exceptionally diaphanous red maple cultivars?

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Have any been selected specifically for this trait?

I allow a fraction of my copious seedlings to grow up. This one has leaves that really sparkle, even on a cloudy day. I've looked at all the other red maples in my garden - cultivars unknown, but 5 planted by previous owners, maybe 6-7 seedlings over 3' tall - and none exhibit it to this degree at all. (Sometimes even getting down on the ground to be sure!) I've never quite spotted anything like it in another garden, as far as I remember...could have just missed it I suppose. That being said, the world hardly needs more red Japanese maple cultivars in my opinion! If there's already one like this, or better, so be it.

This picture was taken on a cloudy day, yet the leaves still have the remarkable appearance of light streaming through. It also has very reddish stems, I can post another picture of those later. A sibling seedling (picked from the same bed) had bright green stems, but not this special leaf trait.

I suspect the parents were planted in the early 1960s. What was the "hot" red maple cultivar back then, no pun intended?

Featured Answer

jalcon

9 years ago

I bought my fireglow because it was actual fire engine red....It stayed like this from spirng when I bought it, until that fall. Never waivered..See below..

However the next year, and the next year (this year), it leaves out much more maroon....and never gets as red as it was this first year...no idea why. Here it is now...

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Comments (8)

CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
9 years ago
The only one of my many, many red maples that actually glows, is one of my three Fireglows. I have never figured out why one shines and the other two do not, but one, luckily in the middle of the yard, shines.
UpperBayGardener (zone 7)
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yeah I have heard about that one. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for one to see how it compares.

I suspect they cannot easily sustain this all season long; my guess of what is going on is the levels of chlorophyll are very, very low in these leaves - but the anthocyanins or whatever, that cause red leaves, are higher than normal. So it's kind of like the leaf is transparent almost, but filled with red dye. And in time they will normalize, somewhat. The older growth doesn't have the same effect, where leaves came out of old stems, it's only the new shoots.
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CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I experienced that, too. Oh, it was probably 3-4 years by the time I put it in the ground. She glooooowwwed. So, being a newbie gardener, I decided in the heat of the summer to move her close to the house. It's taken her 5 years to recover from that, I swear. She's always been a little darker maroon since then until right this minute. She's glowing and putting out a ton of growth this spring. This picture is from mid April. I wish the color were better, because she's a bright red!

Behind her, kind of blending in, left to right:
Another 'Fireglow,' (Never as bright as the smaller one) a 'Burgundy Lace' and a 'Trompenburg.'

I guess I could tell you the red maples that are NOT so brightly glowing, but beautiful nonetheless:
Red Dragon
Chantilly Lace
Shania
Berrima Bridge
Inaba Shidare
Tamukeyama
Inazuma
Whiteny's Red
Nicholsonii
Sherwood Flame
Johin
Orangeola
Nuresagi
Okagami
Oshi Beni
Beni Maiko (But in the spring, OMG!!)
Chitoseyama
Beni Fushigi (sp?)
Atrolineare
Red Pygmy
Lozita
Crimson Carole
Red Crusader
Garnet
Crimson Queen
Suminagashi
Boskoop Glory
Oregon Sunset
Chishio Improved
Bloodgood (all 3 of them)
Red Emperor/Emperor 1
Dissectum Nigrum
Beni Komachi
Ashe's Scarlet (something I can't remember)

Edited to add:
Iijima Sunago
Kinran

Ok. As you can see, I'm into red. Sometime I'll list my regular red maples!
This is from memory sitting here on the couch. I probably have 10 or 12 more reds. The thing is none of them glow like the Fireglow does. So you can rule these out!
jalcon
9 years ago
You have ALL of those in your yard? That's awesome....pics...please...
CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
LOL!
I have well over 100 JMs. Add to that list the 10 or 12 I can't remember at the moment, and then...
This list doesn't even nod at the greens and yellows!
I'm not very good at remembering pictures. I'll have to take some and immediately email them to myself.
jalcon
9 years ago
WOW....All planted in the yard? My wife thinks I'm crazy bc I've planted 6 in the last few years, LOL. Yeah..would love to see pictures for sure..
CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
9 years ago
I have planted over 130 trees on my property in the 15 years I've been here. I've been trying to create shade.
They are predominantly some type of maple and red crape myrtles. I have some gold trees for contrast. Many of my JMs remain in pots, but once I test them out for full sun, in the ground they go.