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| Here
are some early maples that visitors saw on March 10, 2007. Left to
right: Orange Dream, Deshojo, and Higasayama. |
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| March
15, 2007 - Shantung blooms by the zillions, Peaches 'n Cream spring
colors, new leaves and blooms on Mikawa yatsubusa. |
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| March
18, 2007 - Crimson Queen, Shishigashira with very tiny blooms, and
Trompenburg. |
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| March
19, 2007 - More maples growing. left to right: O'kagami, Viridis, Aka
shigitatsu sawa. |
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| March
20, 2007 - Left to right: Red Emperor, Orangeola, and the last of the
maples are opening up. Here is Moonrise in its first full year in Texas. |
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| March
21, 2007 - Left to right: Koto no Ito, Osakasuki blooms that make bright
red seeds in summer, and Paperbark maples unfurling at last! |
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| March
22, 2007 - Left to right: Beni Komachi, Bonfire, and Shaina. Come out
Saturday and you'll see more red than you've ever seen before. |
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| March
24, 2007 - Left to right: Here is Moonrise color when it first opens,
Golden Fullmoon is last to start growing, Peaches 'n Cream spring color. |
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| March
25, 2007 - Display garden azaleas/rhododendrons are blooming. Left to
right: A Huang azalea with an Orange Dream maple that Roy planted in the
background, close-up of Kogetsu no homare azalea flower in display
garden, and azalea Germanique. |
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| March
30, 2007 - left to right: Inside Murasaki kiyohime, close-up of
Rhododendron makinoi, and from across the koi pond in display garden. |
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| March
31, 2007 - left to right: Finally some rain and sun! Now the reds are
starting to shine. Underneath a Red Emperor, Tsuma beni, and Fireglow. |
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| April
1, 2007 - Left to right: Shaina 12 years old is 4 1/2 feet tall,
O'kagami with Shantung maples behind, and test plant Yasemin growing
very well. |
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| April
2, 2007 - The dissectums are starting to get some very good color. Inaba
Shidare close-up, Inaba shidare specimen, and spring color of Watnong. |
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| April
3, 2007 - left to right: Shigitatsu sawa, the easy to grow Seiryu, and
the beautiful but hard to grow Red Dragon Japanese maple. |
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| April
4, 2007 - Rhododendrons do grow in TX. Here is Peppermint Twist close-up
and 4 foot bush, azalea Janet Rhea with Green Cascade maple behind. |
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| April
15,2007 - In northern California to see the coastal redwoods. That's
Jeri, with trees 370 feet tall. Huge stumps! Thinking on a 14' diameter
redwood. |
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| April
19, 2007 - New red growth on Deshojo with variable colors on older
leaves, new growth on paperbark maples, new growth on Osakasuki with red
seeds and bright green on older leaves. More Rhododendrons and Satsuki
azaleas are starting bloom right now and with the maples this Saturday
should be very nice. |
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| April
22, 2007 - Left to right: Here is a colorful Shantung cultivar I am
testing with the famous Golden Fullmoon Maple to its right, a Ueno Yama
late spring color, and an Orange Dream with new growth. |
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| May 2,
2007 - left to right: Shaina's early bright red growth is now maroon but
May always brings new bright red growth. Moonrise is bright yellow, but
where is the red? Will it have new red growth in May like Shaina?
