It is certainly an option :-) It is very closely related to Acer griseum but is considered nore drought tolerant than that species. Otherwise, hardiness and ultimate size will be about similar. Triflorum also has a broader range of fall color than does griseum, but both produce fall color very reliably here, griseum somewhat later than most other maple species. And griseum has better, more dramatic bark effect.

FWIW, even though quite hardy, none of the Korean/Chinese maples will be particularly happy in a location that exposes them to strong winter winds. I would try to avoid that situation if possible.

Sounds like I shouldn't necessarily be worried about afternoon shade for the Triflorum but to your point, its not going to like our cold dry winds.

Would you agree Triflorum will still be the better choice given that situation? I was going to plant a Carpinus Carolina there but the Triflorm seems to have more interest.

I don't want to plant a tree that isn't going to be happy but I just don't have anywhere that would support their micro-climate requirements...I don't think that will hold me back though.

My lot has the worst soil conditions from Southeast to south and then the best from Northwest to North...talk about getting screwed. I have a little bit of east to work with....I have one little spot for one little JM (10'x10')

Since I can't assess your wind conditions, I can't say for certain how well the maple might do. OTOH, the hornbeam offers similar fall color (perhaps not quite so intense) and a nicely muscled bark effect, so the degree of interest one provides relative to the other is somewhat subjective. And it is a native species, so offers some advantage in that regard.

Personally, I am a big fan of hornbeams as they are very adaptable and present no big issues with pests or diseases. But I am also an Acer lover, too :-) Provided the conditions are suitable, I don't think you'd go wrong with either.

Just as an aside, when writing out the botanical names of plants, the genus is always capitalized (first letter only) and the species is always written in lower case. Cultivar names - if any - are capitalized and enclosed in single quotation marks. And if you want to be extremely adherent to the proper convention, italicize everything but the cultivar name :-)

Feature for feature your right, they could be a trade off. Might boil down to the branching structure when I get to the nursery.

I've got a Korean & Three-flower growing next to each other on an east facing slope, with large White Pines offering protection from the west. Both were planted about 5-6 years ago and are now in the 10' range. Fall color of A. triflorum has actually been more dependable of the two and can be stunning. Both are nice little trees, but if forced to choose, I'd go with A. t. The only downside is the leaves will scorch and it definitely prefers the company of larger trees. BTW, there's a wonderful Three-flower specimen at the U of Minnesota arb that's probably 35'.

A couple of other trifoliates to consider (in addition to A. griseum) are A. mandshuricum and A. maximowiczianum (spell check!). These two were planted later than the triflorum and are considerably smaller. The former has produced terrific fall color, while the latter has very cool pubescent foliage.

I'm still shocked my local nursery has 2" caliper A. triflorum.

This plant would be about 15' from my house so it would get some protection. There would be a River Birch shielding the north winds but it would still get sun from 11am till about 8pm during the growing season.

As my Maackia amurensis fills in that would shade the southwest sun. Just a little 6 footer right now.

I still really want this tree, but Carpinus carolina would be a good substitute.

We have a small A. triflorum that we planted in early spring this year. It had some root damage from being over watered in the pot, and I planted it earlier than I wanted to, and it didn't grow much. However it stood up to summer heat and 100% intense summer sun (we are 36 degrees N for reference) with no problems. I watered when it was dry, but far from every day. It ended up that I needed to move it this fall, and when I did, it had grown roots nicely over the summer. Fall color was muted, but still a medium orange color. Can't say about winter exposure, as our winter exposure is nothing like yours (as your summer sun is much weaker than ours), but it does seem to be a tough tree from my limited experience. Started out with problems, and stood up to drought and heat it's first year with no real issues. You can't complain about that.

Arktrees

I can't comment on the acer in question, but here's a shot of my carpinus caroliniana. It's the tree in the center background. Tree was planted as a 6ft whip in 1999 and I have it limbed up to about 7ft so I can get under it working the compost bins behind the tree. It's in full sun all day long, tolerates dryness well and has a nice shape. Fall foliage color has never been as sometimes advertised as a golden yellow - more a pale green in my case. Does reseed abundantly so there's always seedlings available. Nice tree.

Nice picture, thanks for posting!

Most university sources state the tree has an irregular shape...but every photo I see within a landscape has a nice shape.

