They are only "sickly" if they don't get proper care :-)

Crimson Queen can be grown in a container, providing the container is well sized for the plant now and with some consideration for future growth. Ultimate height depends on where the plant was grafted and how it was trained, but generally these are going to be low, spreading selections. If your tree is not currently staked or trained to be more upright, the height it is at now will be about it. You will get some layering of new branches on the top but nothing that will increase the height significantly.

CQ can get quite wide. Mature containerized specimens at my nursery exceed 6' across, some significantly wider than that. And containerized maples do take some extra care compared to those grown in the ground - more frequent watering and fertilizing and occasional root pruning and repotting.

Also, if the area is very shady, you may not realize the very rich, deep red coloring as well as what might be produced in more sun.

In my experience BBoy is correct... you do need sun to get color but full sun in many areas will eventually if combined with heat and possibly humidity either burn the plant to a crisp ( especially dissectums) or green it out just like too much shade will do. The only benefit is that you will get better color for at least a few months in full sun and generally little color in full shade.( of couse some variegtes need alot of shade so this is not true for every JM). That is why most cataloges say sun to shade ( Ie: morning - afternoon) ...in this case they are not just CYA'ing they are correct.It is also true that as your tree gets of age it will take full sun better but still can be crisped in a summer like last years...Also always remember not only does your tree grow ...sometimes "out" of it's planted area ...but that oak or sugar maple near by is not freeze framed either... and your one perfectly sited tree may in a few years be ...well ... not so perfectly sited ;>) David

C'mon guys. It's coastal SoCal - never gets very hot, never gets very cold and the humidity is most often due to fog or June gloom. And the plant is in a container, transportable to a variety of locations that can provide a range of shade conditions, if they exist in the OP's garden. Bboy is of course entitled to his opinions, but my experience with red leafed JM's, like the Crimson Queen in question, does not support the notion that they all "bronze out" in full sun, particularly if watering is attended to religiously. But that is not the issue here nor is the relevance of what may be planted nearby, other than how it may provide shade and compliment or set off the containerized tree.

FWIW, most of the red leafed Japanese maples I see in coastal SoCal (Newport Beach to San Diego) seem to thrive in that climate and the regular irrigation from automatic systems every single house seems to have, despite their ongoing drought conditions and the amount of sun they receive.

You are of course correct ...if kept in container she will prob. be fine. My comments were a little off base but I think the suns effects on JM's especially red dissectums are generally relevant.Now differnt areas of the country may have differnt experiences due to local weather patterns and conditions but I think you could say "generally" most non vareigated Jm's can take full sun but during certain really hot sunny times during ther summer, most areas will have sun leaf damage to their plants as well as bronze or green out the color at least mine do.The red is not the same... and that some shade is usually the best and ideal siting ...I think you can also say that too much shade DOES green a red JM out.That all being said other than the shade matter and the sea salt breeze effect ( which I claim no knowlede of in my land locked state) our comments are not specifically relevant to LL but generally relevant to this forum David

The basis for my "opinion" is based on behavior demonstrated by thousands of Japanese maples here every summer, both in nurseries and the general landscape. Even those cultivars that are promoted over and over in commercial literature as staying a good red or purple all summer - again, thereby demonstrating that there is an endemic problem with color retention in these - may deteriorate markedly in hot, sunny locations rather early in the season. This includes heavily watered container specimens in nursery yards that, although kept moist, are getting lots of hot sun. With some cultivars the repeated claims are basically a joke or a lie, as these really do not hold up that well under our conditions at all.