Coonora Pygmy is looking good with orangish-pink new growth. |
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| May 3,
2007 - Satsuki azalea Shin-kyo starting bloom, the last of the
Rhododendrons are blooming, Satsuki azalea Nachi no tsuki. |
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| May 9,
2007 - Four days of rain gets the small Fireglows growing and Fire
Dragon® Shantungs explode with new growth, while seeds turn
red on Red Emperor. |
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| May
10, 2007 - Feeding the Koi, a honey bee in a Frosted Orange flower, and
storm damage on silk spider web. Metro Maples grows and sells plants
that usually don't need insect sprays. Did you know that for every
native plant, there is also a native bug that will chew on it? The last
4 days I have repotted 350 maples, put liquid fertilizer on 4,500
maples, one at a time, and got 15 fire ant bites. It doesn't get any
better than this. |
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| May
12, 2007 - Left to right: Fire Dragon® maple waving good-bye
to the low pressure system that brought 5 days of rain, a favorite
flower is azalea 'Shugetsu', and new red growth on variegated maple sold
for years as Acer truncatum 'Akikaze Nishiki', which is incorrect as
this is really an Acer mono variety. Acer mono is similiar to Acer
truncatum and will also take our alkaline soils and heat. |
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| May
23, 2007 - Deshojo growing like weeds, Ruby lace is extremely delicate
and slow growing but stays purple all summer, last of the azaleas are
opening like this one named Shinsen, which translates to Flower God. |
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| May
24, 2007 - Finally getting the new yellow-leaf Shantung test plant to
grow, when you grow thousands of Shantung seeds you get unusual ones, a
hopeful new cultivar that was chosen for its beautiful and
consistently-shaped leaf and glorious yellow fall color. |
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| June
1, 2007 - This 1 1/2 inch branch was pruned in February leaving a 2 1/2
inch wound that was not painted on this 25 foot tall Shantung maple,
close-up of a Shantung branch with a friendly critter, many Coastal
Redwood seeds are dying from fungus from 8 straight days of rain. |
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| June
3, 2007 - The end of 11 out of 12 days of rain. The mother Fire Dragon®
Shantung is now growing slowly so I sent off leaf tissue samples to
A&M to see if it is a nutrient problem. Or maybe it is from a lack
of sun. Fire Glow Japanese maple still a nice red despite the cloudy
year. Oku shimo Japanese maple has small leaves with leaf margins that
roll upward, making a very sharp looking tip. Here's a thought to those
native plants only gardeners: What if Beethoven only used the white
piano keys? What if Picasso never used the reds? What if Shakespeare
only used words with less than 5 letters? |
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| June
12, 2007 - Baby cardinals just born in the twiggy branches of Japanese
maple 'Butterfly', look at the difference in leaf size of a small
variegated 'Butterfly' leaf sitting in the center of Japanese maple
'Meigetsu Itaya', and a Shantung maple that is dying from the
water-logged soils during May. The roots of most trees must have oxygen
to function properly. |
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| June
17, 2007 - The 500th Fire Dragon® Shantung was awarded free,
getting ready to smoke the meat with Shantung wood for Father's Day,
heavy rain doesn't stop the BBQ as it has a cover. The BBQ grill weighs
over 2 tons and while my house will be gone from a tornado, my BBQ will
survive. |
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| July
3, 2007 - In northern Arkansas to see 2 1/2-year old Fire Dragon®
maple unharmed from terrible mid-April freeze, Fireglow (shown) and all
Japanese maples were damaged, Ginkgo (shown) was also damaged as was
Chinese Pistache, Pears, and many native trees. |
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| July
7, 2007 - Left to right: Too much rain causes this Pomegranite to go
into early fall colors, this Shin deshojo was pruned 4 weeks ago and now
look at all the new red growth, and too much rain makes this Chinese
pistache turn fall colors. It has rained 8 out of the last 10 days. |
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| July
24, 2007 - I got nearly 2 inches of rain last night so I have 2 pictures
of morning fog on maples, and Fire Dragons® have grown over
4 feet so far while Bigtooth Maple (inset) is just starting summer
growth. |
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| July
30, 2007 - More rain and morning fog. The Japanese maples like this
tropical climate. An Eastern Swallowtail on October Glory maples, and
Moonrise® Japanese maple still an exciting color. |
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| Aug 1,
2007 - More rain. Here's what some of the reds now look like: Fireglow,
Red Emperor, and Inaba Shidare. |
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| Aug
13, 2007 - Early morning sun on Japanese maples are as beautiful as a
Monet painting. Temperatures suddenly turn very hot and the trees try to
adjust. |
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| Sept.
20, 2007 - Found this Preying Mantis on a Beni komachi, the whole front
yard of this Kennedale home was recently paved with concrete, and
Shantung is healing faster now that it is nearly fall (more pictures
above). |
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| Oct 4,
2007 - Still hot and dry as Shantung maples fatten-up. Here are 2
pictures of a large Shantung maple that is hardly ever irrigated and a
close-up of Fire Dragon Shantung that receives regular waterings. |
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| Oct.
6, 2007 - Natives, like this Staghorn sumac are turning early fall
colors and your maples will too if you don't keep them watered, here are
the two coastal redwoods I grew from seed, and some azaleas are fall
blooming despite the hot weather, this is Huang 2-7-51. |
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| October
12, 2007 - At the Maple Society Meeting in Atlanta. Left to right:
Waterfall, Shishigashira, a trained Seiryu pruned to resemble clouds,
and a Shishi yatsubusa. The ones I saw holding the best red color were
Nuresagi, Moonfire, Tamukeyama, and Fireglow. |
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| Nov.
4, 2007 - Back from a trip to Oregon to see maples and several maple
farms. Here are 3 pictures from the Portland Japanese Garden. |
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| Nov.
