It's a pretty generic name for a green leafed dissectum. Ultimate height will be determined by the graft and how it is trained.

If in fact it is a grafted tree ...check the trunk you should see an obvious bulging or since it is not to old probably a joining spot ...then it is grafted. If it's low to the base ...and if it is small it probabably is... you may have to stake it to grow it taller. Gal is correct it is not a named cultivar ...and is either grafted from an un-named tree or somewhere along the line the tag was lost or something ...My guess it is not grafted ( but let us know I'd be interested in knowing whether I am right or wrong on this) but a seedling tree and there is no way to ever know what it will look like size etc...but placement, soil and enviormental conditions will play a part in how big and wide it grows and of course your prunning shears....I purchased a generic JM maple labeled "red cutleaf japanese maple" about 10 years ago ( from walmart???) and it is about 6-7 feet tall and 4ft wide I don't think it was grafted...but I would expect similar results from yours but who knows David

Colbytrio,
I bought one of those trees as well from OSH. I found that the tag that came with it also said it was a "Green Cutleaf Maple, Viridis". Here is a cut & paste link to some info about the plant. Hope this helps you out.

Ken

http://www.carlmontnursery.com/product.asp?product_id=515

"Green Cutleaf Maple, Viridis". if this is what it is here's the dave's garden link... I think the zone 4 planting is a little liberal but who knows. Daves garden has some of the best all around objective info on JM's available in their data base IMHO ... David

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55719/index.html

Viridis has become almost a generic term for dwarf green cutleaf maples. I bought one at Home Depot about 8 years ago and it has grown into a beautiful tree. It was about 2' tall when I got it, and it's now about 3.5' tall and 5' wide. Doesn't like too much hot sun.

Waterfall seems to be the new standard for cutleaf green maples. That's what most of the nurseries in my area seem to carry now, but they don't look much different than my Viridis.

A local nursery has nice-looking "viridis" maples,about 3-1/2 ft tall for $129, graft seems nicely high, good "weeping potential" though I haven't measured yet. Would have a pretty good presence in the landscape even now; doesn't that sounds like a reasonable price for that size tree?

At a local nursery maybe but on line the answer is NO that is really high IMHO ...Della would probably be able to get you a much larger tree 4+ year old for around $60plus under 15 shipping ( more likely under 10$ depending where you are at..unless your a west coaster ) which would probably be to be a little more than your tax if bought locally... check her out at J & D's Backyard Nursery She is low on stock at the moment but is going to stock up soon and can hand pick ya a tree in the next few weeks...David http://nurserygirl1.tripod.com/index.html

Thanks, myers, I will keep looking. I could not access that website, though..

Frankie ...tried to email you with NO success maybe the webs system is down or something ...email me at the above and I'll send you Della's link and personal email ...funny I have no trouble cut and pasting the url and accessing her site..your email must have a glitch or you didn't paste the whole url on your browser??? David

I have specific experience with the Acer p. maples sold at O.S.H., have purchased a fair amount from them and returned a few. If they are grafted, labled and you select well they can be a great value. If it is not a grafted plant and has not leafed out or you can not see a difference disregard it's label,it will most likely turn out to be Regular Acer p. or some thing very similar- i.e. on two ungrafted plants labels say sherwood flame and oshio beni and the plants leaves come out totally green and look the same.

Frankie:

The $129 is a little high as $89 sounds like more of an average for a tree that size.

At OSH and other garden supply it is a good idea to see the plants in leaf as they can be mistagged and be green instead of red or be a different but similar variety. The price should be right, and if not, it is worth it to wait for a sale. The good thing is that all of these plants should come with a guarantee and in this day and age with maples, you can use one.

I will say that I tried to do a deal with Della once for a bunch of maples and she had not access to one of them. Ans the shipping to the west coast is not a litte more, but a lot more. My impression is that she prefers to sell larger 3gal trees but is getting sold back to smaller sizes and there is quite a delay or backlog for her supplier to get plants up to size. I admire any grower that is willing to wait for plants to get up to size before selling them. If you can ever get some of the plants on her list you will have access to some of the more rare regional east coast selections and a good list of varieties. Unfortunately, I cannot say I have any of her plants, or I should say the plants she brokers, but there is some potential there.

As for Waterfall and Virids, they have been nursery standbys/standards for many years--decades. Selected seedlings from these varieties are equally common in the trade, but to find a good quality plant of ethier one is a worth while find.

MJH

what MJH says is true...Any shipment of a larger box of anything including a tree between coasts is always expensive...my sentence was misconstrued...I never said a little more just "more" the parenthethis was confusing I was trying to say the shipping, unless to west coast, would be about the same as your tax on a 120$ tree..my bad....Sice some folks here do not put there state down on the form when joining it is IMPOSSIBLE to know WHERE they are from and therefore YES they could be from the west coast or the south with a zone 7 address ..big differnce.And it is true Della does not have access to everything ...in fact her pickiness sometimes leaves you with nothing ...but that is a good thing ...if she's not satisfied she doesn't get it ...As far as size as we all know one 4+ year JM ( and that what she brokers)of the same variety may be much differnt size and structure than another. All the trees I have gotten from her are much larger and nicer than any I've gotten elsewhere by a LONG shot. The seiryu I just bought from her was over 67" tall from top of pot ( and 4 ft wide branch spead towards the top) arrived in two days and barely fits into my green house which is 7 ft tall... it cost under 10$ to ship from VA to Il. Now not all trees( she had three sieryu's to choose from the others are smaller) will be this nice or large and alot depends on the variety but this is one she deemed nice enough to get for me and on average you will get larger trees from her and nicer ones than anywhere else on the web at reasnable shipping costs and extreemly well packed, ...David

NOT to bore anyone with the obvious ... MY rule of thumb for mail order ...if you live east of the Mississippi best buy from dealers on your side of the river ...same goes for your westerners both the shipping costs and shipping times are more ( the times are especially important after june 15th!!)
In addidtion if you can afford it, always buy locally and support your local merchants you might also get a better guarentee but be prepared , in most cases to pay more ...much more...but as in my case the stuff I'm interested in ISN'T available locally.
Lastly if you have the choice betweeen buying from big boxes and small Etalers that's a NO brainer ... the heck with Loews or HD...buy from the small, most times, struggling Etailer...they are the next best thing to the small local dealer and the prices will be as cheap as or cheaper than the big boxes and more likely to be true to the "tag" thats on it!!!.... David

Hi,

Darn, I was in the middle of a reply to this thread when I friend called and I closed my browser without sending it!

I was writing about how if you're going to by a maple from OSH know what it is you're buying, or buy it because you just like it. But, if it's a named cultivar you're after make sure you know what it is you're looking for. A LOT of OSH's and maples coming from Monorovia are unfortunately mislabeled. OSH will have two totally different trees sitting side by side with the same cultivar name! And dare I say, their Butterfly looks nothing like the photo tag. They do have trees that are correctly labeled though. Monrovia unfortunately also has a mix up with mainly their red leaved cultivars.

Mr. Shep has it soooo right when he says, "Buy the tree, not the name." One of the frustrating things are trees that are mislabeled or have lost their tags at the local nurseries. But, I've taken the attitude to make it a challenge in making note of these and learning to ID some of them.

Layne