With Tamukeyama you will not be able to escape the umbrella shaping - that is common to nearly every type of dissectum.

For red leaves, I'd suggest you look at 'Shaina', 'Pixie' , 'Moonfire' or 'Fireglow'.

Thanks for the suggestions, gardengal. I'll look them up and make my choice.

This website has been invaluable to me when looking for hardy Japanese maples (I'm in 5b), and unlike the sellers out west or east, this nursery is located in the norther(ish) midwest. He gives estimates on maples' sizes based on how he sees them grow here in the midwest, which will be different than the ideal maple environments of Oregon, etc.

Also, he has a maple "app" for choosing the right Japanese maple, and you can choose hardiness, shape, leaf color, and size. SO HELPFUL!

Here is his A-Z listings of his maples, which I very much enjoyed reading. There are a lot of cultivars he's found to be hardy, some of which surprised me. When I dug around in this forum and on the UBC maples forum, I found his experience mostly reflected the experience of other 5a/5b gardeners: http://www.davidsansjapanesemaples.com/shop/allproducts/

The app. is in the link below. Good luck! Between the Davidsans website and Vertrees & Gregory's book, you can find more than a few cultivars worth trying.

Here is a link that might be useful: Davidsans Choose the Perfect JM App

Thank you maplesmagpie for that info. Looking at the site, and app, now. It looks very helpful.

I need to get going on choosing my first JM. Winter comes early here and I want to give it a good start, so it has to be planted in late August or early September.

I really like my Shaina. It's on the south side of the house, but tucked back out of winter winds.

Now that it's established, it's putting on about 6" per year. The red is best in the spring, but I love it year round.