These trees are typically a nice reddish orange to yellow around here. I saw a field of them and there were a few with muted yellow colors.

Which Hydrangea is that posted in your album! Fall color is amazing!

Fall color on the native Carpinus is highly variable. If you can wait, it would be best to see them after they've turned.

whaas- that's paniculata 'Quick Fire' and yes that coloration is quite different from the norm. I have numerous others of the species and none color up like that.
Back to the Hornbeam - shape depends a lot on the amount of direct sunlight I've observed. Grown in full sun they usually have a shape such as mine, where as plants grown as understory trees tend to be more irregular. Wild ones around here are usually found growing along shaded streams and they are very irregular in shape.

I'd say so, my Quickfires were dark dark red, with some leaves yellowing.

That is some awesome growth for Carpinus over 10 years.

Acer triflorum is still in the lead but Carpinus is right there as a runner up. I typically like to pick trees out in the fall, but I want to get these in the spring...in fact get them dug and in my soil before they leaf out.

The only two trees I planted in that timeframe established the quickest...strongest 2 year growth. Even better as one of them was a Ginkgo.

Hey Whaas,

Here's another little maple for your consideration:

Basic, now that you have whaas attention, show him an image of the fall color.
Is this a tree in your collection? Why I ask is some mid 20F nights a couple years ago in mid-April just about ruined all the ones around here. Didn't kill them, but set them back several years. Another nice tree though.
Marshall

Which Acer is it?

Marshall -- Boy do I ever wish this gem was part of my collection. It grows on the grounds of Haverford College in Philly.

whaas -- Its A. japonicum 'Aconitifolium'. I've got a small Japonicum growing on east side of house, which I think is 'Megeitsu', but not certain of that. BTW, I didn't look up the spelling on either of these, so errors are likely. :)

Bob

Here's an image of my Aconitifolium that was riddled with those freezing April temps a couple years ago. I lost about half the plant, but it's growing back pretty well. This shot was taken this fall - probably the best fall foliage color year we've had in many years. But this image is typical for my tree year in and year out.
Marshall

Very nice, thanks for the pics!

Late freezes can be common around here...I'd be too attached to take that risk.

Always great to see what people are growing outside my little world which is dominated by Crabapples, Honeylocust, Ash, Freemanii Maples, burning bushes and purpleleaf sandcherries.

Its tough to really tell...but what do you guys think has the better branching structure based on the pics?

Debating if I should get one of these dug in spring or just go to any nursery and pick out a Carpinus carolina, since they are multiple specimens pre-dug at most nurseries.

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A few months late, but my 2c worth.

I've had a trilobum in the ground for a few years. It's now about 15' tall and very narrow. Columnar, in fact! My soil is well-drained and it gets only late morning sun. It didn't seem to be very drought tolerant for the first several years, but I think it's finally over that phase. This year has been very dry since late July and it's done very well this year. It's color has never been all that great, but I like that it holds its leaves long into the winter.

In fact, I like it well enough that I planted a second one this past spring. I'm looking forward to seeing how the second one differs from the first in terms of shape, fall coloration and drought tolerance. It's only about 20-25' from the first one.

Thanks for the posts. I've only recently encountered Acer triflorum at Oriental Garden Supply, near where I live in Rochester, NY. I'm been working on siting it and several others trees we're having planted on our new-to-us property. I've been leaning towards planting this triflorum where it'll be sheltered by large trees on the west edge of our property. From what I've read in these posts, this should be a good spot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oriental Garden Supply

An update!

I said "trilobum" in my previous message when I meant "triflorum" of course.

That new acer triflorum I planted in the spring of 2010 didn't survive our drought later that year. That was about a 3' tall specimen as I recall.

So, in the autumn of 2011, I purchased 2 more and tried again. These were about 2' tall. One was placed in the same location as the one that succumbed to the drought. The other is in a new location. Both are growing fairly slowly. They had been in the ground a couple of years when we had another serious drought for several weeks. I kept them watered. They are healthy and doing well.

In the beginning, the older, larger tree didn't have great fall color. But, in recent years it has has been the color of pumpkin, slowly turning a reddish brown. It really stands out. One of the new small triflorums hasn't had very good fall color yet, but the other has been a brilliant red, much like a nice red maple.