You've already hit two of the best :-) I would also suggest Davidsans and Conifer Kingdom. With a cultivar as common and popular as 'Osakazuki', I would use mail order only as a last resort. Do not any local nurseries have it in stock? In fact, I would always opt for seeing and selecting the tree in person before mail order.

Many folks also buy off of eBay but I would never consider purchasing any plant sight unseen from something other than a registered plant nursery. Too many scammers, misidentification and potential disease issues. And little to no recourse.

I know Monrovia carries it and my local nursery buys alot of plants from Monrovia so I'll have to ask the guy to order it for me. So you don't even buy perennials from mail orders? How do you get all your rare plants then? But then again seeing how you have decades of Horticulture experience I assume you have alot of connections with those people.

I haven't had too many issues with mail order plants. I make sure to check reviews first before buying. I particularly love lazyssfarm, farreachesfarm, shady Glenn nursery, and soules garden.

I don't do mail order at all. Except for very rarely (like twice) a few clematis that are not readily available locally. Everything else, including many rare plants, ARE available locally!! Also my local nursery that I have a professional relationship with will bring in pretty much anything I ask for as long as I give them plenty of notice.....and they can source it. But you need to remember that I live where the vast majority of wholesale growers have their growing operations, as well as there being a plethora of specialty nurseries within a short drive :-) Far Reaches is just up the road and I visit there often! I just don't need to use mail order. But I do understand the situation of those that do.

Whitman Farms (Oregon) and Topiary Gardens (Syracus, NY) are the first two online places I always look first as they offer the best quality with very reasonable price and shipping cost. You need to call Lucile Whitman to order. She carry many cultivars that are not listed on her website. Her field grown trees are the best deal, hands down even with the shipping (very large tree for $105 plus shipping, ~ $50 dollar per box). Summer shipping and planting from Oregon to NJ may be stressful for the tree so if you may want to wait until fall.

I also like Conifer Kingdom and have received nice JMs and conifers for reasonable cost. Their selection is not as wide as Whitman or Topiary or Oriental.

Oriental Garden Supplies also have good reputation and reasonable cost/shipping. They are also in the east coast.

Most of my trees come from mail order as local nurseries only carry a few limited options.

Obviously there will be a big difference with specific location. My local nursery carries around 150-200 different cultivars of Japanese maples in a wide variety of sizes, from 4" starter plants (good for bonsai and if you are cheap :-)) up to 36" boxed maples. But areas of the country where JM's are not so common, mail order may well be the best method to access less common varieties.

Broken Arrow in Ct has impressive collection.

So gardengal even the rarest of the rarest plants you are able to obtain? Like say you ask for a (these are just examples of plants I see sold absolutely no where) thymus quincecostatus, fragaria iinumae, vaccinium uliginosum var. alpinium they will be able to get it for you? You PNWesterners are very lucky to live in that area. I will so pay you if you can get them for me and ship them to me..

I've ordered a conifer from conifer kingdoms and they are alright. I don't even bother with broken arrow because all their plants are always sold out.

I don't know about the "rarest of the rare" :-) But we certainly have access to a lot of less common plants here that others might have to do a lot of hunting or mail ordering to find. I also seldom seek out specific plants for myself but rather come upon something out of the ordinary just by happenstance........I tend to visit a lot of nurseries and plant sales just to see what they may have.

One of my favored resources is a close gardening friend who's son is the head propagator for a local botanical garden. I'm always getting some bizarre little treasure from her.

The maples I do special order if there is something specific I want that is not currently stocked. But that means I have to wait several months between fall when the tree orders are placed and late winter/early spring when the new stock is received. But I haven't done that for several years as my collection is reaching capacity........and often something new and interesting just shows up unordered that I simply must have anyway :-) Like my newest acquisition, Acer palmatum 'Peve Starfish'.

I buy primarily from mail order as the local nurseries don't stock much beyond Bloodgoods.

I have used the following

Eastfork Nursery - The specimens are perfect. Shipping is very high.

Davidsans Maples - Very good selection. The trees usually have a good form.

Topiary Gardens - Good selections. They trees are shipped close to being bare root which I don't like.

Conifer Kingdoms - Just started using them. Good trees.

Essence of the Tree - Specimens are hit or miss in terms of form/shape.

Mr Maple - Used them twice. I was happy with my purchases.

Whitman Farms is the best value for very healthy mail order trees and a wide selection. You have to call her to know what her true inventory is-- her website only lists part of it. I have had great experiences with Topiary Gardens, too. There are lots of other good ones, but none have been as consistently good as Whitman Farms and Topiary Gardens. Excellent customer service, too.

"I buy primarily from mail order as the local nurseries don't stock much beyond Bloodgoods."

This entire thread is so funny to me- the 'best' nursery I have within reasonable driving distance offers (their literal boastful words) "both kinds of Japanese Maples- the red ones and the green ones!" This means Crimson Queens and Viridis. That's it- maybe a spindly Bloodgood if you shop in early spring. Granted I don't like going very far afield- my road trip days are behind me for various reasons.

OP, I have JM's from almost every vendor mentioned in this thread- probably 98% of all the plants in my gardens were purchased online. I most generally purchase on the smaller size due to budgeting but I have had very good luck in that everything has lived and is doing well. Even the very tiny first and second year JM whips from eBay do turn into trees if you have a bit of patience.

Just order during a temperature friendly time of year, be home when they arrive to get them into open air and a bit of water, plant them properly in a good location, and care for them well. I even pre-dig my holes so I don't have to delay getting them into he ground. I also do temporary shade via burlap fabric if it is hot for the first couple of weeks.

Don't be afraid of mail order- that's the only way many of us can get the specific cultivars of all the lovely plants and trees we want.

Very helpful list scottih_z8FL. For some reason I have never bought from Whitman Gardens, but I am going to try them.