat well it seems.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:415453}}

I like the bloodgood but don't they get really big? Really big ?

Sources say about 20 feet tall and wide, but mine sees more side sprawling than tall growing--there are adjacent maples that probably will keep mine in check. The previous owners seemed to have dwarfed it by seasonal pruning so we thought it was just a bush 5 winters ago. I just prune the horizontal branches that begin to encroach on the walkways and are low enough to walk into. We don't find it too big and it blocks some strong, south sun.

Here the same tree after a heavy snowfall.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:415454}}

Depending on when that picture was taken, I'd consider that color exceptional.

'Wulff' is a sport (I believe) of 'Bloodgood'. Its supposed to be slower growing and leaf out 2 weeks later. At least thats what they advertise.

I also live in northeast Ohio... so I can shed a little more light on this since it varies from location to location.

I have around 6-7 Japenese maples, they all have burnt leaves. These will be the last Japanese maples I ever plant. The branches die back during extreme heat or cold. If planted in full sun, they burn up quick. Some of mine this summer lost all there leaves and they just started to grow back. The leaves on some of my purple ones look sick. They are an ugle greenish/brown color now.

On a positive note, I love how they look in the spring. The leaves kind of droop down and have almost a ghostly look. But after a month of that, they go downhill.

I have one that's doing pretty good. It gets sun from 2pm-5. It's my favorite and is called Acer palmatum 'Shindeshojo'. It starts out with bright pink leaves in the spring, then a month later fades to red, then quickly fades to green. During August a second batch of leaves appear that are pink. So during August you'll have a part pink and part green tree. This still needs shade.

To sum it up, if you're planting in Full sun here in northeast Ohio, you'll be disapointed.

I was lured in by false full sun advertisements on Acer palmatums in zone 6 st louis. A number of the cloned cultivars live but do not thrive. My generic main species $6 Arbor Day Japanese maple comes the closest but it gets some singe every year and alot this year.

There are other maples better suited for full sun. Google acer gresium, paperbark maple for one. Mine did very well this year.

Thanks all. Great comments. I agree the full sun makes it rough. Especially this year in Ohio. It was rather toasty. I am going to gamble and right now I have narrowed it down to a few choices. Curious what you all think?

Seiryu - Japanese Maple (top choice so far)
Coral Bark Beni Kawa or Sango Kaku

For the person in OHIO. Where is a good place to buy Japanese Maple trees? I live near Cleveland.

Another really nice tree is a Japanese Maple Tiger Rose. I recently (spring time) planted this and it handled the sun great. Really pretty tree. The leaves and bark change colors throughout the entire day.

You might want to post this in the Maples forum also. There are a number of posters who live in colder zones and grow JM's with considerable success.

And there is a good selection of cultivars suggested for full sun in all but the hottest or southernmost climates.....if they can grow in California's central valley, they grow pretty much anywhere :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese maples for sun

cubbyboy - I think most of my maples came from Eastforknursery.com. I don't buy any of my plants local, just not enough selection and you can't do any research standing in the store.

If you get any with yellow, pink, or bright colored leaves, they will be the worst in full sun. I have an 'Autumn Moon' maple that is yellow/orange that I may rip out in the near future. All the leaves are an ugly brown/gray/black.

One you may want to consider is Acer palmatumn 'Emperor 1'. If I have extra money laying around sometime I MAY give this a gamble.

As Ken stated above, I have a lot of the foo foo ones... Stuff like 'Autumn Moon', 'Purple Ghost', 'Geisha Gone Wild', 'Fireglow', 'Orangelo', 'Red Dragon'. I didn't do any research on any of these before I bought them otherwise I would have tried different ones such as 'Emperor 1'.

Thanks ! Much appreciated.

Nothing 'foo-foo' about 'Fireglow', 'Orangeola' or 'Red Dragon' - very popular, somewhat commonplace selections and consistently listed for hot situations or in full sun.

Now when you get to the very pale colored foliage ('Autumn Moon'), variegated forms ('Geisha Gone Wild') or those with reticulated (veined) leaves ('Purple Ghost'), some shade is pretty much a requirement.

But your point is valid......do your research before purchasing the tree :-)

'Orangeola' & 'Red Dragon' seem to be doing much better than anything else. Although I have branch dieback on everyone along with a lot of burnt leaves. Fireglow lost all it's leaves back in August and is just now showing new growth.

I really like the new leaf color of 'Purple Ghost'. Although it looks bad now when young I'm hoping that may disapear with age. Right now the sun touches every leaf on the tree and burns it up. Once it gets a nice canopy I'm hoping that only the upper most leafs will burn shading the lower leafs. 'Purple Ghost' is a strong grower, it's my only one without any branch die back.

But the lesson was learned. Don't get anything with bright, variegated or reticulated leaves.

How helpful any suggestions are now 12 years after the OP's request may be up for some discussion :-) And as was previously addressed in the thread, Geisha Gone Wild is probably not a great suggestion anyway. Variegated or reticulated Japanese maples are not very tolerant of full sun in any location, especially in the midwest. By nature, JM's are woodland understory trees and will color up and perform best in at least partial shade, especially from hot afternoon sun. Variegated or reticulated foliage tends to scorch in hot sun and by this time of the season will look like crap. They also tend to be a good full zone less hardy than JM's with solid colored foliage.

Autumn Moon is my recommendation!