6, 2007 - Cold weather and transplant shock makes this Fire Dragon®
Shantung color-up early, Sango Kaku Japanese maples starting fall color,
and a Brandywine red maple with mixed colors due to the early fall. If
trees color-up early the red pigments do not develop properly. |
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| Nov.
11, 2007 - Up in Fayetteville, Arkansas to see the new Botanical Gardens
of the Ozarks and to donate a Fire Dragon® Shantung but this
Sugar Maple sure looked good, Maple Street is a good place to see lots
of colorful red and sugar maples, and a scenic overview of the maples
which was past peak color. |
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| November
30, 2007 - Japanese maples are starting to color. A Sango Kaku, coral
bark maple, grown in several hours of direct sun that has red fall
colors, and one with all yellow fall colors that receives only dappled
light. |
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| December
1, 2007 - Japanese maples, like this Red Emperor are now coloring up
fast and take good pictures even with the heavy overcast skies, this
Fire Dragon® Shantung a great red and when the Ginkgo Autumn
Gold colors up behind it they will make an unbeatable combintation, this
seedling Shantung turning a brilliant yellow. Come on out this week to
see the colors. |
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| Dec.
2, 2007 - Here is Fire Dragon® Shantung with Ginkgo Autumn
Gold just coloring-up, both take the hot sun, are easy to grow, and will
give you the best red and gold fall show in the Texas sun that I have
found from years of looking, Display garden is now coloring-up, and an
unnamed Japanese maple cultivar found by Metro Maples that consistently
produces a brilliant mixed fall color display. |
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| Dec.
2, 2007 - By afternoon the same trees from the above picture have
changed colors in only a few hours, overview of Japanese maples with an
unusual amount of leaves still remaining on the overstory post oaks,
picture of new entrance sign with maples. |
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| Dec.
3, 2007 - Ginkgo getting more yellow today but not peak color yet,
Japanese maples really getting color now, 3 variations in Fire Dragon®
colors and inset picture of a small plant that had no vigor all year,
which might be revealing the leaf color of an old, mature Fire Dragon®
maple. |
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| Dec.
3, 2007 - This year Osakasuki is the brightest orange I have ever seen,
Viridis is always great in fall, Red Emperor is outstanding. |
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| Dec.
4, 2007 - Here are some small Fire Dragon® Shantung time
laspe photos. Left to right - Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Still not
peak color yet, stay tuned. |
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| Dec.
4, 2007 - Fire Dragon® maple with full-color on Ginkgo,
maple reflections in Display Garden pond, here I am with a record 6 feet
of growth on a Shantung maple. |
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| Dec.
5, 2007 - Some of the best colors so far: this unusual color is from the
shady, lower north side of a Fire Dragon® Shantung, Japanese
maple Sumi nagashi has neat narrow leaves and has been in color for
nearly 10 days now, and the top of this Sango Kaku coral bark with a
couple hours of sun still has lots of color. |
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| Dec.
6, 2007 - Signs of unusual fall temperatures. Omure yama usually has
mixed colors but the deep reds and yellows did not develop this year,
Trompenburg at my house started out very orange 10 days ago and then
turned bright red, very unusual, and Meigetsu Itaya also did not develop
the deep reds, yellows, and purples that is mixed with orange as it
usually does. |
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| Dec.
7, 2007 - The group of young vigorous Fire Dragon maples from above
showing color on Wednesday, and then the color peaked on Thursday, most
Shantungs have already lost their leaves but this very little Fire
Dragon Shantung, which barely grew 2 inches, was decorated in a clay
pot, garnished with bright green moss and was the last to go. |
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| Dec.
7, 2007 - The close of a very exciting week with articles in both the
Dallas and Fort Worth papers but when driving home this sunset caught my
eye, Coonora Pygmy is a rainbow of colors now, and Shishigashira is
usually last to color and with lots of orange this year. Metro Maples
wishes to thank all of our customers and my wife and helpers for all
their support this year. 2007 was a thrilling year from watching my
first hybrid seeds germinate, to getting the patent on Fire Dragon
Shantung in April, and from meeting so many nice people, and from
getting lots of rain and from being able to visit the Coastal Redwoods
and so many beautiful gardens. Next year hopefully will be just as
exciting as I expand the gardens and arboretum and watch the many new
varieties grow. |
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| Final
pictures for year 2007. Overview of a small area at Metro Maples of
Japanese maples with a very rare yellow color on Post Oaks. Some of the
best colors were these two - Red Emperor on left and Osakasuki on the
right. Other notables were Sango Kaku, Suminagashi, and for full sun
were Shantung maple and Ginkgo. |
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